Conclusion - Geoff Roberts

This semester has been a whirlwind for me personally.  There has been a ton going on and I am thankful that it is near the end.  On top of classes, my participation in athletics broadcasting was increased more than ever.  I was the main play-by-play for volleyball, did a few football games, basketball games, and have served as one of the main color commentators for hockey so far.  This class was one of the more interesting classes that I had this semester. 

One of the most interesting portions of the class has been blogging.  It is interesting to see what people think about the topics in class.  It seems that people are much more open with opinions in the blog as opposed to in class.  This is definitely understandable though.  It is harder to voice a thought on the spot verbally than it is to take some time and write a blog.  I want to thank my group members Marc Horwitz and Aaron Crouse for providing a lot of really good discussion.

The most interesting topics to me were Latin/Asian Identity in Sport, Males in Female Sports like Field Hockey, and Canadian Identity.  I liked Canadian Identity the most probably because I love Ice Hockey and I grew up across the border from Canada.  My hometown of Port Huron, Michigan is the place where Lake Huron flows into the St. Clair River and Sarnia, Ontario is right across the river.  Because of the location, I grew up with CBC and have experienced a lot of Canadian Media on that channel.  Canada always fascinates me with their devotion to sports like hockey and their general goodwill.  I certainly would not mind living and working in that country someday.  The exploration of Canadian Identity helped to supplement the understanding of Canadians that I gained from the somewhat extensive amounts of time I spent in places like Sarnia, Toronto, London, Niagara Falls, and Windsor growing up (all in Ontario). 

I think doing a blog helped me really break down the information and content and apply it to a real-life situation.  It also helped to force me to look more into the issues presented in class.  In future uses, this will be vital.  As we all move up in our chosen careers in sport, it will become increasingly more important to take issues like the ones discussed in class into consideration.  The world is certainly changing.  People are more open with who they are and rightfully demand the opportunity to enjoy and succeed in sport.  It will be our job as future sport managers to use what we learned in class to ensure a level playing field for all.  I, for one, am excited to get to it.