Basketball's Role In American Society

Many families even created traditions based upon these events. Some believe that “sports in modern society are some of America’s most popular forms of mass entertainment” because “millions and millions of people attend…[these] events and tune in each year to cheer on their favorite team or player” (Rask “American Ball Sports”). Citizens feel the loss of the teams and most individuals associate themselves with their favorite sports team. Most of the famous competitions are nation wide events but there are a lot of other sport competitions other than on the national level.

The minority athlete then becomes the symbol of the American dream for people in the United States and in the athlete’s home country. For most Asian athletes, this narrative of success entrenches themselves as a racial model minority (Joo, 2012). Being labeled a model minority suggests that Asian athletes are obsessive conformers, highly intelligent, rigorously self-disciplined people, and excessively hard-workers. The model minority stereotype appears to be very positive because it categorizes those Asians/Asian Americans as law-abiding and self-sufficient citizens, who completely embrace core American values. Yet, this perceived positive sometimes provides negative resentment amongst other minority groups and the majority of culture due to the overall abundance of success which Asians have had in school and careers (Nixon, 2015).

Baseball is often considered America’s Pastime; a sport that has its roots in the foundation of the country and has been enjoyed by generation after generation. Heroes of the game have become types of folk heroes within the borders of the United States of America, and citizens from all backgrounds have come to venues from coast to coast in order to enjoy the game. The sports’ professional participants, as expected, have directly reflected racial standards of the country at any given time; the sport was dominated by whites until the color barrier was broken, ushering in new participants of different descents. The involvement of African Americans in Major League Baseball is extremely vital for the sport, and is a topic that has been somewhat addressed by the league’s hierarchy. Despite those efforts to increase African American participation, however, the black people of America have recently seen their representation in

In today’s day and age, many, if not most, people enjoy sports either by playing, coaching or spectating. At a certain point in time, not everyone was able to do these things. During the Civil Rights Movement, sports were turned upside down and sports became accessible to a wider range of people. Many important athletes such as Jackie Robinson came out of the era and opened the public’s eye. Several became activists or coaches and changed sports in a way that hadn’t been done before.

Ever since its debut by gym teacher Dr. James Naismith in 1891 basketball has become a widely popularized team sport for both men and women across the nation. Though enjoyed by both men and women, women have struggled to attain the same respect in the sport as men, even though the women at the University of California had their first extramural game in 1892. The same trend continues in the NBA, National Basketball Association, and WNBA, Women’s National Basketball. The NBA started 70 years ago in 1946 while the WNBA began 20 years ago in 1996. The NBA continues to gain popularity, while the WNBA struggles to still be known.

200 years of sport in America: A pageant of a nation at play. New York: McGraw-Hill. Book Source 3: Platt, J., & Buckley, J. (2002). Sports immortals: Stories of inspiration and achievement. Chicago:

Throughout the life of America views on African Americans in sports have drastically changed. This is all because of one sport. That sport is the great game of

According to Sports Institute Magazine, “ The degree to which these degrading segregation policies hurt black communities – in and outside of sports”. Jackie Robinson once said, “I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me… All I ask is your respect as a human being.” This was the main problem in sports. Coaches and managers didn't even care how good players were or what their personality was like.

The white supremacy that flooded America in the 19th and early 20th century is no longer seen in the sporting world. This paper looked at sports through the lens of an individual athlete named Muhammad Ali (who definitively changed history for African-American people in the United States), as well as looked at sports as a whole throughout history. Through statistics and reports, proof has demonstrated that the sporting world has developed to give more of an opportunity for African-American athletes to compete than ever before. Athletics creates a platform that gives athletes an opportunity to be more than just an athlete. An opportunity to stand up for what they believe in and bring attention to some of the problems of the world.

The game has always been thought to be “Americas Pastime” but in modern society some people believe that may not be the case. Is baseball Americas Pastime? It is a huge debate that has been developing over the past ten to twenty years. Although baseball is thought to be Americas favorite sport, The World Series is the third most watched sporting event which trails behind both football and soccer. Baseball may not be the most watched sport but the sales in popular baseball movies in the past thirty years can also prove its popularity.

In 1945, 2% of major leagues consisted of blacks and in 1995, 19% of major leagues consisted of blacks. The very first black person to play major league baseball was Jackie Robinson in 1947. By the 1970’s, a little less than a quarter of major league baseball players were black. Today, major league sports teams are much different than before, many teams consist of the minority being white people and the majority being other races. Segregation has changed immensely over time, in the past 5 decades blacks went from having no basic human rights to being recognized as equal beings and it shows through sports as well as many other areas of segregation such as the lack of opportunity and safety, segregation in schools, and discrimination in public

Over 60 years ago, America began the greatest shift in its society: the Civil Rights Movement. Before this movement began, Jim Crow laws were still in effect segregating blacks in certain schools, bathrooms, and even public buses (History.com). Over time, many in the black communities grew frustrated with the Jim Crow laws, because of their effectiveness in limiting an African American’s pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. With the new emphasis on equality a new athlete was ready to make American history, and it would come on the baseball field. Jackie Robinson, Hall of Fame MLB player, become the first African-American to every play on a Major League Baseball team.

In times of intense divide, the United States often finds a unifying symbol to bring the country together; during the 1950s and 1960s, this was baseball. At this point in American history, baseball was the national pastime. It dominated the world of sports and entertainment for Americans. One of the major reasons baseball was so popular was due to the proliferation of media outlets writing about, discussing, and analyzing the sport. During the Civil Rights Era, radio and newspapers had an important role with the iconic star, Jackie Robinson.

Sports are a great way to bring a community together. However, sports have more to offer than just being a fun activity and a way to hang with friends. Lewis Lapham is correct in his assertion that sports represents more than trivial games between winners and losers; sports are deceptive and offer the illusion of hope, innocence, as well as lightness triumphing over darkness. H.G. Bissinger shows how these illusions affect a town’s reality in his book Friday Night Lights.

Why Basketball is the Best Sport (Rough Draft) Did you know the sport of Basketball was invented in 1891 and was played with a soccer ball and a peach basket? Due to the popularity of this game there were many developments to the game such as a different ball used for basketball, new hoops being constructed with backboards and many different accessories such as shoes, headbands, and jerseys. Over one hundred years later the game of basketball is one of the most popular sports to play and watch in the world. The games fast paced and high scoring game makes a thrilling moment for the people that are playing and watching.