This episode on chapter 8 “Race and Ethnicity: Are They Important in Sports?” begins by recognizing that race is a social construction and how that leads people to see the social truths of race as fixed, immutable biological facts. The search for a jumping gene in Black athletes provides a case in point. We then differentiate ethnicity from race before applying our analysis of racial ideology to Jon Gruden being fired as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders when old emails in which he used racist, sexist, and homophobic language surfaced. This allows us to discuss how racial ideology impacts people differently, why Black men might have different reactions to a racialized incident from white men or even Black women. We further develop an intersectional analysis when discussing how tennis great Serena Williams was often framed by colonial history and knowledge. Finally, we conclude with the shifting, ambiguous racialization of Tiger Woods.

This episode focuses on chapter 7 "Sex, Gender, and Sport: Are Inclusion and Equity Possible?" We begin by focusing on how sex and gender are social constructions, and what is meant by social construction. We then turn to how men are paradoxically empowered in a patriarchal society but their gender expressions are also more heavily policed. This leads into a historical approach to research, how do outdated gender myths help us to see current gender myths that might otherwise be hard to see since they are currently believed. Next we address a couple of questions about sexuality: 1) What are some of the politics around transgender athletes and sex verification? 2) How can sports worlds both reinforce and challenge homophobia? We then discuss why so many men coach women's sports but so few women coach men's sports. Finally, we conclude by addressing strategies for achieving in sports.

We begin episode 6 with a sociological definition of deviance and several concrete examples. This leads into a discussion of how formal (written) norms and informal (unwritten) norms create distinction between what might encouraged in sports but deviant in other parts of society, and vice-versa. Recognizing that deviance varies across different institutional spaces based on the formal and informal norms of those institutions leads into a discussion of absolutist approaches to deviance that are rigid and moralistic versus constructionist approaches used in sociology. We then move into a discussion of "deviant overconformity" that may sound like paradox, but is in fact a concept that captures the paradoxes and contradictions of deviance. We use "doping" in sports as a case in point. The complexity and contradictions do not stop there as we delve into the shifting world of sports gambling. Finally, we conclude the episode with a discussion of hazing.

The fifth episode of the season focuses on chapter 4 "Organized Youth Sports: Whose Interests Do They Serve?" To explore chapter 4, we frame this episode with a discussion of the intertwined sociological concepts "structure" and "agency". After defining these key terms, we layout a history of organized youth sport. This history shows how institutional changes in US society and youth sports have impacted youth agency. We discuss at length the impacts of adult control on youth and anxieties around youth resistance to adult control. This brings us to the present "neoliberal model" of youth sport and how that impacts not only youth but also entire families. We extend this discussion to criticism of how a deficit-reduction model of youth sports is applied to low-income and "at-risk" youth. Finally, we conclude with what gives us hope and makes us excited about youth sports today and in the future.

This episode focuses on socialization in sports. Socialization is a key concept in sociology so we take some time defining it and discussing its importance to the field. We emphasize that socialization is an active, ongoing process of becoming human. This moves us to a discussion of physical literacy or the process by which people learn learn to use their bodies in complex ways. We then discuss how the simultaneous movement of sports out of public spaces into private spaces and from child control to adult control impacts socialization. Drawing on Howard Becker's notion of socialization into careers, we discuss how a person's sporting career can develop over time and at some point end. Finally, we talk about how sport can become part of a healthy or not-so-healthy lifestyle.

The Sports in Society Podcast is copyright Jay Coakley and Jeffrey Montez de Oca.

This episode takes a deep dive into Chapter 2 “Producing Knowledge About Sports in Society: How is Knowledge Produced in the Sociology of Sports?” We begin by addressing a term that so many do not like, “theory”. We define theory, discuss why so many people struggle with it, how it is used in social scientific research on sport. We then move onto to the application of theory in sport research. That discussion leads us to focus on one specific theoretical perspective known as ‘feminist theory’ and the contentious, political nature of social knowledge. Finally, we conclude by addressing why people who are not “sociologists” should care about our discussion of theory, politics, and contentious social knowledge.

The Sports in Society Podcast is copyright Jay Coakley and Jeffrey Montez de Oca.

This episode covers the first chapter of Sports in Society. Jay Coakley and Jeff Montez de Oca begin by defining the surprisingly complicated concept 'sport'. We move on to discuss our critical sociological approach to studying sport, and why it is by necessity inter-disciplinary and international. This leads to 'the Great Sports Myth' and the relationship of 'myths' to ideology, which is a key concept in the chapter.

The Sports in Society Podcast is copyright Jay Coakley and Jeffrey Montez de Oca.

Get to know your co-hosts Jay Coakley and Jeff Montez de Oca. We might be world renowned sport sociologist now, but at one time we were kids who grew up athletes. Sports were a major part of our lives and the social worlds we inhabited. We discuss our personal biographies in sports and how our biographies are situated in social and historical contexts. Our passion for sports translates into our passion for the sociology of sports.

The Sports in Society Podcast is copyright Jay Coakley and Jeffrey Montez de Oca.