Professional Joke TM
“Olympic Heartbreak” Hanover, NH
November 8, 2020
Informant Data:
TM was born in New York City, New York on December 4th, 1990. He grew up in Manhattan where he started rowing in high school in 2004. TM graduated from Wesleyan in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in government. During his college career, he was both a team captain and MVP. Following college, TM spent a year coaching at Fordham University for both men’s and women’s crew teams. TM then moved on to coach at Wesleyan before moving on to coach men’s lightweight rowing followed by woman’s lightweight rowing. Additionally, in 2015 he competed at the World University Games for the U.S. lightweight single sculler.
Contextual Data:
Cultural context: Rowing is a highly competitive sport based on both physical and mental endurance. The biggest competition for the sport of rowing is the Olympic Games, hence, a rower that has competed at the Olympics is of the highest calibre.
Social context: The professional sport of rowing is not a highly publicized sport on large sports media outlets. Outside of the rowing community, the sport is only really shown on the world stage when the Olympics games are being held. Hence, there is little money that rowers are able to earn from events due to low media coverage and public commission. One of the main way’s rowers are able to earn a salary is through the National rowing program from their respected country. Within the U.S., this may be as low as a couple of hundred dollars per month. Hence, the joke is told to college athletes looking to compete professionally, warning them that there is little financial support if they choose to pursue their sport on a professional level.
Item:
“What happens when a rower breaks up with their girlfriend? They become homeless.”
Tags:
- Verbal folklore
- Jokes
- Referential humor
- Coaching
Nina Paripovic
Dartmouth College
RUSS 13
Fall 2020