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We argue that Messner’s 1996 address makes it acceptable to write about queer theory as long as the discourse reproduces the stable knowledge bases and political aims of a new hegemonic “critical” sports studies. This is not queer “studying up”; it is “sociology of sport as usual.” A queer “studying up” traces and deconstructs the processes that produce heterosexuality as “the normal” in sport, and it requires the sport sociologist to be reflexive about the ways in which he or she is invested in “the normal.”

It is commonly believed that gymnasts are at risk for eating disorders. However, research examining whether gymnasts are a high-risk population for eating pathologies is equivocal. The purpose of our study was to examine disordered eating among Division I female gymnasts using a longitudinal design with validated eating disorder measures. Participants (n = 72) completed the Drive for Thinness, Body Dissatisfaction and Perfectionism subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (Garner, 1991), and the Social Physique Anxiety Scale (Martin et al., 1997), twice during their competitive season (i.e., October and March). There were no significant time differences for the eating disorder subscales, indicating that gymnasts’ perfectionism, body dissatisfaction, and anorexic tendencies may be stable characteristics that do not change across a competitive season. Implications of these results and future research directions are discussed.

This article uses data on sanctions against member schools of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) from 1952 to 1990 to examine density of competition and legitimacy of rules as regulatory dynamics in a relatively stable population of organizations. The NCAA regulates athletic competition through enforcement of rules that mediate between various definitions of legitimate conduct. Schools in less densely competitive environments are more likely to receive penalties for rules violations than are schools in more densely competitive environments. It is also found that NCAA Division I schools in the South, Southwest, and Midwest are significantly more likely to receive penalties than are schools in the Mideast and East. The article concludes that the legitimacy of rules varies across schools and across regions, creating different cultures of competition that affect the likelihood of deviance and sanction.