Why Is Sports Important In American Society

As far as I can remember, American society has been obsessed with sports. Whether it’s basketball, football, or even volleyball, you will see crazy fans, beer, and as always, wings! But why is it that our society doesn’t get so hyped up about someone getting a perfect score on their SAT, or getting accepted into three or more Ivy League colleges? It seems like society has become more impressed and more fascinated when their favorite team makes a touchdown or someone from their hometown gets drafted. A photograph taken by Martin Schoeller for Time Magazine depicts Olympic gold medalist, Gabby Douglass, eating a bowl of breakfast while stretching on the stairs, and another gymnast sitting at the bottom of the stairs doing her homework. This picture

can be interpreted in many different ways. Although it may initially seem like two girls doing “normal everyday things,” this photo really represents how Gabby, being the first African-American gymnast in Olympic history” to become the “Individual All-Around Champion, is the main focus in the picture. Since she’s the most important girl in the picture, no thought is given to the young girl doing her homework who happens to be under Gabby. This initially brings up the question: Is athleticism more important than academics?

The focal point of the photograph, Gabby doing the splits on the stairs, represent s how much society praises sports rather than academics as well. As many people know, sports have created multi-million dollars in ticket sales just alone for high-school sports as well as being catalyst for successful sports. Needless to say, athletics does a have a place in our schools. In Admins “Is Athletics more Important than academics,” he goes on to explain how he believes our society is sending mixed messages to students that athletics is more important than academics (Admin). Admin does admit that athletics is sometimes the one reason many students of all socioeconomic backgrounds remain in our schools (Admin). Most newspapers have dedicated sections to highlighting local, regional, and national sports while local TV stations make sure they are showing the best sports coverage proclamation (Admin). As for Gabby and the young girl in the photograph, these two young ladies are shown in a completely different way. Since all the attention is given to Gabby and her being apart of gymnastics, why cant there be a dedicated section to famous athletics promoting academic successes?

In high-schools, colleges, and even professional sports, athletics will always be praised more than not only academics, but as well as the performing arts and even science. At Fairfax High School, certain athletes have been recognized for their “athletic triumphs” (Flynn). In Hannah Flynn’s, “Athletic Ability More Celebrated Than Academic Achievement,” Hannah explains how the school will “‘recognize the athletic abilities of certain students’” but won’t recognize anything else in the school (Flynn). Hannah points out that activities like the schools production of “‘9 to 5,’ dance recitals, varsity team competitions, Science Olympiad tournaments, [and] high achievers” aren’t publicized and “praised in the hallways” like athletics is (Flynn). Not only at Fairfax High School, but plenty of high schools across the country have signing parties for the students who’ve received athletic scholarships. Yet students who are awarded “academic, music, theater” and other types of scholarships receive n recognition from the school (Flynn). As for the photo, Gabby Douglass is receiving all the praise by her doing the splits on the stairs. The young girl at the bottom is show being a scholar and doing her homework and she’s receiving no recognition.

One thing I think we can all agree that athletics has a history of importance in American society.

But according to Dilley-Knoles in “Making the Grade: Academic Success in Today’s Athlete,” he seems to believe the total opposite. He points out “attention has not always been solely about games and competitions” apparently the “spotlight” has recently been “redirected to academics (Dilley-Knoles). Today, athletes wanting to participate in athletics have to meet specific criteria before being on a team of some sort in high-school (Dilley-Knoles). Knoles explains how over the last few years, the National Collegiate Athletic (NCAA) has created certain standards for academic performance for those students who are in sports (Dilley-Knoles). Certain programs have been created to reward sport teams that do well academically, and penalizing those that don’t (Dilley-Knoles). Although Gabby Douglass was the first women of color “of any nationality and the first African-American gymnast in Olympic history” to become the “Individual All-Around Champion,” I believe the photo shows that athletics was more important than academics (Mike). The young girl below her suggests that she’s more focused on school because she might have not had the same opportunity as Gabby did. Athletes, similar to Gabby, find the pursuit of athletics to be “lucrative” which is something that society values through money (Kannan). In “Which is more important, sports or academics, and how can the choice are

justified,” Ashley Kannan believes the reason why athletes and society believes that athletics is more important than academics is because athletics becomes a “major motivation” (Kannan). Reason being, she explains how athletes who sign contracts with professional organizations are always paid more than college graduates with a degree in some type of specialized field. For instance, football players make a lot more money than teachers or sometimes even doctors. In our society, being an athlete is definitely the number one thing to be. Athletics is so driven by money that academics and the “academic advancement is a distant concern” (Kannan).

Is there ever going to be a way in order for society to stop obsessing over athletics and more on academics? (I am stuck here! I don’t know what else to write!)