Why Is America So Fascinated With Sports?

Robert Frost once said “Nothing flatters me more than to have it assumed that I could write prose – unless it be to have it assumed that I once pitched a baseball with distinction.” That sums it up nicely. Why is America so fascinated with sports?

Doctors, lawyers, poets, politicians, housewives, tradesmen, secretaries, clerks, carpenters, and judges. It doesn’t matter where you come from or where you’ve been, young and old, rich and poor, all have an interest in sports.

Perhaps we need to start by looking at what America stands for. America is about freedom, invention, creativity, adaptability, winning, and acceptance. Now ask yourself what do sports stand for? Do sports not parallel what America stands for?

Sports are a valuable asset. They are the glue the bonds the country together socially while at the same time they are the teachers of values, fair play, team play, sacrifice, and justice. They have been a leader in social and racial integration and the sports world has literally developed their own language which is often used in our day to day lives. “It was a hit,” “Three strikes your out,” “A champion is someone who gets up even when he can’t,” to name just a few.

It’s also interesting how sports have become a popular focus in the arts, movies, films, and novels. This confirms the importance of sports in the American life.

And with sports comes some interesting social rituals. In small towns across the US the local high school’s baseball or football game provides the weekly entertainment. Football fans of both university football and professional football have a tradition of having a picnic lunch or BBQ outside the stadium before kickoff. The Super Bowl and Grey Cup are cause for traditional house parties and have been for decades. It’s traditional of baseball fans from the northern state to escape south to watch their favorite baseball players play at spring camp. I could go on with the social rituals but my point has been made. Sports is to America like apple pie is to America.

And then there is that withdrawal factor. No game to watch, nobody playing. It’s like a zombie with a remote flipping through the channels looking for something, anything that’s talking about your team. Oh yes and then there is the morning paper that begins with the daily news. Nope! Sports section first then the rest of the paper. Sports fans must get their fix before anything else can matter.

Sport are also often used to focus on cultural or social issues. The issues may be racial, they may be ethical, and they may be as simple as the small town team that’s lacking enough students to form this year’s baseball team and the town’s concern being the loss of a social outing. How about the provisions that have been made for Muslim team members to allow them to fast during Ramadan, or the allowance of women in sports that previously were male only?

With sports also comes controversy. Actions of the players on the field and off the field are closely scrutinized by the media opening up a wide variety of discussions in the homes of the American people. Social values and cultural dilemmas are often openly talked about in the home when they are related to sports. Under other circumstances these topics might not generate the conversation they currently do.

The question will always remain what values do sports actually teach us? Is America too obsesses with sports? Are sports heroes to idolized? And of course the hundred dollar question, Why is America so fascinated with sports? Perhaps we’ll never have the answers to these questions but we do know just as sports has been an integral party of America’s past so it will be in the future!

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.