The discussion of for what reason athletes are role models in today’s society and to what extent we should look to athletes and sports figures as the ideal covered many facets of the sports field. The conversation included phenomenon like Jeremy Lin and Tim Tebow as well as coaching break downs with sexual scandals at Penn State and Syracuse University. It was debated whether it is right to worship an athlete and if so, why? Further on the front of role models, it was questioned how much respect and devotion should be poured into these coaches of well respected schools.
These questions discussed brings to light why do we, as a culture, have the back-page of our newspapers covering sports? Plus, with a depleting use of newspapers as our central medium of news, will sports take a greater or lesser role in the impact in our culture? Although newspapers are seen less often in the public scene today, sports and the illustrious water cooler talk is as prominent as ever. The increase in media, as talked about in class, has created a sports world that can go viral. The latest tebowing touchdown or game winning shot by Jeremy Lin can be viewed by millions, instead of the local viewing audience. This has most likely caused the sweeping sensations to take a greater hold than in years prior. Before Tim Tebow made it to the front cover of magazines like GQ, he already became a household name and a household idol. Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media have allowed this to happen. It is no wonder why water cooler talk has heated up regarding these now celebrities. It is more probable for someone to tweet about an electrifying dunk than telling the world that their dad just drove him home from school. Clearly what is valued in our society, and what is worth talking (or tweeting) about is not in line with traditional views in many ways.
If the Ancient Greeks had Facebook, would they have posted about gladiators more often than about family? They seemed to have a fairly rigid social structure which might have favored the ladder. The social fluidity in our current society, or at least the “American dream” idea of social mobility in America allows for common people to worship sports figures freely, and praise them for their accolades, in hope of achieving similar accomplishments. We worked with the idea in class that athletes and coaches going from a normal person to the very top of the fame and fortune pyramid of success based off of their talents is something that we value. As free people who can communicate at will, we hope that we can be like these people because we too have talents that we think can bring us to the top. At least, that seems to be the case. Why else would people idolize sports figures and teams other than for a reason to believe.
This want to believe, along with an allegiance factor, such as commitment to your favorite team even when they are losing as a display of faith, tie into why sports figures take such big falls. They are not perfect human beings, but rather they are human. This is why a situation like the scandal involving Tiger Woods was a story that captivated the country, especially during a time like Thanksgiving, when the story unwound. Furthermore, this is why cases like Jerry Sandusky or Bernie Fine and the sex scandals of which they were allegedly apart bring down a country of believers. When one falters in a position of power, especially in America, they will be under high scrutiny for failing their constituents. This scrutiny as we have learned will not only come from the headline on the back of your local paper, but also from twitter accounts worldwide, bringing their own take to why this person failed you so much. It seems in today’s age of social media, the first amendment is allowing sports figures and celebrities as a whole to rise to fame in a mouse-click instant and then crumble under America’s infrastructure even faster.
No comments:
Post a Comment