With the expansion of social media has come heightened focus on high school sports. Not only can fans attend games with instant replay on expensive jumbotrons, but also they can follow them on twitter as well as stream games live on their computers as they are broadcasted from high tech media centers. Students are even updated on the athletic events of the day on tv monitors in their school libraries where they are supposed to be focused on academics. This bombardment of media covering high school sporting events increases the number of fans such as the 10,000 people who recently attended the Connecticut State Championship football game. However, with the spotlight on high school sports because of numerous media outlets comes intense pressure on student athletes, too.

Student athletes love the attention that they receive when they are interviewed on the sidelines with their image displayed on the enormous jumbotron to the cheers of many. In contrast, they can also feel degraded when they have to relive a botched play that is judged by their peers and while they listen to the negative reactions. Twitter feeds and live streaming from media centers enable followers to watch and stay updated on athletic events. This allows peers to stay abreast of away games when they are unable to travel to them, but want to stay involved. It also enables family members like grandparents to watch their grandchildren even if they cannot be with them.

The various media forms elevate high school sports making them a greater form of entertainment for people. As a result of the increased attention paid to high school athletics due to twitter, jumbotrons, monitors in schools and live streaming, athletes can receive star status in their towns. The result can be that students can get lost in their identity as athletes as they see their athletic prowess displayed in many forms of media. Overall, the increase in coverage from media has positive and negative consequences on high school sports.

The most recent Women’s World Cup viewer numbers were astronomical and record-breaking and yet, the female athletes playing in the tournament were treated with disrespect in comparison to their male counterparts. According to Skidmore Women’s Soccer players Brianna and Kelly, the times are changing and there was a major break-through this past World Cup and only positives will come of it. Based on Brianna and Kelly’s viewing experiences and reliable research, it is reasonable to argue that the past world cup made an impact on female soccer players and made them feel that positive steps were being made towards greater appreciation for the sports.

There is an unfortunate counter-argument to the recent increase of viewers of the Women’s World Cup. “This success and subsequent interest in women’s sports only happens every four years during the World Cup or the Olympic Games. Once the hype and the glory of the moments fade, so too will interest in women’s sports”. (ESPN). There may be truth to this but in regards to all sports it may seem, not just women’s. Of course more people tune into the big games, the world series, the superbowl, and the world cup than during regular season games because viewers love excitement and to see teams win championships that is the thrill. Kelly and Brianna remain avid U.S. Women’s National Team fans outside of the big games. They both follow USNT on twitter to remain in the loop and follow their favorite team.

Brianna and Kelly volunteered to walk me through their World Cup experiences and their love for the game. Both Kelly and Brianna began playing soccer at four years old. Kelly knew early on she wanted to play in college and Brianna figured out in high school, but both ended up being recruited to play here at Skidmore College.

Kelly absolutely loved watching the Women’s World Cup. “A lot of nerves and excitement every time they (US) scored”. She tried to catch every single game but she worked in the city this summer and could not. Whenever she was unable to watch the game live on television, she was watching them on social media. She wanted to know instantly what happened in every game. The “nowness” of today’s media helped Kelly stay connected to the games and helped keep her sanity at work. She also recorded every game on television that she knew she was going to miss so she could watch when she got home from work. She also watched a lot of the games after work, in New York City bars with friends. She got so many of her friends interested in soccer. Kelly got a good friend and non-soccer player so interested in the game that her friend ended up becoming the manager of her college’s women’s soccer team. Kelly said she was able to accomplish that through constant youtube videos showing the best moments of the women’s world cup both past and present. Kelly’s bombardment of videos got her friend to watch the live games and she loved it. Kelly spread her love for the game through media and was able to get one more person interested; that is how the coverage and respect for the women’s game will grow. Kelly says she had nerves and excitement during all the games especially when the United States scored but her favorite moment was during the final game after U.S. had won. Kelly described how captain Carli Lloyd, took off her captain band and passed it to the two other veterans on the team, one of who was on the team when they last won the World Cup. “My groupme was blowing up with the team talking about the game” (Kelly).

“I would watch any game that was on”. (Brianna). Brianna not only watched the games live on television but she followed the Women’s World Cup on twitter and would get play-by-plays of the games. Brianna watched the games alone or with her dad, she did not have a big party like some people, because soccer was a typical viewing on television in her house. She did, however, stay in touch with her team. She described the group-me she had with her entire team. The team used this to communicate during the games whether to post videos, scores, or even funny memes. Each member on the team also created a bracket for the games similar to fantasy football or baseball, and the girls were in competition with one another, which kept them connected during the games. The team had lots of fun and took advantage of all different apps and technologies during the Women’s World Cup. Brianna said her favorite and most emotional moment was Carli Lloyd’s hat trick in the final game. She said “I was astonished that even happened”. She said she enjoys watching the women’s game so much more because it is so much more relatable, the concept of the games are the same but men and women play the game a bit differently according to Brianna.

There were a number of “hashtags” on twitter that were trending during the Women’s World Cup including #FIFAWWC, #WWC, #womensworldcup, #worldcup2015, #wwc2015, and #USWNT. Anyone, anywhere in the world, could use those hashtags to stay connected with those following the games. Brianna and Kelly use twitter as a resource to stay connected to the Women’s World Cup. Many people argue that reading twitter for play-by-plays is not the same experience, Brianna, however, says that because she has been playing the game so long she is able to read twitter and see the game in her head.

There were numerous inequalities between the Men and Women’s World Cup experiences. The biggest inequality that resulted in the biggest complaint was that the women’s game was played on turf instead of grass. “A group of female players filed a gender discrimination lawsuit last year because no Men’s World Cup has been played on anything but natural grass”. (Huffington Post). The female players complained that the turf fields are so much harder and more difficult to recover from playing on. In addition, the women’s teams had to stay in the same hotels as their opponents. Germany’s women’s coach, Silvia Neid, spoke on this issue, “It is not up to the times. Two teams that are supposed to play against each other shouldn’t be sharing a hotel. For us, it was difficult having just won against Sweden, and Sweden was pretty sad — we still had to share the elevator with them. You play against each other but you constantly run into each other in the hotel and that shouldn’t happen.” (The Guardian). The men’s teams are offered their choice of luxury hotel and the women are not. This inequality also occurred in 2011. Kelly spoke about her concerns in regards to inequalities and lacking funds. She described the leagues in the United States and how limited the budgets are have caused 2 teams to go under in the past year. She has expressed that star players are not paid enough to play soccer as their full-time jobs in this league. These leagues are stepping-stones to the national team and the world cup and need to be properly funded. Ultimately, it is all about the money, the more money the women bring in, the more FIFA will take note and recognize how much they have done for the organization.

But let’s talk about money and how little the women’s teams receive in comparison to the men’s. The last Men’s World Cup, the winners were rewarded 35 million dollars, the runner-ups were rewarded 25 million, the third place team was rewarded 22 million, and the fourth place team was rewarded 20 million. It does not stop there, teams that made it to the quarter finals each received 14 million dollars, those who made it to the sweet sixteen received 9 million each. Now, for the best part, teams who lost in the first round won 8 million dollars each. The winners of the 2015 Women’s World Cup won… 2 million dollars! Wait, what? That cannot be right. Unfortunately, it is. These numbers seem ridiculous, but female soccer players choose to see the positive. Brianna believes the success of the team (U.S. Women’s National Team) has been the driving factor behind appreciation for women’s soccer.

The Women’s World Cups have done lots for FIFA, but there have only been seven Women’s World Cups while there have been twenty Men’s World Cup. The WWC will continue to grow and thrive. Through the use of twitter, television, and the promotion of the sport through female soccer players the inequalities will become smaller and smaller.

There will always be haters like Kelly’s brother who says, “it’s just girls soccer”, but it is not about the haters, it is about the increase in those interested and watching. Kelly was able to get her friend interested in the game this summer and played part in spreading the appreciation and interest for the game. Through the media, sharing of youtube links, articles, tweets, and more the women’s game will become more popular and a force to be reckoned with. As there are more Women’s World Cups, there will be more successful and inspirational stories that will draw in more and more viewers. The more viewers there are, the more the women’s game will recognized and the players will be respected. In time, the steady increase of fans and wins will create an undeniable force that is the Women’s World Cup.

For those twenty minutes my world did not exist, the world of Huckleberry Finn was all that mattered. I chose to read a book that I have read four times because had I chosen a new book, I would have spent the rest of the day reading. I get lost in books. Some people use books to help them fall asleep, but they keep me up at night. Some people say to themselves one more episode, but once I have started a book I say just one more chapter. I also chose Huck Finn because I took a course on Mark Twain and had to read it for class. I thought, was the experience going to be different because it is not mandatory reading in a sense? While I did not have to put in sticky notes as I read along, the experience was ultimately the same for me because I was reading a story without distractions. Maybe I always get lost in books because I find the right ones; meaning because it is a physical entity that I will be buying, I take my time browsing and reading back covers to find something I know I will love. Buying a printed book is not immediate or free, making the choice more thought out. Is that a negative? Having to take the time to go to a bookstore? We live in a world of schedules and time limits, we do not live in Huck’s simpler life, we need to get things done. So we ask ourselves, is it really worth going all the way to the store? I am so busy anyway, will I really read the book? For some the answer will be no and some the answer will be yes, but is the compromise telling ourselves we do enough reading online?

Reading the article on medium was second nature, I scrolled through my options and picked one I found interesting. I read along but I felt an urge to stop reading and find something else. It was a good article on sports that I related to, but because I had the ability to bounce around and see what else was online with just a click, made it that much more difficult to stay focused. I highlighted what I found interesting, but when I came to a spot where I had an opinion, I hesitated. I thought, I do not even know this person and I don’t want to comment on their work. What if I sound dumb and the author writes back and eviscerates me? The thought of publishing a comment for the world to see brought on anxiety so I left a couple very short comments. Reading online in length is a very difficult task for me personally because I become too distracted and want to click onto the next thing. And knowing this about myself, I choose never to do academic reading online to avoid distraction.

Print or online? It is all based on personal opinion and preference, but personally I feel the need for both in my life. Reading novels is a way for me to get lost and relax, it is so enjoyable and beneficial that I am going to promise to let myself just read for an hour a day. Reading online keeps me efficient and in the loop with the world, friends, and family. Whether I am reading my extended family facebook page (yes, we have one!), the news, or an article a friend posted, it gives me a sense of connectedness that I need in my life as well. Reading books is a solidary activity, one falls into a world with the characters and online reading is a sociable activity, it allows for constant communication through comments. The world needs both, simple as that.

This summer I took a trip to Atlanta, GA unfortunately I had to take a plane to get there. I am not one of those people who have a major fear of flying nor do I get sick on planes; but I do get bored very easily. Everything seemed to be running smoothly, security at the airport was quick and I was able to gate check my bag for free but of course travelling can never be that simple. I watched at the gate as the flight got delayed over and over because the plane needed to be cleaned thoroughly from the flight prior.

Finally the plane was boarded and I had a window seat and a personal on board TV calling my name. I was all settled in, I put my phone on airplane mode and started watching the plane TV. It is funny how the stress and time of travel can be minimized with a simple solution of an on board television. I also was going to get in flight wifi but that is only offered once the plane is in the air.

Of course with my luck there were engine issues and the plane needed to be powered down and checked. The airline required us to stay on board with our electronics off and the airline provided entertainment down. Now people on board including myself began to stress and become impatient. Nowadays, it is the norm to have constant means of entertainment. People always have something to keep themselves preoccupied and that something is media. My experience this summer was evidence that people today become very impatient and tense when without the stream of media. It is similar to the idea of a drug addict going through the first steps of withdrawal. People have become addicted and dependent on constant entertainment by the media. On board a plane without any connection to the outside world is an utter nightmare to the masses of today.

I sat for over an hour waiting and waiting for the airline to figure out what was wrong with the plane. I stared mindlessly out of the window with nothing to entertain me. I had not even thought to bring a hard copy of a book since I had counted on the in flight TV and wifi. Airlines today take advantage of these societal norms of the need for constant entertainment and connection to the world. Airlines can make themselves more elite by offering these in flight amenities and can jack up their prices per flight as well. In addition, in flight wifi is not cheap. Passengers pay per hour to have access to the wifi on board. Passengers, however, willingly pay for the overpriced wifi to avoid the feeling of disconnect from the world. Personally, whenever I fly I have the TV playing while I browse the web and use the wifi to enable my imessages and message my friends. Supplying those amenities makes me feel as if I am not travelling because watching tv and texting are exactly what I would be doing if I were home.

I was visiting my boyfriend for the weekend and I felt so disconnected from him without my phone that I went against the rules and turned my phone on just for a minute in order to check my messages. I am so attached my phone that I was unable to keep it off for an hour. Phones today are portals to everything. Most people, it seems, have smart phones therefore have access to the internet. The internet allows people across the world to stay connected.

The tension on the plane was heightened when we were told the issue that had been holding us up was that the airline forgot to check the gas tank and we needed to refuel. This caused quite a few upset customers that the flight attendants had to handle with apologies and free snacks. Such a mindless mistake would cause anger with or without access to the media while waiting; however, tensions were much higher due to the lack of preoccupation of TV or wifi and, in my opinion, caused the overwhelming outbursts of angry customers.

After the plane had finally been refueled it was time to take off. Once the plane TVs were turned back on, the tension melted away, people were calmed and preoccupied. Once in the air I felt major relief because I had access to the internet and the outside world. I no longer felt alone in a stressful situation, I had outlets to vent to and distract me.