Fascism In Sports

Because sports are very important to many people, and have been since the days of the Romans, there is much pride and honor in sports; however, there is something that has tainted the image of sports and athletes alike:

The Olympics are held every four years and are used as a global stage for many thousands of sportsmen and women who come from many different countries around the world to demonstrate their abilities ranging from running to rowing. In theory, the Olympic Games are supposed to be free from any politics and be purely about the athlete’s competition and celebrations. It is supposed to be non-gender, non-religion and non-race biased to show the accomplishment of the athletes that compete. Sporting officials are also supposed to be un-biased offering equal opportunities to all athletes.

Sports have been apart of society since the beginning of written history. Sports have also been separated in genders for centuries due to the physical and mental uniqueness of both genders. People take pride in sports. In some families and to communities sports are imbedded in their social infrastructure; it is very important to their identities. Sports are very tradition based seasonal, rules, and even attire. This has made rituals in sports very easy to pass down from generation to generation. Even though times and society has changed rules, traditions, and conservative individuals have not. There is one particular case in the world of golf that illustrates this point perfectly.

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

Throughout this journey, many factors had an impact on the Olympics. Some of the factors that changed the modern day Olympics are women competitors, women’s suffrage, nationalism, wars, and economic conditions. An increase of women's rights was given, pride for the nations was shown, wars still occurred, and economies have flourished. The longer the Olympic Games have aged, the closer the world’s state is to Pierre’s

Throughout the history of the Olympic games, there has been many changes on how the Olympic Games has come to be interpreted and how they are generally viewed in our modern era. These views range from, Nationalism fueled by the Olympic Games, Women trying to create equality through the Olympic Games, Economic supremacy shown by the Olympic games and the responsibilities held by countries and the self-preservation of a country when presenting the Olympic games. Each view states an interpretation of the Olympic games through the years of 1892-2002 showing a distinct view on the Olympic games depending on the times they were hosted at such as when the Olympic Games were hosted when women weren’t equal to men or who the Games were hosted

The late 19th and early 20th centuries were a time of immense change in Europe. Germany had recently unified, destabilizing the centuries-old balance of power. The second industrial revolution was in full swing, and Europeans thrilled to the latest inventions, from the skyscraper, the first airplanes, and, most ominously, to the machine guns of Maxim and Krupp. During this time, Europeans perceived sports in a number of ways. First of all, many saw sports as an arena to train their nations for war. Secondly, others saw sports as a unifying principle around which to build nationalism and ethnic identity. Finally, many simply saw sports simply as a healthy and productive activity.

Sports such as footy and soccer have a special place in the national conscience, but following the recent event where a Port Adelaide fan was photographed wearing a Nazi swastika with his Power jersey, it is clear to be said that more work is required in order to stop racism in all sporting events by the Australian Government. This isn’t the first time where this kind of incident has happened though. Non-white footballers face racial abuse regularly on the pitch. Surely you big footy fans still remember the incident in 2013, where aboriginal footballer Adam Goodes was called an ape by a 13 year old girl as he went near the stands in a match against Collingwood. These kind of people do not deserve to be called a footy fan.

Sport has been used to show the worthiness of an estranged group and nudge the nation to live up to its stated ideals. An example to the protests

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Sport plays a huge role in today’s society. It contributes to one’s health and fitness, social interaction, social and motor skills, patriotism, fun and entertainment. It also stimulates the economy and tourism leading to interaction between different cultures, for example the Olympics, and sport role models. Sports clearly are an important part of cultures and societies around the world as such events as the Olympics

Sports have been around for centuries, dating back to 776 BC with the first Olympic Games. Ancient civilizations like the Egyptian, Greeks and Mayans all had a sport they enjoyed taking part in. They were created to bring people together and help them settle disputes or conflicts in an organized manner. Great leaders of the ancient world saw a fascination in sports and made it part of their reign to promote the human’s natural competitiveness. Since then, new sports have emerged and also new reasons for one to play. New sports evolve every day all over the world. Everywhere in social media and magazines you will find images of famous athletes and their achievements. Not much history has been left behind by these famous civilizations except for some cave paintings and stories passed down through generations. However, these sports have helped new ones all over the world flourish and the competitive aspect has been kept intact with some modifications to minimize some of its historical brutality.

First and foremost, these sports organizations “have found sponsorship necessary as a means of offsetting rising costs and expanding promotional opportunities” (Irwin, Sutton, & McCarthy, 2008, p.146). When it pertains to deciding what sponsors will go where there is one large factor to consider. Is the sponsorship the right match for the demographic of the community? Would you want your organization to partner with a company that had no established business in the area? Would that make much sense for the company trying to establish a sponsorship either? Years ago, sponsorships did not have as much logic behind them, however, today to be determined successful, they need to pay dividends for both companies. According to Irwin, Sutton, & McCarthy,

The period of 1865 to 1950 was critical to the formation of “Modern” sport that is recognized today. In an article by Allen Guttmann titled From Ritual to Record: the nature of modern sport, Guttmann outlines seven characteristics that played a central role in the development of sports. These concepts were created as a sociological history of sports and took into place both American and European competitions. Guttmann’s notions of secularism, rationalization, bureaucracy and quantification, among others, all advanced the culture of sports; yet the most important of the stated characteristics is equality.

"Politics has come to be considered not only inappropriate in the arena of sports, but actually antithetical to it," Zirin says. "We want so much to see sports solely as an arena of play, not seriousness. But here's the thing, this can cheapen not only the greatness and relevance of sports to us as a society, but also the courage of the athletes" (The Nation). The pursuit of fame, wealth and status can blind the human conscious, which is why it is important for us to encourage athletes to speak their minds. As a nation, we should not silence the athletes, because it is the truly courageous athletes who have the audacity to stand up when it’s not popular. Sports should be used as a platform for a certain kind of politics: militarism,