Sports world-wide acts as a platform for culture specific to different places. There are different values, characteristics, and measurements of success in each sport and in each society. According to Jay Coakley, sports in every society has "identifying features related to culture, social interaction, and social structure" (5). These three characteristics of a society evolve with time. Similarly, the idea and definition of 'sport' does too.
For example, in the USA, the acceptance of certain activities such as cheerleading and skateborading as sports has changed over the years. However, football is arguably the most popular sport in the US today. Other popular sports in America also include baseball, basketball, soccer, and hockey. Each of these sports share common characteristics such as coaches, team members, score boards, rules, officials, and a ball (or puck). Each of these sports have individual features related to culture, social interaction, and social structure. The interactions betweens fans, teammates, and opposing players creates a social world specific to each sport. Another common characteristic shared by each of these sports is the spirit revealed by the fans. On 'game day', the value of a specific team in a culture is obvious. For example, on the Sunday of a Colorado Broncos NFL game, almost every Coloradan will be wearing either orange, blue, or a combination of both and almost every store will be displaying the Broncos colors in some way, whether it be blue and orange balloons or a flag to support the home team.
The success of sports in the US can be measured in different ways. The success of a sports team is measured by the amount of championship games won. The success of an individual athlete is the amount of trophies, championship rings, or medals the athlete has on display. The success of both a team or individual sport is measured by the amount of fans or the number of viewers. The success of an athlete is to have a professional title in a specific sport. In a broader sense, Thomas Jech in his book "The Ranking of Incomplete Tournaments: the Mathematician's Guide to Popular Sports"states that successful sports teams "are determined, whenever possible, by objective methods, preferably measuring performance numerically, in terms of seconds, meters and number of wins and losses, etc" (246).
Above all, the key factor in popular sports in America is that fact that sports is predominately masculine. The most-watched, most-spirited, and most popular sports (listed above) are all male groups. As stated in the text, strong, competent woman athletes are "described as 'unfeminine' or as 'unnatural' or 'immoral'" (Coakley 19). This ideology has been deeply rooted in American society years and is obviously still in practice today.
It's really interesting that you talked about the evolving nature of the definition of sports, be it based temporally or geographically. I think when discussing the similarities between the "most popular" sports in the United States (football, baseball, basketball, hockey), it's important not only to address the similarities in gameplay, but also the similarities in players. Though there is also a WNBA, women's sports are typically backburnered, and aren't part of the national sports culture. Men's sports are the big cash cows in America-- what makes them so much "better" (or just more culturally acceptable) than women's sports?
ReplyDeleteEmily Connelly
I think it is interesting about all the points you used and the specific "Coloradan" example you used. I did like towards the end of your post you start discussing the differences between male and female sports. The question that I have is are there sports that girls play that are seen more as a feminine sport. i.e.: volleyball, soccer, tennis?
ReplyDeleteAusten Mayemura