A life Line to a Lifetime
What is America? America is summer time hayfields, backyard barbeques and front lawn lemonade stands of those young entrepreneurs; but most importantly, America is sports and its fanatics. Whether it be under the Friday night lights of a hometown, high school football game or at a national level, both fans and players take winning seriously, and is often considered sacred. Red Saunders, former football coach of the UCLA Bruins said, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” However, is that really the case? Though it is an added bonus to win while playing sports, it is not the only thing because through athletic players build character, become more employable and establish life-long networks.
First, while playing sports athletes build character, even when not earning a win in his or her contest. Not one human in the world is perfect, even when participating in sports. Therefore, one could assume that those participating athletes will mess up and be corrected by a coach. Being exposed to constructive criticism, and the heated situations that these
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It is evident after high school and post secondary education, a graduate will seek specialized employment, focusing on his or her educated skills. Furthermore, this sought after job will require an interview that, an athlete will be prepared for. Athletes will be an automatic higher qualified candidate than those who have not participated in sports, as they have prior experience in team atmospheres and constructive work. A study conducted by the University of Stirling showed that student athletes who can demonstrate, apply and maintain the skills he or she learned while playing sports are over twenty-one percent more employable compared to the non-participating individual. This study proves winning isn’t everything while playing a
My topic is similar to yours. I have always been intrigued to examine the relationship between coach and athlete. In my experience, I have found coaches who provide positive support and are constructive with their criticism are more enjoyable to play for and give the athlete a more positive experience. Coaches that come across as condescending seem to push kids away from the game. It is important that the student-athlete has a positive experience, especially student-athletes at a young age. I feel if a student-athlete has a negative experience at the interscholastic level he or she will be less likely to stick with the sport.
There are a lot of aspects that should be taken into account when determining what makes an athlete successful. One could argue that natural ability is one of the determining factors which leads to success. For example, if an athlete has dreams of playing in the NBA then height makes a difference. There aren’t many successful players in the league under six feet tall. One could argue that level of competition plays a role in the development of an athlete. This could include the skill level of the opponent or outside factors such as playing conditions or game circumstances. These types of arguments play a role in athlete success, but will not be used in this paper because they are factors that are out of the athlete’s control. This paper
Sports are extremely popular around the world and only get more popular as time goes on. Sports is on television (TV), in the news, in the newspaper, and online. It only makes sense that this is the case. A sporting event is the ultimate drama. The variability of a game is what gets people so into it. Sports can tell a story, and teach great life lessons as well as inspire people. If sports are that important to the people around the world who watch it, just think about how important sports are to the ones who actually play it and coach it. It is their passion, their persona, their life. With the media’s harsh expectations of teams today, unless a team wins a championship, they are deemed unsuccessful. Since expectations are so high,
The article, The relationship between ethical and abusive coaching behaviors and student-athlete well-being by Mariya A. Yukhymenko-Lescroart, Michael E. Brown, and Thomas S. Paskus questions how coaches impact the athletes on their team and how it then affects those athletes. It is interesting because you never really see what goes on between a coach and an athlete unless you take a closer look. Many athletes rely on their coaches to do more than just coach them. In a way, they are guiding them and helping them become the person they strive to be. Athletes spend most of their time at practices or games so it is obvious that the individual who coaches them will impact them and their performance of that sport. There is not just one certain team the article focuses on. Instead, it focuses on some sports played by men and some by women. One of the hypotheses was that these athletes take in information the best by paying close attention to the actions of their coaches or other adults and then learning from them. Another hypothesis is athletes are able to control their performance each time they play that sport.
Professional sports infiltrate American homes and and impact every fanatic’s emotions. The three most successful professional leagues in America is the NFL, NBA, and MLB in which have many similarities and differences while emphasizing race, influence, and contracts. Large masses of fans fill the stadiums of each respected team to cheer them on and to have a great time. Fanatics go through the ups and downs of a season as a each team battles injuries, fatigue, and adversity as they are reaching for a common goal, a championship.
According to Arnold Schwarzenegger, “Strength doesn’t come from your winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” During the first few Olympics athletics, jumping, discus, javelin, wrestling, boxing, Pankration, and the equestrian events were the most popular and played events for the track. Many track and field events during our current society were popular during the original Olympics.
Sports as a career is something few people ever achieve. The majority of people in the sporting world don’t earn the large wages of its biggest stars. In the USA, it’s important to encourage people to enter sports as a career. In this essay, I will investigate why the education system should do more to encourage people to enter the sporting world.
The first televised sporting event in America was “a college baseball game between Columbia and Princeton in 1939”. Ever since that point, watching sports has been a major component of American entertainment. There are few things more inherently American than our collective love of baseball and football. Athletes are viewed as those who can do the impossible; those who can hit a baseball 100 miles per hour, throw a football with perfect precision, or run a mile in under 4 minutes. The use of American athletes in cereal advertisements is a powerful persuasion method for sports-loving consumers.
Family and friends and people who have never even met before all come together to celebrate the players. These players are glorified and the students become excited. Humans are crazy about sports, and it is obvious in the world’s culture and history. Parents celebrate their children, and fans come from far and wide to watch the popular city team play. Jay Evenson, author of the article “Union Football, Spencer Hadley: This is why sports can really matter”, asks the question that humanity has always been searching for the answer to, “What is it about watching people chase, swat or shoot a ball that not only captivates people but makes them develop loyalties that can, at times, cause grownups to behave like infants?” (Evenson). Fans and teams do crazy things for their sports. “There is evidence colleges were enrolling good players and pretending to put them in classes as early as the late 1800s” (Evensen). People were crazy about sports even so long ago. Over time this culture has turned into more than a past-time, but it has been developed into a getaway and a learning place for everyone.
I recently noticed how a coaches frustration and stress can affect the performance and mentality of athletes. When a coach gets upset or demands a lot from her or his athletes you can see a clear change in the athletes focus, anxiety, and style of play. When coaches demand performance be improved by their athletes because they are loosing a game it clearly goes against the athletes first, winning second philosophy. It also places a huge amount of stress on the athletes trying to focus on not making mistakes instead of focusing on the game at hand. You can see a change in the athletes play, they don’t take the same chances, they seem to committee errors on plays they normally easily make, and their enjoyment of the game is gone. They stop focusing on their training and focus more on trying to not committee
Regardless of specific cultural backgrounds or geographic locations, professional sports are often regarded as cherished sources of heritage and entertainment. They prove not only the ability of the
It was in 1955, in a Sports Illustrated article just before the 1956 Rose Bowl, that Vince Lombardi was quoted saying, "Sure, winning isn't everything; it's the only thing.” Or maybe one can recall the 2006 film in which Will Ferrell’s character Ricky Bobby, a NASCAR superstar, can be heard saying, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” These two quotes are just a couple of prime examples when it comes to understanding the value of competition in our American culture. There is an assumption that only those who win can and will be successful. Understanding that the United States is a place that is supposedly ONE nation under God, yet is so driven by the assumption that you must always win at everything, begs the question; what is the significance
Bad coaches don’t care if they affect everyone they come into contact with and the people around them. When their not kind to a player the player goes home with a bad attitude affecting the whole family. The player starts to treat their family members like the coach treats them, thinking that that’s ok that’s how an adult treated them so it must be ok. That makes all adults look bad too. This has happen in my own family life. This isn’t ok at all ever and if it’s a young player it’s even harder for them to distinguish what was right and wrong in the situation. “There are a lot of “coaches” out there who don’t have CLUE ONE about how to really coach! These individuals consistently do far more damage to young people than they do
Sports have such an enormous part of people’s lives and they influence us in various ways. People not only participate in sports, but they discuss, follow, write, and even fantasize about them daily. Particularly through the eyes of young children, who often view professional athletes as role models, and look up to them. Popular culture is a part of everyone’s lives today, and it affects sports through a plethora of positive and negative ways. Popular culture makes certain athletes look very humbling, but then sometimes it could make an athlete look like a complete fool. Many young boys who enjoy sports usually have dreams of playing professionally one day. Therefore these athlete role models have such a
Sports of old were merely competitive activities rooted in heroism and romanticism. Sports activities today, however, have no such innocence or simplicity. Currently in America, the activities that make up our sports culture is not only the competitive events themselves but the processes and issues that underlie and surround them. Entwined in our sports culture is the giant business of mass broadcasting. Indeed, sports and the media go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly, like Mickey and Minnie, Darth Vader and Luke. They are intertwined and depend on each other to continue to grow. Sports media includes television, radio, magazines, newspapers, books, films, and, now, most importantly, social media devices provided by the