Sports in America and the way we view sports are different than other cultures around the world. Unlike most countries, the United States does not center around sports like soccer which seems to be the most popular sport in other countries. For us the most popular sport to watch is football followed by basketball and baseball. Sports such as hockey, golf, NASCAR, and tennis are other runner up sports that many in our society enjoy watching during your average week. It is also important to note that the most popular sports in our culture are men's sports. While women participate in many sports, the most popular televised ones are all men's sports. The most popular sports in America are ones that emphasize similar characteristics leading them to their high status. These characteristics include intense competition, money, masculinity, a type of marketing opportunity, and spectacle of some sort fulfilling our entertainment needs. It is the similarity between the characteristics of these sports and the characteristics of our American culture that make them so popular. America is built around the traits of competition between you and your fellow person, money as a symbol of success, toughness, and having a grandiose attitude about everything.
A typical game day can vary based on if you are attending the game or just viewing it. Either way it starts with one representing the team their rooting for by wearing jerseys, hats, or even just your teams colors. Game day usually includes groups of people getting together with typical game day snacks like wings, pizza, chips, dips, hot dogs, and other enjoyable finger foods. In addition there is usually beer and other types of beverages to help get into the spirit. If you're at the stadium there are large crowds of people all pouring into the stadium to watch their favorite team. These sporting events reinforces the values of unity, loyalty and competition. There is unity with other fans who are supporting your team, loyalty to stick with your team through good and bad games, and competition with the rivalry teams.
In US sport, success is measured by a teams statistics, particularly how many games you have won. The teams we consider the best are the ones who are winning the most games and making it to the championships. As far as athletes go, individual success is measured through the amount of money they are making and the amount of playing time they get. With competition being a major quality of our sports in the United States, the most important thing is winning. It is what you hope for when you go to a game and is what keeps money coming in, which is the second most important part of professional US sports.
I would say an individual athlete's success is determined by their on-field performance and statistics, which then determines their playing time/ salary.
ReplyDeleteOther than that little nitpick, nice post.
-Kyle Robbins
You mention "In addition there is usually beer and other types of beverages to help get into the spirit." I agree. Does this strike you as odd that alcohol is so integral to enjoying sporting events. Thinking in terms of the culture of sport viewership it seems significant. - Prof Withycombe
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting that you brought up NASCAR as one of the leading sports in the US. I think that sometimes popular sports even vary by region of our country. I know hockey is very popular in the north, football in the south, NASCAR in the east, and baseball in the west. I find it interesting that we can have such variations just in our own country.
ReplyDelete-Wesley Morton