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The Athletes. Age of heroes seemed to be over by the 1970s and 1980s. Heroes at this time were rock musicians, television’s Bionic Man or Woman and Evel Knievel. Professional Athletes. High salaries Long term contracts Labor unions Strikes. Changing Currents of Society and Culture.
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Age of heroes seemed to be over by the 1970s and 1980s. • Heroes at this time were rock musicians, television’s Bionic Man or Woman and Evel Knievel.
Professional Athletes • High salaries • Long term contracts • Labor unions • Strikes
Changing Currents of Society and Culture • 1940s & 1950s- Joe DiMaggio, Joe Louis, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. • DiMaggio- San Francisco • Louis- Detroit • Mantle- Oklahoma • Mays- Alabama
Athletic Champions • Muhammad Ali- Militant blacks • Billie Jean King- Militant females • Vince Lombardi- Militant traditionalists • Joe Namath- Militant quest for freedom from traditional social constraints.
Old School • Johnny Unitas
New School • Joe Namath
Performance on T.V. • 1983- 45% of men felt that given the same training, they could do as well as the athletes on television. • 74%- 14 to 17 age range • 25%- 65 and over age range
Andre Agassi • Earned more money than others on the tennis circuit even though he was not #1.
Past vs. Present • Past= Special Virtue, endurance, sacrifice and courage. • Present= Political and greedy. 1. Strikes 2. Free agency 3. High salaries
What caused this? • 1st- Competition among franchises for player talent. • 2nd- Demise of player reservation systems. • 3rd- Formation of player unions.
Money matters • All-America Football Conference- 1940s salary was $8,000. • Joe Namath received a 3 year deal for $420,000 from the Jets. • As late as 1968 one in five NFL players made less than $15,000 per season.
1967 1975 1985 1990 1995 2000 MLB $19 $46 $371 $598 $1,111 $1,894 ABA/ $20 $107 $325 $817 $2,010 $ 4,200 NBA NFL $25 $42 $194 $352 $714 $1,116
Spectator Attitudes toward Professional Athletes (1982) Agree Disagree Undecided Athletes are 76 20 4 overpaid Athletes selfish 50 42 8 Should be tested 71 27 2 for drugs before each game
Youth Athletes Getting Serious • Masillon, Ohio- Booster club of 2,700 members, had a stadium that could hold 20,000 fans etc. • Highland Park High School- (1985) Chartered nine buses to shuttle themselves 300 miles to the championship games. • Odessa- regularly drew 20,000 fans.
Volunteers in the post-World War II Era • Pop Warner Football League- 1929 • Little League Baseball- 1939 *Carl Stotz founded this league in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Both of these leagues flourished after WWII.