Super Bowl Sunday Diatribe

I must confess I am not much of a sports fan. I like to play sports but I have never been much of a watcher except for the occasional boxing match.
While athletics and competition can be good things our culture has perverted sports.

Sports no longer teaches team work. It is now all about the glory of the individual.
It is all about how much money you can make and how much fame you can garner.
We change sports stars (and entertainment stars for that matter) into heroes. Heroes are people who put something of value on the line, like their life or reputation or even their wealth for the greater good. Sports stars do none of that and are not worthy of the status of hero solely because of their athletic performance.

The amounts athletes are paid are obscene. The salaries they recieve are more then high they are an injustice. Does their contribution to society really justify what they are paid. I do not mean to unfairly target them because they are not the only ones and it is not their fault. It is our fault. If we were not so obsessed with sports then they would not be able to garner the salaries that they do.

Moving downward. The time and attention and money that is put into college athletics is criminal. If only such efforts were put into improving academic excellence. College administrators will tell you sports programs attracts donors and puts our name on the map. What they do not tell you is that the programs suck up so much time and money that it is doubtful that there is any real gain for academic programs. It actually hurts your more obscure sports because big time programs push them out. Once again the real fault lies with us. We are more interested in how a college sports team is doing then how well the students are being educated.

Then their is the children. Need I list the sins we comit against our children in the name of sports. The pressure the parents put on them. The unsportsmen like conduct of some parents. Children suffering disabling injuries because parents who want to live glories they did not obtain push their children to hard. Not to mention the fact of how many students suffer academically because their parents put emphasis on the wrong things.

Sports are no longer have a positive impact on our society but a negative one. Because we have allowed ourselves to be consumed by what in the end is a trivial pursuit.

Think about what part sports plays in your life and then examine your priorities. Would your life and society be better if you adjusted those priorities.

(I apoligize for spelling errors I am a poor editor and spell check is not working today)