The Best Of The Best :: essays research papers fc

Remember the time when Michael Jordan hit the game winning shot, with Byron Russel from Utah in is face, to win his six NBA title? Remember all the times that Joe Montana and Jerry Rice connected for touchdowns? Remember the time when Mark McGuire hit his sixty-second home run to break the old record? All of these sporting events are part of the mosaic that is the American society. The media bombarded American viewers with dazzling athletic feats and heroism. But has the media gone too far in making these sport figures seem larger than life? Could it be that the media has corrupted the spirit and integrity of the once proud and traditional games?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the pre-television era sports were filled with hard work, loyalty, and self-determination but as times changed people began looking for instant gratification. It is easy to see this happening in the much watched and listened to game of baseball. Thus the fans preferred the towering home runs of Babe Ruth rather than the hard work style of base hits, base stealing, sacrifices and hit-and-run plays personified by Ty Cobb. American heroes were no longer lone businessmen or statesmen, but more often the stars of movies and sports. Young boys now dreamed of becoming athletic heroes rather than the Captains of Industry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The incredible influence television has had on sports is clearly stated in the scholarly essay In Its Own Image: How Television Has Transformed Sports by Benjamin Rader. This scholarly essay is a well-written piece of work that takes a look at how much of an effect television really has on sports.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Benjamin Rader states as his thesis â€Å"Television has essentially trivialized the experience of spectator sports. With its enormous power to magnify and distort images, to reach every hamlet in the nation with events from anywhere in the world, and to pour millions of additional dollars into sports, television-usually with the enthusiastic assistance of the sports moguls themselves-has sacrificed much of the unique drama of sports to the requirements of entertainment. To seize and hold the attention of viewers and thus maximize revenues, the authenticity of the sporting experience has been contaminated with a plethora of external intrusions. To capitalize upon the public’s love of sports, television-again with the aid of sports promoters-has swamped viewers with too many seasons, too many games, too many teams, and too many big plays. Such a flood of sensations has diluted the poignancy and potency of the sporting experience.