Sports Crazy America

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Sports-Crazy America Almost all Americans are involved with sports in some way. They may play basketball or volleyball or go swimming or skiing. They may watch football or basketball games on the high school, college, or professional level. Sports may seem like an innocent pleasure, but it is important to look under the surface. In reality, sports have reached a point where they play too large a part in daily life. They take up too much media time, play too large a role in the raising of children and give too much power and prestige to athletes. The overemphasis on sports can be seen most obviously in the vast media coverage of athletic events. It seems as if every bowl game play-off, tournament, trial, bout, race, meet, or match is shown on one television channel or another. On Saturday and Sunday, a check on TV Guide will show almost forty sports programs on network television alone, and many more on cable stations. In addition, sports make up about 30 percent of local news at six and eleven, and network world news shows often devote several minutes to major American sports events. Radio offers a full roster of games and a wide assortment of sports talk shows. Furthermore, many daily papers such as USA Today are devoting more and more space to sports coverage, often in an attempt to improve circulation. The paper with the biggest sports section is the one people will buy. The way we raise and educate our children also illustrates our sports mania. As early as age six or seven, kids are placed in little leagues, often to play under screaming coaches and pressuring parents. Later, in high school, students who are singled out by the school and by the community are not those who are best academically but those who are best athletically. And college sometimes seems to be more about sports than about learning. The United States may be the only

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