Joe Drenski Mr.

Vetter ENG 3840J: Writing, Reading and Rhetoric in the Professions 9/26/13 Reflective Essay The readings for this project really opened my eyes as to what genre is and how to examine it. I used to think that genre was just book and movie themes, but it is much more than that. I learned that genre is all around us and it is happening constantly in our everyday lives. They are very different as well, differing from the style of the presenter to the situation that it is presented in. I have become very analytical of genres now because I know different aspects that I can critique genres on. Berkenkotter and Huckins piece really opened me up to that by describing the five levels that they analyze genre on. Using those five criteria, it is fairly simple to analyze and critique a genre. It made me grasp a deeper understanding of my field as well because I used a very common genre in my profession and broke it down. Content is the most important thing that in my field, in my opinion, because my profession is a lot about what is being said and also about what is not being said. Genres are understood much easier if you really listen to everything that the speaker is saying. As for this project, I found it very difficult to get started and to get into a writing rhythm. I think a big cause of that is because it is a much different paper than any of us have ever written before. It is not a typical argument piece where you have your introduction with your thesis, your three main points and a closing paragraph. I struggled developing a thesis for this paper because it is not a thesis sentence like we are used to; it is more of a thesis paragraph like the student sample we saw in class had. I think a little more help in understanding this style of writing would have been helpful, but it was also useful in making us figure it out on our owns because we all had to try our own methods and figure

out our own styles. I think this paper has my own distinct style to it and I think that is what you wanted when you assigned this paper.

Joe Drenski Mr. Vetter ENG 3840J: Writing, Reading and Rhetoric in the Professions 9/24/13 Analytical Breakdown of Genre in the Sports Law World

Understanding genre is critical for writers because genre is the basis for communication between people in their professions. Without the understanding of specific genres, miscommunications can easily be made in the workplace. Dirk explains the importance of genre knowledge and the understanding of it when she says, knowing what a genre is used for can help people to accomplish goals (p. 253). She continues to explain that it doesnt matter if the goal is to land your dream job or to win over the heart of your loved one, understanding and correctly using genres will help you to succeed in these feats. Beaufort uses the example of Ursula in her two essays to help explain that us as writers do not learn the specifics of genres while we are in school, and therefore head into our profession not knowing the essential information needed to communicate effectively. We are taught general knowledge in school because it can relate to everyone, but local knowledge is never taught so we enter our careers unprepared for what we are going to face. This is why graduate school is helpful for most college graduates because that is where the local knowledge for our specific professions is taught. This essay will look at one very common genre in the very unique field of sports law, an athleteagent contract agreement, in order to understand the local knowledge needed to be a part of this field and to further examine the structure, format and content used in these genre examples. Writers and other participants in the field of sports law must be fluent in contractual law and have an understanding of the business aspects of the sporting industry in order to comprehend and use this genre correctly. Sports agents must have a law degree to become an agent, so they are fully capable in understanding

the law aspect of their field. Agents must be able to represent their athlete in every business aspect of their lives, such as the financial side, the contractual agreements, and maintaining a professional outlook at all times because they take the place of the athlete in all areas beside the athletic performance. Agents must manage their client and always have their best interest in mind. In doing this, they receive roughly three to seven percent of their clients contract agreement. My first piece of genre that I am studying is the contract between an athlete and a sports agent. This form of genre is used only in professional sports because only professional players are allowed to have an agent. This is a binding agreement between the client and his representation, has an exact duration of time that it is good for, and is used to solve any dispute that may come up over the duration of the contractual relationship. There are many key issues that are covered in this contract. Because they are so highly important and very essential to the clients life, these contracts usually go for days maybe weeks without being signed. Some basic subjects that are covered are the duration of the agreement, the parties that are agreeing and the guarantees made by each person, the obligations owed to the athlete, the compensation owed to the agent, and the cancelation clause that gives either party the right to forbid the contact at any point in time in the relationship. These contracts are usually a basic template that is drawn up by the agency, with a select amount of changes made based on the talent or marketability of the athlete. The client, usually uneducated in the field of contractual agreements, looks it over himself as well as has his family, mentors, or sometimes a lawyer look over it to make sure that there isnt anything strange within the deal. The readers whom the athlete trusts to look over it for him are trusted to always have the athletes best interest in mind. Some athletes have had almost all of their money taken from them because they left it in the hands of unethical agents, financial managers, and advisors.

Form and content are extremely important when talking about genre knowledge because having an understanding of the genre lets you know which content is appropriate for the specific purpose in the particular situation. The content in a client-representation contractual agreement is one that is very formal and completely laid out. There are no secrets within the contract. I think Huckin and Berkenkotter explain content very well in their essay when they said, what constitutes true genre knowledge is not just a knowledge of formal conventions but a knowledge of appropriate topics and relevant details as well (p. 488). This quote explains that content in a genre is not just about what you put into a genre, but it is also about what you leave out. In an athlete-agent contract, a major red flag that sends a lot of great athletes running for the hills is when an agent makes promises. That is something an agent should never do because it adds that sense of extra pressure. The only promise an agent should make is that they are going to try their very best and always have their clients best interest in mind. When an agent hands over the contract to an athlete and asks them to review it, it is assumed by the agent that this athlete and his support group have a certain background knowledge that would make them able to comprehend the contract and the relationship that goes along with it. These contracts can tend to be very confusing to someone who does not have the proper training because there are many clauses and situations, especially covered in the compensation section, that could bring arise to some questions. Especially, with the compensation area being the most detailed, this is the area that you should know best because this is all about your money and earnings. In most cases the athlete does not have this type of knowledge or understanding of the genre, so that is why they have their support group which I stated before may consist of family, friends, mentors and sometimes professionals such as lawyers. Once this contract is signed, the athletes business life is now in the hands of his agent, so it should be someone you trust and you know has your best interest in mind. These relationships are so strong that athletes and agents tend to become very good friends and most

athletes, especially in football and basketball, tend to keep the same agent for most of their career. Once that trust is established, then there are no barriers left in the relationship. Format and structure of client-representation contracts are, for the most part, very similar because they all cover the same material. There must be certain aspects in every single contract which is why they are all formatted similarly. Differences in contracts are usually attributed to the individual player. A player with high potential and marketability may have a higher percentage of his earnings taken out from his agent because he is expected to make a lot of money. They are usually four to eight pages, covering all the basics of the upcoming relationship between the athlete and agent. They are structured very formally with articles and subsections making the document easily to read and to point out specific clauses detailed in it. It is important to be able to read easily because it is often read by people who do not have the proper training to fully comprehend contracts, and it is always referred back to in times of conflict between the agent and client so the specific content must be easy to find. Genre knowledge is very important to be successful in your profession because genre is always happening and if understood correctly, it can lead to success in your career. Genre is far from what most people think of when they the word. Most people think of book themes such as horror, romance, science fiction, etc. but genre is much more than that. It happens all the time and ranges from a conversation to an important document to an informal memo. Genres in the sports management/sports law field have a distinct rhythm to them. They are formal because of the law and professional aspect, but also have a laid back type to them because they deal with sport and entertainment. Form, content and structure are extremely important in this field because they set the tone for the relationship between the parties. What is not said is just as important as what is said. This field requires a lot of education and background knowledge because it involves things that arent handled with every day, such as representation contracts, very talented individuals, and a lot of money. Local knowledge is

crucial and must be taught before entering the field because specific education is needed to be around this profession.

Appendix Sample Contract (2009-2010) Sports Agent International http://www.sportagentinternational.com/18/Examples.html Works Cited

Beaufort, Anne. Learning New Genres: The Convergence of Knowledge and Action. Writing in the Real World. New York: Teachers College Press, 1999. 103-137. Print. Berkenkotter, Carol, and Thomas N. Hucken. Rethinking Genre From a Sociocognitive Perspective. Written Communication 10.4 (1993) 475-509. Print. Dirk, Kerry. Navigating Genres. Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing 1 (2010) 249-262. Print.