Ever since the dawn of humans, sports have been a part of our culture. From various ancient sports which played a role of entertainment and physical exercise, not to mention ancient tournaments, to today, where sports events draw millions if not billions of viewers, sports play a vital part of our culture and society. Could that be a problem, though? It most definitely could, and another question arises; do we value sports too much? People surely love to watch and play sports; take football, for example – those who do not like to play often learn about Football Betting, and enjoy betting on their favorite teams online. The question of sports can be answered by looking at the question from multiple angles.
Sports as a Way of Recreation
Sports are essentially a way of recreation for most people. They play their favorite sports, have fun with friends and this is where the story ends for most people. It is not like that for others, however. As a way of recreation, most people do not indulge in sports as much as the media would like us to believe. Yet, we still overindulge.
The Power of Stardom
Sports are popular to a very large extent, sometimes as much as Hollywood films and even more. Sports give us the best of our kind, athletes who can at points perform superhuman feats, or at least, that is what it appears like to average people.
As a species we have always been fascinated with the best we can possibly be, superhumans, superheroes. Just like superheroes are popular, humans which actually do these things, using their bodies as tools for some amazing performances, athletes become as popular. Star athletes get the most attention and they are paid the most money, which inevitably leads to another player.
Advertisements Promote Sports
And vice versa, actually. Marketing and sports go hand in hand today. Athletes wearing jerseys which have various sponsors on them, wearing watches from famous brands, driving cars from large car companies, wearing specific shoes, whoever they have a deal with. The two are intertwined, one promoting the other. Fans give sports value and companies see that, benefiting from advertisements.
Sports Connect People
Like it or not, sports connect people from all walks of life. Go out on a court to play basketball and you will meet all sorts of people, old, young, rich, barely scraping and so on and so forth. Yet that doesn’t really make a difference to those people. They are there to have fun and compete, let out some steam. Making friends and acquaintances along the way is even better.
Now add to that the fandom of a club, an athlete. People from all over the world flock together as they find common ground, an athlete or a club, or a sport, for that matter. Discussions, love, hate, passion, all of that is shared, which is one of the great things about sports, and the thing which gives it the value.
Too Many Emotions at Times
You have all heard of horror stories of what happens when fans get a little too much to drink and when their favorite football club loses a match. Things get violent and people get hurt. This is the aggressive side of people, who invest too many emotions in a sport, club or athlete.
On the other hand, there are people who invest money, wanting desperately for their team to win, betting on them, as if their ritualistic bet would help the team win. This, too, stems from too many emotions and can lead to bankruptcy and problems with compulsive gambling. Neither is a good choice.
Sports are amazing, physical, beautiful and they connect people. On the other hand, people do tend to invest too much time and too many emotions into sports, which can lead to problems of all kinds. Moderation is key, as always in life.
