Yet Americans cheer on their favorite individual stars in all of these sports, especially if the starts engage in charity efforts to justify their bloated salaries. The tension remains about what good sports do for both the individual or society, and Americans today are clearly using sports as a means of practical self-improvement like the Greeks as well as a means of collective identification like the English: "in the 1950's or 1960's, few people exercised; baseline fitness-consciousness was just above zero. Today, 20% of the U.S. population works out on a regular basis, while an additional 60%+ can be classified as...'Consciousness III' -- those persuaded of physical fitness, but who by their own admission, don't get enough exercise. As behavior lags enlightened attitudes, 4 out of 5 adult Americans are true believers in exercise and fitness." But the protests remain that Americans are too busy to exercise, too busy working to do something as decadent as work on their bodies for either the individual or the collective good. One interesting trend is that today America has more female sports participants. "In a bygone era, women who lifted weights invited a spate of gender-specific epithets; but for many of today's men, toned muscles are an ideal of feminine attractiveness. From 1987-2005, the number of women who trained with free weights tripled from 7.4 million to 22.6 million." Interestingly, unlike male sports the female sports that have generated the most interest in the American public (and the most highly-paid female athletes) have tended to come from individual rather than team sports like tennis and gymnastics. The self-improving 'girl power' ethos suggests once again the American moral demand to justify sports as uplifting and beneficial to a cause, rather than pure fun. And great tennis star Billie Jean King is probably more famous for symbolically defeating an out-of-shape male tennis player named Bobby Riggs than winning matches against the best female players of her generation, although the later showed her individual excellence within the standard rules and parameters of her...
Sport must be a metaphor, individual or collective, it cannot simply 'be' in America -- politics once again wins over sport for sport's sake in the continued American anxiety over how much time and money we lavish on our interest in games, even while we become a nation of spectators, rather than participants.
Planning such an event when it has not been done before is very difficult and time consuming. Mistakes can easily be made on cost, time, and other issues when people are unsure as to what they should do to create an event that is successful - which could happen because the promotion company is uncertain about putting on such a large event and has questions about many aspects of it. Volunteers and
Athletics and Academics In the current economic climate of the United States, public institutions are finding themselves having to make harsher and harsher budget cuts. Teaching positions are minimized, class sizes are increased, and fees are rising to nearly unaffordable regions. The English Department at a certain university or high school may drop from twenty-five professors to a dozen or so. It is the harsh reality of living in an era
Prizes have always been a part of contests, a tradition that can be traced back for centuries. In Homer's the Iliad, Achilles hosts a contest in honor of the fallen Patroclus, "The first prize he offered was for the Chariot races -- a woman skilled in all the useful arts, and a three legged cauldron that had ears for handles, and would hold twenty two measures. This was for
Sports Participation And Character Development sports participation CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT Opening statement Summary of the literature framing history of the project, using 5 articles related to the problem Gaps and/or deficiencies in prior research Importance of present study Why the study should be pursued For whom is it important Purpose of the statement Research design (experimental, quasi-experimental, or non-experimental) Theory tested or described Intent (describe, compare, relate) Variables (independent, dependent, controlling, intervening) Research question(s) and hypotheses Does sport build character? Can sports participation result in positive character development? Can
since they are all based on hard work while using steroids is not; it is a short cut to gaining an unfair advantage. Is it Ethical to Use Animals in Sports? Another interesting ethical issue in sports is the morality of using animals in sports and whether it is right to use them in bloodsports such as cockfighting. In order to understand the issue we have to go back in time
Sports Agents Commonly, the terms 'sports agent', 'player agent', 'sports or contract representative' and 'contract advisor' are used interchangeably (vill.edu). Each term, whether identifying a lawyer or a non-lawyer, depicts a delegate who performs basically the same service (vill.edu). It is the duty of these professionals to represent, counsel, advise and assist a professional athlete in the negotiation, execution and enforcement of the player's contract (vill.edu). As of April 1993, two
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