Sports in the USA
Introduction 1
Introduction 3
Introduction 3
A SPORTS-LOVING NATION 4
MEDIA COVERAGE 5
PRIVATE AND INSTITUTIONALIZED ACTIVITIES 5
AMERICAN SPORTS 6
VIOLENCE AND SPORTS 7
COMMERCIAL ASPECTS 7
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS 9
COLLEGE SPORTS 9
STUDENT ATHLETES AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE 10
WINNING 11
Sports: Colleges and Universities 11
Kinds of sports: 13
BASEBALL 13
BASKETBALL 16
Sources 20
Introduction
Americans pay much attention to physical fitness. Many sports and
sporting activities are popular in the USA. People participate in swimming,
skating, squash and badminton, tennis, marathons, track-and-field, bowing,
archery, skiing, skating etc. But the five major American sports are
hockey, volleyball, baseball, football and basketball. Basketball and
volleyball have been invented in America.
There is a large choice of sports in America. This can be explained by the
size and variety of the country. Another reason of the popularity of sports
is the people’s love of competition of any kind. One more reason is that
Americans use sports activities for teaching socials values, such as
teamwork and sportsmanship. All this explains why Americans have
traditionally done well in many kinds of sports.
Every high school offers its students many sports, such as wrestling,
rowing, tennis and golf. There are no separate “universities” for sports in
the USA. Students of any higher educational establishment are trained in
different kinds of sports. Many colleges and universities are famous for
their sports clubs. There are sports facilities at every school.
Some americans like active games, and others like quite games. I think that
quite games, as golf and crocket, intend for rich elite people. Most
popular games in the USA is hockey, american football, baseball,
basketball. Popular among americans are NHL games. In NHL games play our
compatriots: Feudorov, Yashin, Bure brothers. They are ones of the best
players in NHL.
American football is like a rugby with kicks. Every player can beat another
one. I think american football is one of the rudest games in the world.
Baseball is played with wooden bat and hard ball. It's called "typical"
american game.
Basketball is one of the most spectators game in the USA. It's my favourite
game too.
Some unusual kinds of sports originated in America. They are windsurfing,
skate-boarding and tradition. Triathlon includes swimming, bicycling racing
and long-distances-running. Now these are becoming more and more popular in
Europe.
Sports is a part of life of an average American.
A SPORTS-LOVING NATION
Whether they are fans or players, the millions of Americans who participate
in sports are usually passionate about their games. There is more to being
a baseball fan than buying season tickets to the home team's games. A real
fan not only can recite each player's batting average, but also competes
with other fans to prove who knows the answers to the most obscure and
trivial questions about the sport. That's dedication. Dedication short of
madness is also what inspired hundreds of thousands of football fans to
fill Denver's stadium in dangerously freezing temperatures, not to watch an
exciting game but just to demonstrate team support in a pre-Superbowl pep
rally, days before the actual contest. And it is with passion that
Americans pursue the latest fitness fad, convinced that staying fit
requires much more than regular exercise and balanced meals. For anyone who
claims a real desire to stay healthy, fitness has become a science of
quantification, involving weighing, measuring, moni-toring, graph charting,
and computer printouts". These are the tools for knowing all about pulse
and heart rates, calorie intake, fat cell per muscle cell ratios, and
almost anything else that shows the results of a" workout.
MEDIA COVERAGE
The immense popularity, of sports in America is indicated by the number of
pages and headlines the average daily newspaper devotes to local and
national sports. The emphasis on sports is evident in local evening news
telecasts, too Every evening fox five to seven minutes of the half-hour
local newe show, the station's sports analyst, whose territory is
exclusively sports, reports on local, regional, and national sports events.
Television has made sports available to all. For those who cannot afford
tickets or travel to expensive play-offs like baseball's World Series or
football's final Superbowl, a flick of the television dial provides close-
up viewing that beats front row seats. Although estimates vary, the major
networks average about 500 hours each of sports programming a year.
Recently, the emergence of several cable channels that specialize in sports
gives viewers even more options. The foremost of these channels, ESPN, runs
sports shows at least 22 hours a day and is now received by 37 million
American homes, or nearly half of the 86 million homes with television
sets.
PRIVATE AND INSTITUTIONALIZED ACTIVITIES
Opportunities for keeping fit and playing sports are numerous. Jogging is
extremely popular, perhaps because it is the cheapest and most accessible
sport. Aerobic exercise and training with weight-lifting machines are two
activities which more and more men and women are pursuing. Books, videos,
and fitness-conscious movie stars that play up the glamour of fitness have
heightened enthusiasm for these exercises and have promoted the muscular,
healthy body as the American beauty ideal. Most communities have
recreational parks with tennis and basketball courts, a football or soccer
field, and outdoor grills for picnics. These parks generally charge no fees
for the use of these facilities. Some large corporations, hospitals, and
churches have indoor gymnasiums and organize informal team sports. For
those who can afford membership fees, there is the exclusive country club
and its more modern version, the health and fitness center. Members of
these clubs have access to all kinds of indoor and outdoor sports;
swimming, volleyball, golf, racquetball, handball, tennis, and basketball;
Most dubs also offer instruction in various, sports and exercise methods.
Schools and colleges have institutionalized team sports for young people.
Teams and competitions are highly organized and competitive and generally
receive substantial local publicity. High schools and colleges commonly
have a school team for each of these sports: football, basketball,
baseball, tennis, wrestling, gymnastics, and track, and sometimes for
soccer, swimming, hockey, volleyball, fencing, and golf. Practices and
games are generally held on the school premises after classes are over.
High schools and colleges recognize outstanding athletic achievement with
trophies, awards, and scholarships, and student athletes receive strong
community support.
AMERICAN SPORTS
Football, baseball, and basketball, the most popular sports in America,
originated in the United States and are largely unknown or only minor
pastimes outside North America. The football season starts in early autumn
and is followed by basketball, an indoor winter sport, and then baseball,
played in spring and slimmer. Besides these top three sports, ice hockey,
boxing, golf, car racing, horse racing, and tennis have been popular for
decades and attract large audiences.
VIOLENCE AND SPORTS
Although many spectator sports, particularly pro football, ice hockey, and
boxing, are aggressive and sometimes bloody, American spectators are
notably less violent than are sports crowds in other countries. Fighting,
bottle throwing, and rioting, common elsewhere, are not the rule among
American fans. Baseball and football games are family affairs, and
cheerleaders command the remarkably non-violent crowd to root in chorus for
their teams.
COMMERCIAL ASPECTS
For many people, sports are big business. The major television networks
contract with professional sports leagues for the rights to broadcast
their
games. The guaranteed mass viewing of major sports events means advertisers
will pay networks a lot of money to sponsor the program with
announcements
for their products. Advertisers for beer, cars, and men's products are glad
of
the opportunity to push their goods to the predominantly male audience of
the big professional sports. Commercial businesses enjoy the publicity
which
brings in sales. The networks are glad to fill up program hours and
attract
audiences who might perhaps become regular viewers of-other programs
produced by those networks, and the major sports leagues enjoy the
millions
of dollars the networks pay for the broad-casting rights contracts. Many
sports
get half of their revenues from the networks. National Football League
(NFL)
teams, for example, get about 65 percent of their revenues from
television. The
networks' 1986 contract with the NFL provided" each-of the 2g teams in the
league with an average of $14 million a year. -
"Just as in any business, investments are made and assets are exchanged.
Team owners usually sign up individual players for lucrative long-term
contracts. Star quarterback Joe Namalh was invited to play for the New York
Jets, one of the NFL teams, for $425,000 in 1965. Coveted baseball player
Kirk Gibson recently signed a three-year contract with the Detroit Tigers
for $4.1 million. More often in the past than now, team owners traded
players back and forth as items for barter.
Any business' operator hopes to get a good deal. However, the network
sports industries have not been faring well lately. They have experienced
financial setbacks mainly caused by the oversaturation of sports
programming on networks and compering cable channels. Networks claim they
are now losing money on once-lucrative telecasts. Ironically, the slump in
business is occurring at a time when sports shows are drawing larger
audiences than in recent years. Part of the problem is that advertising
costs got too high, and the industries mat traditionally Duy ads beer ana
car companies are not paying the high prices. Networks, dependent on
advertising for revenue, are hoping that the market will change before they
have to make drastic reductions ir sports programming.
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
The commercial aspects of American professional sports can make or break an
athlete's career. Young, talented athletes make it to the top because they
are exceptionally talented, but not in every case because they are the
best. In women's tennis, for example, an aspiring young tennis star must
not only possess a winning serve and backhand, she must also get corporate
agents on her side. Without agents who line up sponsors and publicity, a
player has a very difficult time moving from amateur to professional
sports. To get the endorsement of corporate advertising sponsors, a
talented young tennis player has a much better chance for success if she is
also attractive. Sales-conscious tennis sportswear companies pay large sums
of money to tennis pros who promote their products. Many top players earn
more money a year in product-endorsement fees than in prize money.
Competition and success in sports, then, is not only a matter of game
skill, but marketability as well.
COLLEGE SPORTS
College sports lost its amateurism years ago. Teams and events are
institutionalized and contribute to college publicity and revenue. Sports
bring in money to colleges from ticket sales and television rights, so
colleges like having winning teams. The better the team, the greater the
ticket sales and television coverage, and the more money the college can
channel back into athletics and other programs. Football and basketball are
the most lucrative college sports because they attract the most fans. Other
college sports, particularly women's sports, are often neglected and
ignored by spectators, the news media, and athletic directors who often
disregard-women's sports budgets and funnel money for equipment and
facilities into the sports that pay. On the other hand, top college teams
get a lot of attention. In 1986, the Division 1 college football programs
had a budget of nearly $1 billion, while entertaining millions of
spectators and television viewers.
STUDENT ATHLETES AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
To recruit student athletes for a winning team, many colleges are willing
to go to great lengths, providing full academic scholarships, to athletes,
and sometimes putting the college's academic reputatiori at risk. The tacit
understanding shared by college admissions directors as well as the
potential sports stars they admit is that athletes do not enroll in college
to learn, but to play sports and perhaps use intercollegiate sports as a
springboard for a professional career. The situation often embarrasses
college administrators, who are caught between educational ideals and
commercial realities, and infuriates other students, who resent the
preferential treatment given to athletes. Of late, some universities, such
as the University of Michigan, have initiated support programs to improve
academic performance and graduation rates of athletes.
WINNING
Increasing commercialization of college sports is part of a larger trend.
American sports are becoming more competitive and more profit-oriented. As
a result, playing to win is emphasized more than playing for fun. This is
true from the professional level all the way down to the level of
children's Little League sports" teams, where young players are encourag'ed
by such "slogans as "A quitter never wins; a winner never quits," and
"never be willing to be second best." The obsession with winning causes
some people to wonder whether sports in America should be such serious
business.
Sports: Colleges and Universities
The athletic programs of American
colleges and universities have come
in for a great deal of criticism
but there does not seem to be
a chance to alter the system.
James A. Michener gives background
information and comments on the problems.
First, the United States is the only nation in the world, so far as I
know, which demands that its schools like Harvard, Ohio State and Claremont
assume responsibility for providing the public with sports entertainment.
Ours is a unique system which has no historical sanction or application
elsewhere. It would be unthinkable for the University of Bologna, a most
ancient and honorable school, to provide scholarships to illiterate soccer
players so that they could entertain the other cities of northern Italy,
and it would be equally preposterous for either the Sorbonne or Oxford to
do so in their countries. Our system is an American phenomenon, a
historical accident which developed from the exciting football games played
by Yale and Harvard and to a lesser extent Princeton and certain other
schools during the closing years of the nineteenth century. If we had had
at that time professional teams which provided public football
entertainment, we might not have placed the burden on our schools. But we
had no professional teams, so our schools were handed the job.
Second, if an ideal American educational system were being launched afresh,
few would want to saddle it with the responsibility for public sports
entertainment. I certainly would not. But since, by a quirk of history, it
is so saddled, the tradition has become ingrained and I see not the
remotest chance of altering it. I therefore approve of continuing it, so
long as certain safeguards are installed. Categorically, I believe that our
schools must continue to offer sports entertainment, even though comparable
institutions throughout the rest of the world are excused from doing so.
Third, I see nothing wrong in having a college or a university provide
training for the young man or woman who wants to devote his adult life to
sports. My reasoning is twofold: 1) American society has ordained that
sports shall be a major aspect of our
national life, with major attention, major financial support and major
coverage in the media. How possibly can a major aspect of life be ignored
by our schools? 2) If it is permissible to train young musicians and actors
in our universities, and endow munificent departments to do so, why is it
not equally legitimate to train young athletes, and endow them with a
stadium?
Fourth, because our schools have volunteered to serve as unpaid training
grounds for future professionals, and because some of the lucky schools
with good sports reputations can earn a good deal of money from the semi-
professional football and basketball teams they operate, the temptation to
recruit young men skilled at games but totally unfitted for academic work
is overpowering. We must seriously ask if such behavior is legitimate for
an academic institution. There are honorable answers, and I know some of
them, but if we do not face this matter forthrightly, we are going to run
into troubla.
Kinds of sports:
BASEBALL
Baseball is a nine-a-side game played with bat, ball, and glove, mainly in
the U.S.A. Teams consist of a pitcher and catcher, called the battery,
first, second, and third basemen, and shortstop, called the infield, and
right, centre, and left fielders, called the outfield. Substitute players
may enter the game at any time, but once a player is removed he cannot
return.
The standard ball has a cork-and-rubber centre wound with woollen yarn and
covered with horse-hide. It weighs from 5 to 5 1/4 oz. (148 g.) and is from
9 to 9 1/2 in. (approx. 23 cm.) in circumference. ... The bat is a smooth,
round, tapered piece of hard wood not more than 2 3/4 in. (approx. 7 cm.)
in diameter at its thickest part and no more than 42 in. (1.07 m.) long.
Originally, fielders played barehanded, but gloves have been developed over
the years. First basemen wear a special large mitt, and catchers use a
large, heavily-padded mitt as well as a chest protector, shin guards, and a
metal mask. Catchers
were at first unprotected. Consequently,- they stood back at a distance
from home plate and caught pitched balls on the bounce, but the
introduction of the large, round, well-padded mitt or "pillow glove" and
the face mask enabled them to move up close behind the plate and catch
pitched balls on the fly. Players wear shoes with steel cleats and, while
batting and running the bases, they use protective plastic helmets.
The game is played on a field containing four bases placed at the angles of
a 90-ft (27.4 m.) square (often called a diamond): home plate and, in
counter-clockwise order, first, second, and third base. Two foul lines form
the boundaries of fair territory. Starting at home, these lines extend past
first and third base the entire length of the field, which is often
enclosed by a fence at its farthest limits.
The object of each team is to score more runs than the other. A run is
scored whenever a player circles all the bases and reaches home without
being put out The game is divided into innings, in
each of which the teams alternate at bat and in the field. A team is
allowed three outs in each halfinning at bat, and must then take up
defensive positions in the field while the other team has its turn to try
to score. Ordinarily, a game consists of nine innings; in the event of a
tie, extra innings are played until one team outscores the other in the
same number of innings.
The players take turns batting from home plate in regular rotation. The
opposing pitcher throws the ball to his catcher from a slab (called the
"rubber") on the pitcher's mound, a slightly raised area of the field
directly between home and second base. ... Bases are canvas bags fastened
to metal pegs set in the ground.
The batter tries to reach base safely after hitting the pitched ball into
fair territory. A hit that enables him to reach first base is called a
"single," a two-base hit is a "double," a three-base hit a "triple," and a
four-base hit a "home-run." A fair ball hit over an outfield fence is
automatically a home run. A batter is also awarded his base if the pitcher
delivers four pitches which, in the umpire's judgement, do not pass through
the "strike zone" - that is, over home plate between the batter's armpits
and knees; or if he is hit by a pitched ball; or if the opposing catcher
interferes when he swings the bat. To prevent the batter from hitting
safely, baseball pitchers deliver the ball with great speed and accuracy
and vary its speed and trajectory. Success in batting, therefore, requires
courage and a high degree of skill.
After a player reaches base safely, his progress towards home depends
largely on his team mates' hitting the ball in such a way that he can
advance. ...
Players may be put out in various ways. A batter is out when the pitcher
gets three 'strikes' on him. A strike is a pitch that crosses the plate in
the strike zone, or any pitch that is struck at and missed or is hit into
foul territory. After two strikes, however, foul balls do not count except
when a batter bunts - lets the ball meet the bat instead of swinging at it
- and the ball rolls foul. A batter is also out if he hits the ball in the
air anywhere in fair or foul territory and it is caught by an opponent
before it touches the ground. He is out if he hits the ball on the ground
and a fielder catches and throws it to a player at first base, or catches
it and touches that base, before the batter (now become a base runner) gets
there.
A base runner may be put out if, while off base, he is tagged by an
opposing player with the hand or glove holding the ball, or if he is forced
to leave his base to make room for another runner and fails to reach the
next base before an opposing player tags him or the base; or if he is hit
by a team mate's batted ball before it has touched or passed a fielder.
An umpire-in-chief "calls" balls and strikes from his position directly
behind the catcher at home plate, and one or more base umpires determine
whether runners are safe or out at the other three bases.
BASKETBALL
The History of basketball, a game that started with 18 men in a YMCA
gymnasium in Springfield, Mass., has grown into a game that more than 300
million people play worldwide. The man who created this instantly
successful sport was Dr. James Naismith.
Under orders from Dr. Luther Gulick, head of Physical Education at the
School for Christian Workers. Naismith had 14 days to create an indoor game
that would provide an "athletic distraction" for a rowdy class through the
brutal New England winter.
Naismith's invention didn't come easily. Getting close to the deadline, he
struggled to keep the class' faith. His first intention was to bring
outdoor games indoors, i.e., soccer and lacrosse. These games proved too
physical and cumbersome.
At his wits' end, Naismith recalled a childhood game that required players
to use finesse and accuracy to become successful. After brainstorming this
new idea, Naismith developed basketball's original 13 rules and
consequently, the game of basketball.
As basketball's popularity grew, Naismith neither sought publicity nor
engaged in self-promotion. He was first and foremost a physical educator
who embraced recreational sport but shied away from the glory of
competitive athletics.
Naismith was an intense student, collecting four degrees in the diverse
fields of Philosophy, Religion, Physical Education and Medicine. Although
he never had the opportunity to see the game become the astonishing
spectacle it is today, Naismith's biggest thrill came when he was sponsored
by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to witness
basketball become an Olympic sport at the 1936 Games held in Berlin.
Naismith became famous for creating the game of basketball, a stroke of
genius that never brought him fame or fortune during his lifetime, but
enormous recognition following his passing in 1939.
For his historic invention, Naismith's name adorns the world's only
Basketball Hall of Fame, a tribute that forever makes James Naismith
synonymous with basketball.
Abner Doubleday, who didn't invent baseball, is probably a more widely
recognized name than Naismith, who did invent basketball. And even those
who know about him continue to learn more about the man who invented a
sport designed for offseason physical exercise, which began with his own 13
basic rules, but which has grown to become a game not for a specific
culture or nation or ethnic group, but for an entire planet to share and
enjoy.
Naismith is the only coach in University of Kansas men's basketball history
to own a losing record. Naismith was 55-60 from 1898 to 1907, which
mattered little to him only in that one of his most famous quotes was that
basketball was never meant to be coached, anyway, only to be played.
The new game was explained by 13 basic rules and was played with a soccer
ball, peach baskets and nine to a side. There have been major changes to
the game since that first contest, which is believed to have been played
Dec. 21, 1891.
But perhaps what is most amazing about Naismith's creation, other than the
fact that few sports that are purposely invented actually stand the test of
time, is that the essence of basketball-throwing a ball into an elevated
goal-has remained the focus from day one.
Today, Naismith would be universally recognized as a genius, a Bill Gates
of sport. And in all likelihood, the opportunity would exist for him to
become a multi-millionaire.
But if Naismith was The Basketball Man, he was not The Money Man, and life
in 1891 was far different than in 1991 or 2001.
But if Naismith's invention did not lead to profit, it did lead to huge
popularity for basketball. Even in the final years of the 19th century,
with communication and transportation that was primitive by today's
standards, the game's growth was palpable, immediate and widespread.
James Naismith had changed the face of sport, not so much for the 19th
century, but the 20th, and it is now clear, the 21st. All in an effort to
keep unruly students at bay.
Sources
America in Close up
http://www.students.ru
http://www.yahoo.com
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Krasnoyarsk State University
“Law Faculty”
Comparative Law Department
Report
Sports in the USA
Done by: Popov Dmitry
Law 17
Krasnoyarsk 2002 |
