Sports have
become increasingly popular not only within the United States but globally as
well. The globalization of sports has created the spread of media coverage
resulting in a vast knowledge of sports. The Olympic Games are a perfect
example of the globalization of sport. The Olympics have taken globally known
sports and configured them to a certain set of rules that every country must
obey. As Bryant stated in the Handbook of
Sports and Media, “Globalization can be seen to involve a flexible network
of multidirectional movements of people, practices, customs, and ideas.” Although
the Olympics encompass many different sporting events, there are still several
sports that countries consider to be their “national Identity”, but they are
not played at the Olympics.
As society
continues to develop, sports are becoming a large part of national identities.
Sports serve to develop and refine the sense that nations have of themselves.
Many nations have a sport that reflects their values as a culture. For example,
the sport of England is cricket because it embodies their national character
through fair play, valor, and graceful conduct. Bull fighting is seen as the
traditional sport of the Spanish Culture while Sumo Wrestling represents the
uniqueness of Japanese Culture. Through sports, each nation has developed a
sense of national character that reflects their cultural values.
In America, our
nation was originally developed around the sport of baseball. However as
society has evolved over the years, baseball is now seen as America’s past time
and football has taken the role of representing our national identity. Both pro
and amateur football exceeds any other sport in terms of attendance and
viewership. With rapid technological advancements, Americans can gain a better
fan experience, connecting them with the game. TV broadcasts allow fans to
watch the game in high definition and interact with the games through things
like Fantasy Football and Twitter. Football represents the American identity both
culturally and socially.
Football represents
what Americans value most because it involves strength, teamwork, and
discipline. As Americans, we like to pride ourselves in being tough individuals
who don’t turn down a challenge. The National Football League is built on
strong players who aren’t afraid to make a hit and prove their skill on the field.
This underdog persona is another mentality that is embodied by the American
culture. Football has also
bonded Americans socially as well by providing them with an event in which
people of all ages come together to cheer on a team. Fans go to the games early
to tailgate and socialize which has transformed football into a social event as
well as an athletic one.
Each country has
its own sport that embodies their national identity; however a number of these
sports have not been a part of globalization. For example, football has not
spread to Europe just like cricket has not spread to the United States. The Olympic
Games are the only venue in which these sports are becoming globalized. Is
there another technique that will globalize these nation specific sports? Will
football ever make it into the Olympics or is it to American? Do you agree or
disagree with the national identity that football gives us as Americans?
Brian, I definitely agree with your take on football being America's new favorite sport to identify with. I agree that baseball is literally America's pastime and now Americans identify more with football. Football absolutely is a fair representation of the American way of life, it embodies teamwork, overcoming challenges and becoming successful. I think the Olympics is something Americans identify with because we our all cheering for the same team, its not like cheering for individual baseball or football teams. It is a unifying sporting event for every country.
ReplyDeleteI think the Olympics are the only globalized sport because they are on an international stage in terms of fandom and media. American football is not covered in other countries, therefore it is not developing a following. If media began to cover American sports in other countries, I think it would gain popularity.
I definitely agree with Brian for the most part in that each country has one sport that sticks out on a national level. It's a little different with each country because some countries have their main sport in the Olympics while other ones don't. For example Canada is known for hockey which is an Olympic sport, whereas football, America's most popular sport is not an Olympic sport.
ReplyDeleteI think that this concept of sports being a national identity can both ways when you think about it. Take America and football for example. The fact that there is no global challenge for the sport could be looked at as a positive or negative thing. On the positive side it could be seen as an exclusive American sport. It isn't as popular elsewhere in the world and all of the best players play here. It's something that every American can take pride in whether they play it or they are just a fan.
On the other hand, it could be viewed in a negative way in that America never gets to test their skills against the rest of the world, but how many countries are going to be able to put together Olympic football teams? There isn't really a right answer to the question, but the bottom line is that it's important for countries to have a sport that develops into a national identity. It gives athletes something to shoot for and pushes them to want to be the best. Obviously an athlete playing their favorite sport is going to be proud to play that sport. It shouldn't be a situation like with the Chinese athletes that were overworking themselves, it should always be the athletes will to want to push themselves and also know their limits.
Brian, I completely agree with your assessment on football as our national sport. It definitely embodies our national and cultural identity. The teamwork, hard-hitting, and underdog mentality of the NFL represents the United States as a whole. And the fans have really transformed football into the current American sport, surpassing baseball. Football is different than other sports in our nation. It is played on basically one day of the week, with everyone tuning in to watch not only their favorite team but also their fantasy players. The other sports, baseball, basketball, and hockey, are played one multiple days of the week and have long seasons, making it hard for fans to follow all the time. That's why I feel football is our nation's sport.
ReplyDeleteHowever, football won't make it to the Olympic games because our nations will not be able to field a team. Football is simply American. I know Canada is simply a hockey nation, but other countries including the United States have great players that can contest in Olympic play. For example, we saw the United States hockey team in 2010 battle in overtime with Canada. And for the NBA, as we spoke a little bit about today in class, European players are becoming more abundant in the league. This results in great competition during FIBA tournaments and the Olympics. However, for football, there are no foreign born players that I can think about off the top of my head. This just shows exactly what Dom is saying, that the US can't test their football skills against our nations.
I completely agree that football will never make it into Olympics, and for the same reason as everyone else does – it is simply too American. Because America is largely made up of other cultures, everyone here has an allegiance to some sort of other sport, which is why so many different ones are played here. No American moves to, say, Spain, and demands a football league. It stays within our walls. And even if it was agree to put football in the Olympics, it would probably be voted out. Baseball and softball both used to be Olympic sports, and were both eliminated for being “too American”. A 2005 article from NBC sports says “The two sports were kicked out of the Olympics, unwanted by international sports officials who felt they were too American for the world sports stage. The decision, made during a secret vote in Singapore, is effective for the 2012 London Games, meaning the two sports will have a final fling at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The sports, the first eliminated since polo in 1936, are eligible to reapply for the 2016 Games”.
ReplyDeleteLet’s face it – the rest of the world doesn’t exactly love America. SO they’re never going to include a sport in an International competition when the heavy favor is America. In fact, I think that if the Committee could eliminate swimming until Michael Phelps retired, they would! On the other hand, sports in America are so different than other countries. In Greece, for example, there are two national soccer teams. So during the World Cup, everyone bands together. American sports, like baseball and football, pit millions of Americans against each other every day. Also, we only play against Americans. Popular European sports like Rugby, Football (meaning soccer), and Cricket are played on an international stage, with countries competing against each other. So maybe looking at this in another way would offer different insight. Are American sports just not international enough?
You’re absolutely right in saying that football has become America’s sport of choice. You can just see that in the amount of fandom that takes place at football games compared to basketball or baseball games, America’s other two top sports. The level football is at in America now might be unreachable by any other sport in the future. The issue for the NFL is will they ever globally expand. They’ve already started playing games overseas, and they’ve been fairly successful, but will it last? Will people in Europe pick it up and enjoy it as much as American’s do? Only time will tell. The NBA is another story. David Stern has said that he would like his company to expand overseas within the next five or so years due to the popularity of basketball. We’ll see if that works as well, but I have a feeling they will do better than the NFL. I don’t think basketball will do well enough over here to become part of their national identity. They have their own sports they’ve enjoyed for years, basketball or anything else won’t just walk in there and take over. It’ll take some time, if anything. But in the end, the odds are likely they’ll stick with what they know and like.
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