Sports and Politics

Ever since I was young I was always involved in sports, playing them as well as watching them. However, not once have I ever really related them deeply to politics. I see baseball as the "great American pass time", and football as the all American sport, and of course growing up a Hoosier you can hardly go anywhere without a game on during basketball season. I really just see sports as that simple, a way for families to relax together and watch their favorite team and player together. Everyone has their own ways of bonding, but I know my family wouldn't be as close without all the nights together spent watching Cardinal baseball games, and Sunday afternoons spent at my uncle's house watching the Colts. My two closest cousins, my sister and I all play college  level sports, it's simply in our blood. My Grandfather is in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, my Uncle (his son) referees college basketball across the country on the Big 10 level. My mom was an elite diver, and still coach's and my dad could have gone pro in baseball but decided to play college football where he was a part of some of the most successful football teams Indiana State has seen and has since been inducted into their football hall of fame. I guess what I'm trying to say is sports are a huge part of my life and I want them to be, they are a huge positive for me as well as for my whole family. Sports are my positive get away and the pride of my family, it's a huge part of how we bond. Seeing sports in that light, I guess I just never really have analyzed it so far as to think about how they affect politics, however I am not saying that doesn't mean they don't.

Women like Billy Jean King, and Title IX are a huge part, if not the ONLY reason I get to participate in college athletics. I of course had heard of the Pat Tillman story, but until this movie, had never heard the real story of his death, but didn't recall the media one anyway but that just shows how powerful the media is in showing is what they want us to hear. I think it is very honorable and respectful what the Pro teams do for the Military because all hierarchy and politics aside the true Americans love sports, those soldiers look up to those football players and love to watch them play (some, can't assume all) just as those players truly are thankful for the men fighting so they can play the game they love.

I'm glad my eyes have been opened a bit to how sports and politics mix, but I am not a totally niaeve person.  I will always see sports as just a game, a game I play, a game my family plays, coaches, referees, and a game my family lives and loves. It may seem silly, but I'll forever be thankful for the blessings sport has given my family, in actually playing and in watching.