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Seth Dixon
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Rick Reilly tells the story of a woman's efforts to swim topless after a double mastectomy. We have deeply ingrained social norms about what is and is not acceptable within public spaces. Certain cases come along that show that these norms often treat the world as though it is black and white without varying shades of gray. In this case, a woman who has had both of her breasts completely removed after breast cancer, discovered that conventional swimsuits physically pained her and she wanted to swim topless in a public pool. Controversy predictably ensued. What do you think? Big deal? Non-issue? Acceptable in public or not? Why?
"Saudi Arabia is to allow its women athletes to compete in the Olympics for the first time ever, a statement by the country's London embassy says." In what is viewed as sensitive 'baby steps' towards inclusion for women in activities most in the West take for granted, females will be competing for the Saudi Olympic team in London, something that has been forbidden until very recently. Allowing their participation also alleviates pressure from the entire team being disqualified due to gender discrimination. (Apparently they can ride horses - will driving automobiles be far behind?)
More than 75,000 firms that have helped to deliver London's Olympic Games are fighting a 12-year gagging order preventing them from talking about the work they have done, it emerged last night. London has undergone important urban projects that have transformed the numerous parts of the city. These massive investments are now being questioned as some observers are skeptical as to whether or not their will be an adequate return on investment.
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Matt Beiriger
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BBC News takes a look at who makes up the cast of thousands behind the sporting event of the year. The Olympics are a massive undertaking with both local and international impacts.
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Seth Dixon
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What do Kenenisa Bekele, Tirunesh Dibaba, Derartu Tulu and Fatuma Roba have in common, apart from being Olympic gold medallists? What is it about this place that has produced so many world- class runners? This is a great profile of the "Town of Runners."
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Seth Dixon
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Maps That Show NBA Players Where to Shoot... What is considered a good play or a bad play in most sports is situational and depends on context. One of the many contexts in basketball that determines that constitutes 'a good shoot' is where you are on the court in relation to the hoop. In essence, this is a spatial factor, and spatial analysis is critical to informing sports strategy and a geography professor did just that in this study. In this month of March, mentioning sports in a geographic context might help students see how spatial analysis matters is a wide range of subjects.
Infrastructure demanded by the sporting world's most powerful corporate interests render families homeless in Brazil.
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Seth Dixon
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Years of hatred and mistrust are thawing in some of Rio's most violent slums. This compelling video depicts some of the challenges that the police in Rio de Janeiro face in trying to bring more effective goverance into some of the more poverty-striken, drug-riddled neighborhoods in the city. This slums, known as favelas, are receiving increased attention as Rio is hosting the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.
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Seth Dixon
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This is an interesting (if not perfectly accurate) map representing the dominant team that fans root for in any given region.
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Seth Dixon
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This current image can be used to teach spatial thinking and analysis. What are the economic impacts of these patterns? What explains this distribution? How does this impact tourism?
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Seth Dixon
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Rio de Janeiro, which is hosting soccer's World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016, is trying to remake its hundreds of favelas. There are urban geography applications obviously, but what about the cultural, political and economic logic of purging the slums before "the world comes to visit?" We've seen this recently in Beijing and in other sites of international events. Why now? Why not before?
Compton cricket club hails from one of the most deprived areas of Los Angeles and counts ex-gang members and even officers from the LAPD among its ranks. Race, class, identity and sports...this get us to rethink these connections. Why is it such a shock that a team from the hood plays cricket? What other examples of place, class and sport participation can you think of? What is the connection between class and cultural activities such as sports?
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Seth Dixon
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A few clips from flying in Switzerland the last two weeks, plus some old ones.. First shot is from Trond Teigen (http://www.youtube.com/JumpTeigen ) Beautiful physical geography and extreme sports with a video camera gives us a spectacular view of some glaciated valleys, cliff faces, fjords and mountainous terrain.
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Scooped by
Seth Dixon
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Botswana sprinter Amantle Montsho trains in Senegal, thousands of miles from home, in hopes of capturing her country’s first Olympic medal. While some countries routinely get dozens of medals at each Olympiad, other countries (like Botswana) have never received a medal. World-class training facilities are not available everywhere, and youth participation is some sports in non-existant. What are some other factors that contribute to this uneven global patterns of world-class athletics?
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Scooped by
Seth Dixon
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Navigate court maps and view analysis of every shot taken over the ’11-'12 season for the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder. Who said geography has nothing to do with sports?!? While there are many cultural and economic impacts on sport preference and prevalence, let's discuss the geography of the hardwood and a spatial analysis of the shot selections between the two teams. Clearly 'place matters' to many NBA players as their success on the court depends on finding their preferred spots within the flow of offense.
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Seth Dixon
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Despite Friday Night Lights portrayals, there's a lot more geographic diversity in NFL prospects than you might think. Happy NFL draft weekend! As I'm sure you were asking yourself, I was thinking, "where do NFL players come from?" Are there strong spatial patterns of this distribution? How do cultural forces impact the prevalence of a particular sport in a specific region? It's not as skewed to the South a you might think.
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Seth Dixon
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Texas A&M University is about to go on a journey, a journey that will take them far from home. They're about to enter the Deep South, unfamiliar territory for most Aggies. So in addition to... Not the worst mistake here, because failing to include the two incoming states might have deliberate. However, including North Carolina (without any SEC teams and firmly in the heart of ACC country) is a bit of a geographical gaffe.
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Seth Dixon
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The Atlantic CitiesWhat March Madness Can Teach Us About the Economic Geography of SportsThe Atlantic CitiesWhat exactly can account for the dominance of small and medium sized metros generally and college towns in particular in the economic... While it is clear that superstar athletes in the professional ranks are concentrated in the largest cities, college athletics still let's the 'Davids' compete with the 'Goliaths.' Interestingly, the largest cities don't have the highest per capita concentration of athletes but many small college towns do. Among the Top 25 cities with the highest concentration of athletes in the workforce (include scholarship athletes) we find South Bend, Indiana, home to Notre Dame; Auburn, Alabama, home to the university that bears its name; Ames, Iowa, home of Iowa State; Blacksburg, Virginia (Virginia Tech); Burlington, Vermont (University of Vermont); and Boulder, Colorado (University of Colorado).
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Seth Dixon
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Ambitious development plans for the 2016 Summer Olympics, as well as the 2014 soccer World Cup, involve large-scale evictions from numerous slums, whose residents are refusing to leave. The urban revitalization issues in Rio de Janiero are not new, but they will intensify in global importance (or at least coverage) as the time for the World Cup and Olympics approaches. What are the aesthetics and economics behind revitalization? What are the social issues that should be addressed?
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Seth Dixon
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This is a way of appreciating the natural wonders of the physical landscape in a slightly less academic fashion than typically posted here. Enjoy!
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Seth Dixon
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The Geographical Association has produced numerous resources specifically for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games being held in London. The Olympics as an event work as an important teaching moment that operates on numerous scales. What local developmental projects reshaped the urban fabric of London in preparation for these Games? Do international events such as the Olympics foster a global community? Is this idea of a global community perfectly harmonious?
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Seth Dixon
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This is the new and improved version of the familiar map can teach regions (formal, functional, vernacular) as well as the importance on TV markets as a diffusion mechanism for culture. As mentioned by Andy Baker, "This map is also useful for showcasing 'threshold' and 'range' from 'Central Place Theory.' For instance, I ask my students, 'Why are the Mid-Atlantic & California coasts boundaries (range) so small compared to Great Plains teams?'" Great idea Andy!
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Seth Dixon
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The possible realignment of college football conferences raises a host of interesting questions about fan loyalty. As the regular season ends, SEC country (the Deep South) feels vindicated while the Midwest feels underappreciated. Why is college sports more regionalized in fan bases? How is realignment reshaping these geographies?
"Afghan youth have very limited options for sports and recreation. An Australian man is trying to change that." Issues of ethnicity, class and gender are right on the surface. Globalization, cultural values and shifting norms make this a good discussion piece.
Via Seth Dixon
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Scooped by
Seth Dixon
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Way Back Home is the incredible new riding clip from Danny MacAskill, it follows him on a journey from Edinburgh back to his hometown Dunvegan, in the Isle o... This extreme sports clip is infused with gorgeous physical landscapes and marvelously quaint, iconic cultural landscapes.
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