Society's labels are losing their footholds in the world of sports. The culture of America is quickly changing from a society that pigeonholes to one that is in love with athletic competition. Instead of pop-culture, indie-culture or alternative-culture we have become a society of jock-culture. John Walsh, Senior Vice President and Executive Editor of the sports cable network ESPN claims, "Sports have moved from being a subculture to becoming a major force in America's social and cultural landscape. (Tharp, Brownlee)".
Society proves to be indiscriminatingly receptive to inviting sports into their culture. Democracy has been replaced with Jockocracy. The passion over sports issues can rival the intensity of political debates. According to the U.S. News/Bozell poll, this "jockocracy" constitutes about a quarter to a third of the adult population and is composed of people who say they play sports at least a couple of times a week or those who watch sports contests on television a number of times a week (Tharp, Brownlee).
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1953 Fort Wayne Daisies Back, L-R: Bill Allington ...Societies participation in sports involves issues and biases towards minority groups such as; gender, ethnicity and homosexuality. Society's labels and limitations on sports involvement are quickly melting away. The athletic spectrum is becoming a popular forum for society to express its cultural diversity, awareness and acceptance. . According to Tharp, "the idiom of sports is the way that many Americans feel most engaged and comfortable, talking about racial issues, standards of excellence, comparative worth, even right and wrong".
Many countries are progressive in their positive thinking of sports. The Olympics was once a simulated "ÃÂwar of nations' but now people admire and applaud individual talent regardless of the athlete's origin. Today, America is nearly divided about the meaning of the competition: "Forty nine percent think that competition is among individuals; forty seven percent view it as a...