1. The Athletes

2.  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.

3. Professional Athletes High salaries Long term contracts Labor unions Strikes

4. 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

9. 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.

10. Old School Johnny Unitas

11. New School Joe Namath

12. 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

13. Andre Agassi Earned more money than others on the tennis circuit even though he was not #1.

14. Past vs. Present Past= Special Virtue, endurance, sacrifice and courage. Present= Political and greedy. 1. Strikes 2. Free agency 3. High salaries

15. What caused this? 1 st - Competition among franchises for player talent. 2 nd - Demise of player reservation systems. 3 rd - Formation of player unions.

16. 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.

17. 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

18. Spectator Attitudes toward Professional Athletes (1982) AgreeDisagreeUndecided Athletes are 76204 overpaid Athletes selfish50428 Should be tested71272 for drugs before each game

19. 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.

20. 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.