The Glorification of Sports
By: Brooke McBee
By: Brooke McBee
Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Aaron Rodgers, Serena Williams: these athletes, and many more, are customarily regarded as gods, celestial beings the common person could only dream of becoming. Though impossible to fully confirm, historians have traced the practice of sports to as far back as 760 BC. Despite the vast amount of time sports have existed, they continue to be an integral part of contemporary society most deem worthy of worship.
The entrancing nature of sports is capable of capturing and maintaining people’s attention in a time where technological distraction is at an all-time high. “Watching a sports match is like going to the theater. You become fully immersed in the game, anticipation increasing like you’re waiting for the climax of a movie. There’s no reason to look at your phone, which only poses the risk of you missing a play,” Alicia Keup, a Junior expresses. “It’s an escape from the real world, like you’re experiencing a whole lifetime within the span of one game. Going on your phone would only take you out of the experience and remind you of all the burdens of the real world waiting for you.”
While many consider the source of entertainment sports provide as the primary reason for their enjoyment, others, such as Maggie Kempen, appreciate the bonding experience that comes with it: “It’s something fun for my friends and I to do together when we’re bored. We may not even actually be that interested in the game, but the hype of the crowd surrounding it has the same effect on us as if we were. . . . It’s an opportunity for you to meet new people or spend time with ones you already know.”
Although Keup recognizes the various reasons to love the ancient tradition, she also objects to how immutable people’s admiration for sports or certain athletes can be: “People often think too highly of sports and athletes and place excessive importance on them even when they don’t deserve it. Athletes, especially male ones, can commit crimes and receive practically no substantial consequences.”
While there are numerous examples of athletes not receiving appropriate repercussions for their unacceptable behavior, possibly none have been more widely known and upsetting as Brock Turner. Despite raping and assaulting an unconscious female student behind a dumpster, the Stanford swimmer spent only three months in jail before he was released, exasperating many at the lack of reprimansion for such a deplorable act. As the situation grasped the media’s attention, several people were deeply agitated as they could not fathom how a man who dehumanized, exploited, and inexplicably ruined a young female’s life could receive such a short sentence for arguably one of the most heinous crimes. The judge, who initially sentenced him to six months in jail despite the jury’s unanimous guilty verdict, was even recalled from bench after a vote to do so emerged, making him the first Californian judge in 85 years to be recalled. Along with the judge’s claim that “a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him”, others painted Turner as a “star athlete” and “all-American” swimmer who “had a bright future” rather than a defendant who, unlike his father’s assertion of only receiving “twenty minutes of action”, forever traumatized a young woman.
Society’s admiration with sports may stem from a place of genuine and justifiable enjoyment, but the extreme glorification of athletes, even those who commit abhorrent acts, only further perpetuate the lack of justice in the ironically named “justice” system. If criminals are excused from their crimes solely because they are good at sports, perhaps it is time to rethink and reform the way people approach athletics. There are several positive aspects to sports - a source of entertainment, an escape from the “real” world, and a sense of belonging - but they do not negate the many problems resulting from sports. Once society actively works to rid athletics of its faults, people can go back to watching games and cheering for their favorite team.
The entrancing nature of sports is capable of capturing and maintaining people’s attention in a time where technological distraction is at an all-time high. “Watching a sports match is like going to the theater. You become fully immersed in the game, anticipation increasing like you’re waiting for the climax of a movie. There’s no reason to look at your phone, which only poses the risk of you missing a play,” Alicia Keup, a Junior expresses. “It’s an escape from the real world, like you’re experiencing a whole lifetime within the span of one game. Going on your phone would only take you out of the experience and remind you of all the burdens of the real world waiting for you.”
While many consider the source of entertainment sports provide as the primary reason for their enjoyment, others, such as Maggie Kempen, appreciate the bonding experience that comes with it: “It’s something fun for my friends and I to do together when we’re bored. We may not even actually be that interested in the game, but the hype of the crowd surrounding it has the same effect on us as if we were. . . . It’s an opportunity for you to meet new people or spend time with ones you already know.”
Although Keup recognizes the various reasons to love the ancient tradition, she also objects to how immutable people’s admiration for sports or certain athletes can be: “People often think too highly of sports and athletes and place excessive importance on them even when they don’t deserve it. Athletes, especially male ones, can commit crimes and receive practically no substantial consequences.”
While there are numerous examples of athletes not receiving appropriate repercussions for their unacceptable behavior, possibly none have been more widely known and upsetting as Brock Turner. Despite raping and assaulting an unconscious female student behind a dumpster, the Stanford swimmer spent only three months in jail before he was released, exasperating many at the lack of reprimansion for such a deplorable act. As the situation grasped the media’s attention, several people were deeply agitated as they could not fathom how a man who dehumanized, exploited, and inexplicably ruined a young female’s life could receive such a short sentence for arguably one of the most heinous crimes. The judge, who initially sentenced him to six months in jail despite the jury’s unanimous guilty verdict, was even recalled from bench after a vote to do so emerged, making him the first Californian judge in 85 years to be recalled. Along with the judge’s claim that “a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him”, others painted Turner as a “star athlete” and “all-American” swimmer who “had a bright future” rather than a defendant who, unlike his father’s assertion of only receiving “twenty minutes of action”, forever traumatized a young woman.
Society’s admiration with sports may stem from a place of genuine and justifiable enjoyment, but the extreme glorification of athletes, even those who commit abhorrent acts, only further perpetuate the lack of justice in the ironically named “justice” system. If criminals are excused from their crimes solely because they are good at sports, perhaps it is time to rethink and reform the way people approach athletics. There are several positive aspects to sports - a source of entertainment, an escape from the “real” world, and a sense of belonging - but they do not negate the many problems resulting from sports. Once society actively works to rid athletics of its faults, people can go back to watching games and cheering for their favorite team.
