Personal Narrative- Wrestling CLAP, CLAP, CLAP, CLAP, echoes through my head as I walk to the middle of the mat. "At 160lbs Aidan Conner of La Junta vs. Rodney Jones of Hotchkiss." All I can think of is every bead of sweat, every drip of blood, every mile, every push up, every tear. Why? All of this: just to be victorious. All in preparation for one match, six minutes. For some these six minutes may only be a glimpse, and then again for some it may be the biggest six minutes of their life. Many get the chance to experience it more than once. Some may work harder and want it more than others, but they may never get the chance. All they get is a moral victory. Every kid, every man comes into the tournament with a goal. For some is to win, for some is to place, others are just happy to qualify. These six minutes come on a cold frigid night in February at a place called the Pepsi Center. Once a year this gathering takes place when the small and the large, the best of the best, come to compete in front thousands of people. I am at the Colorado State Wrestling Championships. Ever since the previous season I had my standards set high. I had placed fifth, which was all right for the time being, but I knew as time went on I needed to push myself and increase my level of wrestling. I decided that I would do whatever it took, through thick and thin. I traveled to small local tournaments in Colorado, and a couple out-of-state tournaments, I even traveled to Delaware. It didn't really matter how I did at these tournaments because it was just all practice until February. So, I lifted and wrestled just about every chance I got. It was all in preparation for one match, six minutes. Starting the season as the second ranked wrestler in the state, I was just where I wanted to be, noticed, but not the "top dog". I did well during the season; not losing to anybody in the 3A classification. I didn't do quite what I wanted, but I wasn't going to complain. A broken hand after the second weekend of competition didn't help any, but I fought through it and kept my eyes set on one opponent, one goal, one match, six minutes.
A fan in today’s world is usually characterized as the result of the “star system” portrayed in society due to mass media where media figures’ lives are constantly emphasized on a day to day basis. The internet and society are obsessed with news concerning celebrities, and knowing about their personal life. Today’s social media keeps fans constantly updated about celebrities, giving fans the illusion that they know everything about that celebrity and that they are connected somehow. This type of mass media has made the difference between appropriate behavior and inappropriate behavior of fans less noticeable (Lewis 11). These types of fans, the pathological fans, are also classified as the “o...
Bryant, Jennings, and Mary Beth Oliver, eds. Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research. Third ed. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print.
Traudt, Paul J. Media, Audiences, Effects: An Introduction to the study of media content and audience analysis. Pearson Education Inc.: 2005.
In the past, most of the researches may concentrate on the text and discourse which is transferred by the medium to understand the audience reactions. However, with the application of ethnography, exploring the rules of daily life with mass communication and the relationship between medium consumption and societal culture may be seen as the main topic towards audience research. It is important to understand the different contexts of the audience instead of the media discourse. As Clifford and Marcus (1986) indicates that cultures always help people construct a temporal focus on selection, simplification and rejection, while it is able for people to build relationships with themselves and others. Thus, ‘ethnographic turn’ within audience research can be considered as a new theory and method to understand mass communication and culture, which may pay more attention to the societal meaning of medium
Wrestling is more than just a sport; it is a way of life. And for those who enjoy its opportunities, it is something that takes the mind off of all of life’s troubling times, and puts one man against another to get their hand raised. Competition makes everything evolve, and there is no other sport that epitomizes what competition truly is. Wrestling spans the entire globe, and although it incorporates several different styles and many National and World events, remains overlooked by most.
The media play an indispensable role in modern life, and are considered amongst the most powerful and inaccurate sources of social information, education and entertainment. Our mass media is an electronic (TV, film, video, videogames, internet) visually dominated media with print (newspaper, magazine)...
After my win, my team was lined up to congratulate me; I was the only member from our team to pin their opponent. The feeling of the referee raising my arm was one of the, if not, the best overwhelming feeling I've ever felt in my life. Knowing that I won that match on my own gave me great confidence that I was just as good as anyone in my bracket. I kept telling myself that if I made it that far, then I must be. As I moseyed to my seat where the team was sitting, people were patting me on my way up the stairs. People I didn't even know were congradulating me, telling me way to go, good job. That feeling was one of the best too. As I took my seat and got ready to watch the Waitmanator, one of my teammates wrestle, a reporter came up and sat right beside me. He shook my hand and started asking me all kinds of questions. I told him everything he wanted to know, and after he was done talking to me, I got that feeling in my stomach again. That made me really pumped up for my next match. The very next day was even better. The reporter put me and all of my quotes in the paper. Now, everybody knew about my match. Things were just going my way.
I want to discuss how the business of pro wrestling is viewed in today's society, and how wrestling has reached such widespread notoriety. I mean, honestly. Let's face it. The vast majority of the American population looks down upon this form of sports entertainment. As a whole, professional wrestling fans are thought to be toothless, sweaty, smelly rednecks with low IQ's, low morals, violent streaks, and a thirst for blood. Stereotypes of this magnitude are partially to blame for the mainstream media looking at professional wrestling with a condescending eye and, as such, making a mockery of it. Those stereotypes also couldn't be farther from the truth. Wrestling fans are a surprisingly entity of sports entertainment.
The media, including television programming, cartoons, film, the news, as well as literature and magazines, is a very powerful and pervasive medium for expression. It can reach a large number of people and convey ideas, cultural norms, stereotypic roles, power relationships, ethics, and values. Through these messages, the mass media may have a strong influence on individual behavior, views, and values, as well as in shaping national character and culture. Although there is a great potential for the media to have a positive and affirming effect on the public and society at large, there may be important negative consequences when the messages conveyed are harmful, destructive, or violent.
Research on this particular fan community is somewhat limited in my understanding due to its recent emergence into popularity. The academic research that does exist about the Brony community does not delve deeply into the fan tendencies that this dissertation wishes to explore. Numerous research articles discuss various aspects of the fandom; what Bronies mean for media consumption or how fans are portrayed in the media by those on the outside looking in. Research articles
Gordon Brown: I will continue to use YouTube: PM says he will continue using YouTube because it is 'one of the most important mediums' after Tory MP Bill Cash congratulates Brown on his 'comedy turn' accessed 21 Nov. 2012 at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/apr/29/gordon-brown-youtube-video
As the season progressed, competition started getting fiercer. I was up against girls running at a 5A level, yet, I was able to hold my own. Finally there came a tiny light at the end of the tunnel; it seemed as though I was getting closer and closer to accomplishing my goal. Along with my undefeated title came a huge target painted on my back. I religiously checked "Rocky Preps" every day to see if the competition was gaining on me. It seemed that every time I had improved, there was someone right behind me, running their personal best too. I trained during the weeks before regionals like I had never trained before. Each day my stomach became more twisted with knots that looped around every part of my stomach. I don't think I had ever been that nervous in my whole life.
“Today can be the day of my first wrestling match, I absolutely hope I win , what if I don't and It's embarrassing? I’m overthinking it, I’ll be fine, I just need to use the knowledge and skills I’ve learned from the past couple months.” I thought to myself as I walked to my sixth period class which was wrestling. It was the third week into the wrestling season and the first two league duels I defaulted because there was no one in my weight class.
Seiter, Ellen. "Qualitative Audience Research." Television and New Media Audiences (Oxford Television Studies). New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 1999. 9-31. Print.