Sports Reflect American Values

How the NFL Reflects American Culture. Article: http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-nfl-reflects-american-culture-1411149452

On January 29, 2015 my American Sport in the 21st Century class discussed how sport reflects American societal values. This is seen through drugs, violence, and inequality. Big time stories such as Ray Rice physically hurting his girlfriend, or Adrian Peterson beating his son with a switch, and even more often athletes not passing drug tests and having to be suspended. Since these incidents, professional sport organizations have taken a stand against domestic violence with their campaign called "No more." These negative actions also reflect the morals of our society. When a basketball player pushes another player he is fouled, or when an athlete doesn't pass his drug test he is suspended. These are consequences for their actions, and show that cheating and lying isn't okay even when you're a professional athlete. If you were an alien and you landed in the middle of Super Bowl Sunday what would you think?

 This sport reflects the violence that us Americans crave. In the article How the NFL Reflects American Culture author Rich Cohen explains that the NFL clearly represents all aspect of society including the good and the bad. Clearly sports bring people together. Often times fans ban together against a team, and this shows unity. College and professional sports also show viewers that hard work and dedication is necessary. Us Americans value Nationalism (lecture 1-29-15) and what better way to show off your national pride than with American sports?

Super Bowl 2012. Showing American unity by supporting their favorite team.

Politics and Sport

Presidents and sports have always been linked. Article: http://www.desertsun.com/story/sports/columnists/shad-powers/2015/02/13/barack-obama-gerald-ford/23372113/

                 President Obama throwing the first pitch of opening day for the Chicago White Sox

On February 27, 2015 my American Sport and the 21st Century class discussed how politics are involved in sport. Sport has been used as a propaganda tool not only nationally but internationally as well. At the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936 Adolf Hitler used the Olympics to promote his "Aryan supremacy" (Lecture 2-26-15). Since then boycotts have grown to exist because of political differences between participating and host countries. 70% of Americans identify as a "sports fan" (Lecture 1-22-15) so it is natural for politics to use sport as a propaganda tool. For example, as discussed in lecture of 2-26-15 the White House holds a reception of Champions, and "Athletes for Obama" was created to generate support for Obama.

Also, a not-so-recent trend of Presidents throwing the first pitch during a baseball game is used very often. In fact, as mentioned in the article Presidents and sports have always been linked every President since President Taft (with the exception of Jimmy Carter) have thrown the first pitch of opening day of a baseball game. It is also mentioned that many presidents have surprising athletic background. Gerald Ford and Dwight Eisenhower played football, Abraham Lincoln wrestled, Richard Nixon was fond of bowling, and the list goes on. This promotes fitness within the country, which was a major deal when Americans fell short of average when it came to physical tests when being drafted for war (Lecture 2-12-15). So, what does this mean? Whether Politicians are promoting sport, or sport is being used to promote an idea it is impossible to get away from the influence of both on one another.

Varsity Sports and its Cost

Cost of High School Sports. Pay-to-Play Keeping Kids on the Sidelines Article: http://www.uofmhealth.org/news/archive/201501/pay-play-keeping-kids-sidelines

On February 19, 2015 my American Sport in the 21st Century class discussed interscholastic sport. We briefly touched base on a lot of topic areas such as pros and cons, values, problems, and cost. High Schools cut $2 billion in funding just last year. What does this mean for schools? Pay to play? Less games? Buy your own equipment? No athletic trainers? According to the article Pay-to-Play Keeping Kids on the Sidelines one in seven parents could not afford for their kids to play middle or high school sports. The average cost to participate in a sport was $126, but that did not include travel or equipment. This cost is too much for lower-income households, which is bad news for the future sport managers such as myself. Unfortunately, 1/3 kids drop out every year (lecture 2-17-15) and with the rising costs of participation this number may increase.

This means less jobs and opportunities for the future sport managers. Although some may argue that this is okay because sports distract students from their academics, but I believe the pros outweigh these cons. Sports allow for a person to grow, learn skills, and allow them to work with a team. These skills are necessary for adulthood, and limiting participation is not the solution.

Youth Sports

Jackie Robinson West stripped of U.S. Little League championship. Article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-jackie-robinson-west-little-league-20150211-story.html#page=1

Jackie Robinson West Little League team 2014

On February 12, 2015 my American Sport in the 21st Century class discussed youth sports and asked the question, "Are they worth it?" Pros and con exist within this debatable topic, which was also discussed in the classroom. Getting children involved in sports has its obvious perks like maintaining health and fitness, teaching children leadership, allows children to interact, and prepares these children for adulthood because nowadays competition exists just about anywhere.Unfortunately, coaches and parents are too focused on winning. This often times turns into winning at any cost, and this teaches children that all there is to sport is winning, and it's okay to cheat as long as the end result is a win. Unfortunately, this is seen a lot more now.

For example, the Jackie Robinson West Little League team based in Chicago was stripped of their championship when they had defeated Las Vegas' Mountain Ridge Little League last August. As mentioned in the article Jackie Robinson West Stripped of U.S.Little League Championship, Coaches had recruited players outside of the residential boundaries of the team, and later tried to cover this up. The coaches were aware of what was happening, and allowed this to happen anyway.  This sets a bad example for the players showing them that winning at any cost was necessary. After the story had come out the coaches said that the boys deserved to win because of their hard work. Although this may be true his recruiting methods went against the rules. This also puts pressure on the players because the coach wanted to win, and clearly went to extremes to do it. This takes away players from the game, and is a major reason that young players continuously dropout. This story truly makes you think, are youth sports worth it?