To me, sports represent more than just entertainment. I believe that they embody characteristics that I can apply to my own life: courage, sacrifice, teamwork, commitment, and perseverance. Growing up, I played basketball, and through experience, I learned how to apply the lessons that it taught me off the court to become a more well-rounded individual. I also watched a lot of sports (mainly football, but also basketball and baseball), and as a fan of specific teams, I felt part of a broader community of sports fanatics. This gave me a sense of camaraderie with other individuals who liked watching sports, and I could develop a connection with people based on this common interest. Overall, sports have had a strong impact on my life, and by both playing and watching them I have definitely changed and grown as an individual.
In society, I think that sport has a primarily positive influence, but there also negative aspects of it. As Stanley Eitzen states in "Fair and Foul": "Sport shares with the larger society the basic elements and expressions of bureaucratization, commercialization, racism, sexism, homophobia, greed, exploitation of the powerless by the powerful, alienation, and ethnocentrism". While I generally think that sport embodies more positive values such as teamwork and perseverance, at the professional level there is no denying the corporate influence that threatens to overshadow the game. I think that due to the popularity of sports in American culture, most people tend to appreciate the positive aspects of it, and attempt to ignore the uglier behind-the-scenes aspects of it. Overall, I think that it is obvious how pervasive sports are in American society, and I think that this is largely due to marketing. Even people who do not follow sports closely know the names of certain athletes and teams, and I believe that this is partially due to the commercialization of sports as a brand, which gets the attention of the general public. It is interesting to note how athletes are perceived by the general public, as some are held in high regard for their accomplishments and persona, while others are harshly criticized for being liars, cheaters, or just plain arrogant. While I think that the perception of most famous athletes is positive due to their athletic accomplishments taking precedence over their personal lives, it is undeniable that an athlete's reputation can increase or decrease drastically in a short amount of time.
References: Eitzen, Stanley. Fair and Foul. Chapter 1.
My idea of sports effect on society was similar to yours in the sense that we both agreed that although sports have some negative effects on society, the positive effects outweigh them. However, I like how you took this a step further and brought in the sociological idea that people actually IGNORE the negative aspects and focus on the positive. I hadn't thought about this, but I do agree and I believe this happens because people are so passionate about sports, and desperately want something to believe in or a team to root for. It is important to think critically about the readings and in this case I completely agree with your critique of Stanley Eitzen's concepts of sports as foul.
ReplyDelete-Taylor Murray