Sport plays a huge role in my life. I started “playing sport” when I was two years old. My parents had me out on the ski slopes before my second birthday. I don’t remember it but from stories I’ve heard from my parents I hated it. My mom would have to bribe me with M&Ms and french fries just to get me down the mountain. Now, I love skiing. I’m very grateful my parents pushed me at such a young age to learn something that I’d one day love to do. My parents pushed me to play soccer when I was five years old. Who would have thought I hated that too. But as I grew older and got better at the sports I was influenced to participate in, I gained an attitude that has molded me as a person and who I am today. Starting to play soccer at five introduced me to a team setting. A setting where not only did I train to better myself, but a bond with my teammates and an attitude that we as a team can better ourselves. In sport, one thing builds on another to create an attitude that guides through every aspect of life. Being pushed in High School to train hard, motivate myself and others around me has pushed me to continue to better myself and be a successful student. Attributes that are built around sport don’t end on the field, they apply to all aspects of my life.
When looking at the role of sport in US Society, I first thought it only had a positive effect. After reading the article by Eitzen, I now look at sport in US society in a completely different light. Sport has both a positive and negative effect. According to the article, more americans watched the SuperBowl in 2004 than voted in the 2004 Presidential election. Americans are extremely influenced by sport. It teaches us to build character, yet turns us into people we truly deep down are not. Big events, like the SuperBowl and Olympics teach us not to look at the actual process of the game but to only care about the outcome in the end. Professional athletes are paid millions of dollars to put on a show for people they don’t even know. As Eitzen states, sports have gone from something athletes did for play and pleasure to a job, a job to please the fans that pay to see them. But I do not fully agree with Eitzen. Yes, athletes are payed to play sports, it is their job and they do it for people they do not know. But does that really take away their pleasure and love for the sport? Professional athletes are drafted to teams due to their talent. They are super stars in the eyes of the public. I don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing. They go their whole life building character and setting goals for themselves. If they make it to where they get paid millions to do what they’ve always pushed themselves to do I think they are a huge success. Just because money is involved, doesn’t mean they aren’t just as determined as before, hell, they may be even more determined to succeed. Eitzen says that it is a negative that large corporations hold most of the control over professional sports, such as tickets to the SuperBowl, but didn’t the people running those corporations get where they are today because of drive and determination? Starting sports at a young age because your parents pushed you to do something you don’t want to do builds character. It create a canvas for you to paint your goals on. This is how america works. Large corporations own large scale sports teams because they are the best at what they do. Being the best at one thing leads to bigger and better things.
I like your assertion of sports stars elevated status as a motivating factor for their performance. I think you could discuss negative outcomes of this drive and determination, as well. In the article we read last week about the Sports Ethic, it talked a lot about athlete's overconformity to the expectations placed upon them by their sport; it seems important to mention that on the professional field, often drive and determination are praised, but are also not enough (why else would athletes resort to performance enhancing drugs?)
ReplyDeleteEmily Connelly