Sports in the Middle East In Comparison to Sports In the West
With regard to sports, not all parts of the world are created equally. Different parts, or regions of this planet follow different sports and participate in different sports for that matter as well. While in America, you can basically narrow it down to three popular sports, for the country as a whole. Football, baseball, and basketball, with ice hockey, soccer, and tennis probably fairly close behind, in terms of popularity. In the Middle East, sporting preferences differ greatly among the surrounding countries, with the exception of the top sport, soccer. Soccer, or football as it is called in the Middle East and every other place on Earth, is the overwhelming favorite participation and spectator sport.i
Lets first start with spectator sports and their popularity among the specific Middle Eastern countries as a spectator sport. Like I mentioned previously, you would think that there would be consensus among the countries, as their geography and demographics are fairly similar, again this is not the case at all it seems. Among the countries of Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria the top three favorite sports are as follows;
1. Football (Soccer)
2. Basketball
3. Motorsportsii
Among the countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen the top three favorite sports are as follows;
1. Football (Soccer)
2. Swimming
3. Motorsportsiii
This is fascinating to me due to basketball and swimming being equals in popularity because in the United States swimming is really only popular during an Olympic year.
As far as participation of these spectator sports, once again there are some discrepan...
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...his is probably due to climate and geography more than anything though, as is baseball, but I couldn't discern a specific reason why baseball is not popular in the Middle East. Without American football, sports in the United States would look very similar to sports in the Middle East, with the exception of golf and baseball. With the moves the NFL wants to make worldwide, it will be interesting to write a paper like this again in ten years to see if the above information has changed at all, or if soccer will still continue to rule all. Maybe the NFL will alienate its American fan base enough and soccer will become the number one sport in America. Who knows? It will be interesting to see sports continue to evolve and change as technology allows the planet to become smaller and more connected, surely our ideas will start to rub off on each other, sports included.
Baseball and football are very popular in America Sports today. Some people think that baseball is just a laid back sport and just boring then other people say football is better because it is more physical and harder and it's a man's game. But that is not true because it comes down to the mental and the physical part of the game baseball over rules all of that.
Sports really shape our society, and culture. You will not find very many people who do not have some love for at least one sport or another. There are so many sports out there that people love and will always watch the sport of their choice.
Football is the most popular sport in the world. It is backed by a long history that's incomparable to other popular sports in the world like basketball, volleyball, and tennis. In fact, two of North America?s favourite sports in American football and rugby were created based on the game we call 'soccer'. So why is it that the original game of football is not as nearly as famous as in North American than any other countries outside our continent? A real good reason for this is because soccer doesn't have a great tradition in North America, unlike other sports such as American football, hockey, or basketball. Also, the cultural difference makes soccer less rampant in North America because many of us can?t seem to be patient enough to watch a sport with no frequent excitement. This mostly involves a preferred team scoring numerous times during a match. There are also plenty of other exciting sports that North Americans love to watch and play. Thus, soccer is put in the middle of the backseat of a crammed van, a place where nobody wants to be in or even pay attention to.
From the United States to Hispanic countries like Spain, the countries share their love for the same sports even though they are oceans apart. While they have their similar interests, sports interests differ in each of the countries as well. Without sports in the world, our cultures we know and love would be completely different and dull. They help shape our cultures and the people within them. Sports like soccer, football, and baseball are sports that we know and love in Hispanic and American countries. We all know what they are, but the way they are played, their histories, and our passions for these sports differ and correspond.
Franklin Foer the author of How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization is an important contributor of the small topic of the how soccer is related to the world. Foer from the New Republic who writes from time to time in the well known newspaper of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal had traveled around the world especially the continent of Europe, Asia, North and South America. Going from the topic of why the Islam religion, Islamic law, and religious paramilitary militia prohibits the passionate, die-hard Islamic women fans; from attending and/or watching soccer games and then partying hard like the men after the game if their country or favorite club wins. To the topic of how America relates to soccer when the middle class accepted this sport because of the little violence that they thought the sport contained and to how some Americans support writers such as Tom Weir from USA Today’s “that hating soccer is more American than apple pie, driving a pickup, or spending Saturday afternoons channel surfing with the remote control” (Foer 240). The majority of Americans that support this quote are the lower class, liberals, majority of sports reporters, and narrow minded Americans. These topics and/or chapters really show how soccer is creating more globalization around the world especially with Islamic women getting rid of their traditions and trying new things such as showing their passion for soccer. In addition, America is trying to pass its apple pie and watching American Football on a Sunday to watching beautiful game of soccer. How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization is really divided into three groups; the first being the rivalries between clubs and human beings, sec...
While the 1920s was the era really known for sports in America, the love of the games did not diminish going into the next ten years. Throughout the 1930s, the three mainstream sports are still the three in the common era: baseball, basketball, and football (Hatcher). Out of thos...
What is the most popular sport in America? The most popular sport in America would be the rugged game of football. Millions of fans wait in anticipation each year for the season to begin. The truth is the game is a very dangerous sport. It’s rooted with violence and physical aggression. Players are groomed from their youth to get bigger, faster, and stronger. Football is geared toward physical domination, get your opponent before he gets you with tackling, hitting, or by any means necessary, take them out before they take you out. Bones are broken, internal organs rupture, concussions are frequent and occasionally players die. Is the game worth the price? Is a human life worth less than monetary gain or entertainment? The answer
I believe soccer is the most popular sport or else they wouldn’t have their own championship of the whole world. It just goes to show you that soccer is getting more and more popular. In 1930, 434,500 people attended the World Cup and in 1994 there were over 3.5 million people who attended that World Cup.
...t very seriously and expend most of their free time trying to get better. In the United States, though, this is virtually reversed. This is not to imply that countless players at all strata in the U.S. do not take the sport as earnestly or try as much as their European counterparts. However, soccer is placed neatly on a high shelf next to tennis and golf, written off for the large part as a sport of the affluent and wealthy. Masculinity also plays a role, as many see football to be much manlier, played traditionally by the archetypal jock. Major League Soccer (MLS) achieves only a fraction of the viewership of the National Football League (NFL). Matches are only broadcast on national networks once in a blue moon, if at all. It is plain to see, especially at U of M, how little emphasis is placed on soccer in comparison to football. One need only to follow the money.
Football has been a very important part of American culture especially in the last 50 years. Football is now the most followed by sport in America. There are many different levels that football is played. For example, there is professional, semi-pro, college, high school and pop warner. Fans from all over are passionate at each level of football. Professional and college football are by far the most popular and contains the biggest fan base. It can easily be argued that high school football has some of the most passionate fans.
Abstract: Society is affected every day by many different kinds of sports. These sports often govern society's way of life. People all over the nation turn their TVs to sporting events, such as golf, during the weekends. Scott Stossel states that "more than six million Americans enjoy watching golf on the weekends." Parents use sports as a teaching tool for their children. Kids learn teamwork and discipline from team sports programs and sports have also helped many students with their grades. Kids who want to compete in school sports are taught to keep their grades up or they won't be able to play, but the greedy coaches and schools often look around grades to keep their "star athletes" in the games. Adults have been affected by sports in their bank accounts. Tax increases for funding a new stadium, golf course and even school programs have hurt the middle class Americans. Sports have taken control of small communities and soon will take control of society
Sports may have impacted our culture much more then we thought it would, and keeps impacting. Sports have affected some of the most important aspects of life, such as jobs and money. It has also affected things as little as who we look up to and how we dress. Culture means “the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.” The definition of sports is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” So when we put two and two together we get a a nation or world that has changed due to sports. Back in the mid and late 1900’s sports were used to see whose way of life was better. As time went on and keeps going on, we
Sports are apart of human society, for centuries it has been difficult to conceive of any human civilization consisting entirely of work, education, relationships, and entertainment alone. The media plays a major role in the way society views sports today. As time has evolved sports have become apart of the American culture. The does not only influence the sport at hand but it also affects the way that societies sees the athletes. Most believe that since athletes are paid outrageous amounts of money they are considered to be role models to younger generations. The way that the athlete lives his or her life heavily influences the way the media will portray them.
Sports, a very popular past time today, have been around since ancient times. Greek Olympic Games featured events from chariot races, javelin throws, to wrestling. In addition, a game similar to soccer was played in China by the second century BC. In England, a violent rugby type game was even played to settle feuds between villages. With the development of the industrial revolution and the creation of the first public schools, sports decreased in violence and were played more recreationally and constructively. Basketball was invented to help the youth in New England spend their energy in the winter months. Since the early 1900’s sports have been a key experience in the United States (“History of Sports”). I have played sports for many years, and the experience has helped me grow significantly as an individual.