Sport and Society

Sport and Society

To begin with, the educational dimensions of sports are associated with the advantages of participation in the school sports regarding the benefits of health, physical well-being, the development of the cognitive abilities of the learners, the personal welfare as well as social integration. They are related to the physical education(PE), the contribution of sports as well as PE to the daily physical well-being of the learner, among other opportunities of physical processes (Guttmann, pg. 107).

Also known as the school-based physical process, PE is part and parcel of the school curriculum and mainly includes the school sports. It provides instructions and skills that considerably contributes to the general physical awareness which is associated with the enhancement of participation on a lifelong basis, physical activity as well as positive mindsets.

Some of the educational dimensions in sports include the proper imparting of instructional approaches in the learning of and retention of the skills in sports depending on the choice of the students as far as sports are concerned. The second dimension is the introduction of teaching strategies that will lead to the general improvement of the accuracy and speed of the processing of such skills. Third, is the use of proper communication approaches on the dynamics of the mental and emotional status of those involved in sports as well as their performance. Fourth, is the dimension of physical activity and movement which is at the focal point of learning and teaching in sports in education. Fifth. Is the dimension of health knowledge and promotion which has it that sports should be aimed at improving the health of the players. The sixth dimension is the enhancement of cooperation on of the players as well as the teams. Seventh is the building and maintenance of relationships between the players which will go a long way in the promotion of social integration, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence. Lastly is the management of personal acquisition of skills. This dimension has it that success in any sports entirely depends on the personal management of the player(s) involved (Guttmann, pg. 80).

These dimensions make take the forms of Mathematics, Social Studies, Science as well as language and arts. To this effect, the baseball game can be used as a yardstick of all the earlier mentioned dimensions. When it comes to mathematics, before even setting in for playing, the learners identify the shapes in the game court by relating them to the common ones in their classes and at home. During the game, the learners may examine the playground to find such shapes as squares, triangles, circles, ovals, rectangles, among other shapes. Later after the game, the learners may work in teams to make drawings or models of the baseball court, the scoreboard as well as other shapes identified in the field. This may be done through the usage of patterns, tangrams, building blocks or a collaboration of these ways of creating a simulation of the shapes as identified in the field of the baseball game.

When it comes to science, the learners may observe the weather daily and record these observations just moments before the game. The rerecords may include temperature, the sky condition as well as precipitation. These may lead the learners to gain interest on how the weather personnel uses such objects as charts, maps, and graphics to communicate the weather patterns. During the games, the learners may record the dynamics of weather at the game. Eventually, they will make a conclusive report about their observations.

On the basis of social studies, some of the areas the learners may be involved in include among others, the population of the city of the team in question, the occupations of the players, the distance between the hometown of the team to the venue of the baseball game, the availability of other teams as well as the famous players in the team. Lastly, is language and arts where the leaders may discuss the various reactions of the game as well as the essence of expressing positive responses to the appropriate spectators (Guttmann, pg. 87).

Secondly is the market-related dimensions of all sports; unlike education sports dimensions, the sports marketing dimensions revolve in and around the sale of tickets and allocating the fans to their seats in organized sports tournaments. It may also involve the sale of tickets to of such minor events as the high school sports and minor sports leagues in such games as hockey. Even then the main focus of the dimensions is the NCAA Division IA (FBS) college football game, Super Bowl, the NASCAR event as well as the Olympics (Rensmann et al, Chapter Three).

The market-related dimensions of sports better predict and explains effective marketing in comparison with other services and products. To understand this, five differences between the fans and customers may be analyzed. To start with, while the products are associated with clients the market dimensions are related to fans. Additionally, whereas a customer is a person who undertakes a certain product or service, a fan is the ardent and devoted person to a certain sport with unreasonable enthusiasm for the game as well. Secondly is identification where it is seen that whereas fans identify with teams, customers are loyal in purchasing goods and services. Customer loyalty is the repeated buying of service and goods by the customer. The loyal customer is sensitive to the various available brands and goes for the best among them. However, the fan reacts to the events of the team as if they happened to them. In other words, the fans are emotionally attached to their teams. The third is media and promotion, where while the manufacturer of goods and services pays for the placement and development of brand promotion as well as advertising, the sports teams and fans are directly and indirectly given some financial support to promote and advertise themselves. Fourth, is products where sport is global while other products are adopted. For example, the playing of such games as baseball, basketball, tennis, soccer, motor sports as well as golf have globally accepted standards. On the other hand, the sale of products and services may vary from one region to another on a global scale. Lastly is the fact that while customers pay economic prices, the fans contribute social input into the transactions of the team they support (Rensmann et al, Chapter Three).

Some of the market-related sports dimensions include product-based strategies, alignment-based strategies, sports-based strategies and theme-based strategies (Mason, pg. 79). To start with is the theme-based strategies which can be identified as the application of the traditional marketing strategies that integrates the sports theme into the promotion program for non-sports goods and services. In this case, the marketing process may opt to utilize the sport related medium to reach the customers efficiently. A key fact is that the marketer does not have a direct relationship with a particular sports arrangement.

The second dimension is the product-based strategies which are synonymous with the endeavors by to promote the sports merchandise without having to a direct relationship with the sports club. The dimension may or may not get involve with the team beyond the instance when the team offers the product. For example, the sale of athletic shoes is way beyond any sports environment although the product is sport related.

The third is the sports-based dimension which involves the official facilitators of a sports property who may be selling other products related to sports. Since the sports play a vital role in product promotion, this dimension reflects the big marketing reliance on initiatives that are sport related. In this dimension also, the main strategy is the application of the custom sponsorship of a sporting event or a team (Rensmann et al, Chapter Three).

Lastly is the alignment-based strategies where many marketers of the nonsupport service and products align themselves to the sports activities through the four categories of sportsmanship (venue naming rights, custom sponsorships, licensing agreements as well as endorsements). This dimension reflects a great standard of the incorporation of sports in a sporting environment (Mason, pg. 76).

Amateurism in sports is the event in which the participants are involved in the sports without necessarily being remunerated. However, there is a distinction between amateurism and professionalism where the latter connotes the participants who are remunerated financially for the time spent in training and playing. Such financial support may be from the at least one of such organizations as clubs, the governing councils of the clubs and the organizers of the sports events in which the professional players participate. In other words, an amateur play for the sole purposes of pleasure, mental, social or physical benefits and not as a livelihood (Blainey, pg. 92).

However, the lines between the two players grow thinner and thinner by the day today. As a matter of fact, events of today are distinct from the past events facilitated by the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America where there no visible rules to distinguish between amateurism and professionalism. This was because even those who were lucky to be paid were given nothing significant to even cater for their basic needs.

In many sports that engaged professional players, the players participated at higher standards of playing compared to the amateur players since they take the sports as their livelihood and may not be committed elsewhere in other jobs. Even then, a majority of the participants in the world are amateurs. Amateurism in sports was vehemently promoted in the 19th century especially for the participants from the higher social classes but would later progressively wane with the monetization of college games and sports. Amateurism is currently held as by only a few individuals and organizations ( Gorn and Godstein, pg. 159).

In the 19th century, the sporting culture was precisely stable among the schools and institutions of higher learning of the time, and the amateurs from the upper social class (the working class could not fully participate as professionals). This class dominated the establishment of sports and had the self-interest in impeding the professionalism of the then available sports. The argument continued to soar between the divide that advocated that sports should be open to all and the divide that opined that sports should only be for professionals. The contention would continue for a hundred years. However, some sports like golf could accommodate the contention. This would be evident in the events where there were competitions between the professionals and the amateurs. In other cases, it would take generations to embrace professionalism which would later cause breakdowns in some sports specifically the rugby league and the rugby union.

In the period between 1880 and 1914 amateurism was the dominant sports modality in New Zealand where 16 national organizations on sports were founded. These organizations include hockey, rugby, cricket and athletics which were all amateur. Despite being directly attached to the haves in the society (they were the only ones who could play expecting no income in return), amateurism would later provide sporting activities for virtually all the societal classes in New Zealand. Amateurism was mainly promoted in schools and could be facilitated by the governments. This was mainly because many viewed professionalism as unfavorable and no facilities would be provided for professional sports. Professionalism was seen as unfavorable for the simple reason that the government thought that it would not be financially sustainable ( Gorn and Godstein, pg. 159).

Nevertheless, the prize monetary attachment in sports did not just disappear anyhow, the New Zealand Cyclists Union (later dubbed League of Wheelmen), organized events where the amateurs would at a fee. This invited professionalism in such sports as golf where the less strict New Zealand Athletic Union supported professionalism. Despite this, amateurism remained a dominant sport in the country ( Gorn and Godstein, pg. 159).

Presently, by the turn of the 21st century, the Olympic Sports among other major teams embraced professional competition. However, there are still some sports that maintain a distinct approach between professionalism and amateurism in separate competitive leagues this category falls such games as boxing and golf. To specific, only amateur golf players and boxers could participate in the Olympic games up to 2016.The Olympics regulations consider the amateurs at the expense of the professionals. Even though part of this regulation would later be abolished in the ‘90s except wrestling. From 2016, professional boxers have been allowed in the Olympics although the amateur rules are still in use. (Guttmann, pg. 112).

However, problems can arise with amateurism in the cases where the sponsors offer to lend a helping hand to the amateurs hoping to make them professionals someday. In other words, these sponsors undertake the training of the amateurs hoping that they will negotiate lucrative business deals with them when they become professionals. This jeopardizes their normal status as the sports amateurs. In the cases where the professionals are involved in any games, it becomes hard for the amateurs to compete. This is for the simple reason that for a competitor to be paid then they must be fully involved in the sports of their choice without necessarily depending on other income sources.

Even to date, most of the sports in the North American university are done by amateurs. This is true for even the most commercialized college sports the likes of basketball as well as the NCAA football. In this case, the participants are not compensated except for the few coaches involve in such sports. College coaches in Texas among other states, are highly paid and could technically be seen as professionals (Blaine, pg. 53).

Amateurism becomes even more prominent when the athletic scholarships cannot even adequately cater for such basic needs as housing, food, and tuition of the players. This goes for the cases where the North American university is willing to pay a student to study bit cannot pay for them to play. While others criticize this, the proponents of the arrangement suggest that having to pay college students would see them forego their studies which are deemed more important than sports. Such proponents promote the prevalence amateurism in sports.

In England, the firsts cricket brought on board the distinction between the professional and amateur cricket players until 1963.In some cases, however, the amateurs would be compensated if they got injured as they played. The country also supported the competition between the professional and amateur cricket players in the games popularly dubbed the players VS the Gentlemen. This would go a long way in the promotion of amateurism and professionalism in games (Marqusee).

Just like other Olympic games, figure skating had stringent amateur regulations. However, over the years these rules have been relaxed to allow for the payment of tokens of appreciation during the performances in exhibitions. These regulations would see many skaters who dared to be professional being excommunicated from the International Skating Union up until 1992 when some were reinstated (Guttmann, pg. 112).

The rugby football could perhaps be the best and the most long-lasting instance of the tension between professionalism and amateurism during the organization of national sports in North America. To this effect, there was a split in the rugby football which bore the rugby union and rugby league as a result of the dispute over the enforcement of strict amateur regulations. Since the rugby was a popular game, there arose a need to retain the best players. However, this could not have been possible so long as the players were not and as such the rugby league was established as a splinter group that would pay to retain the best players (it was a league where only the professional participants would play to earn a living) (Spirn, pg. 1865).

Although the tension between professionalism and amateurism goes far back in history, the amateurism craze would later bet swept under the carpet when sports has seen a lucrative alternative to jobs for the inherent large amounts of money. This would force the Olympic movement to embrace professionalism. Following this the Jamaica’s ruling that would change the name of the then athlete body from Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association to the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) to embrace the new professionalism status in the sports world.

Sports are primarily the different forms of physical activities and games that are necessarily competitive through organized or casual participation. They aim at the general improvement of the physical skills even as they cause enjoyment on the participants. There are many reasons why they have been seen as essentially everything in some instances (Markovits and Rensmann , Chapter 6)

To start with is the health perspective where we see the physical activities involved in sports helps the participants remain physically fit. This goes for the fact that presently, people ingest a lot of energy foods and unbeknown to them, there is excessive storage of fats which are engendered by the high amounts of calories they take in. To this effect, the different forms of sports available are involved in the burning of the excessive calories that are counterproductive to the health of many people worked over. Participating in sports helps such individuals to remain physically fit given that such sports as swimming tournaments involve practically every organ of the body (Markovits and Hellerman, pg. 142)

. The physical fitness benefit could be looked at in five perspectives of the general human health. To start with, it keeps cardiac issues at bay; this is because many sports require high physical energy which would mean more calorie burning as well as more oxygen amounts in the body. As such, the heart is not overworked which maintains its health. Secondly, sports help in maintaining the suppleness of one’s body. Every human being needs flexibility in their day to day lives which is readily provided by the participation in any sports activities. Third, games help in giving the stamina required in working for long hours given the complexity of the economy currently. The general body movements in sports help one adapt to non-stop body movements as they work on a daily basis. Fourth, sports give the participants the much-needed speed needed in the fast-moving world. Sports equips the participants with the skills to think and make decisions quickly. Lastly, participating in sports helps individuals to convert the flow of adrenaline into energy which helps them circumvent the debilitating stress that comes with the current dynamic lifestyles.

Secondly, sports lead to the honing of the interpersonal skills. In many sports, the participants are required to cooperate in various stages of sports to remain successful within the competitive circles. The progressive cooperation among the participants leads to gaining of the teamwork techniques which on a large scale promotes one’s self-image. In other words, the participants develop in all aspects of their lives and can relate well with their teammates as well as other people in the society. Eventually, the participants will be able to form relationships that they wouldn’t otherwise have had. These relationships bring more social support schemes and grow well beyond the games, creating more opportunities for the participants (Gingrich).

Third, sports promote one’s self-confidence especially when they excel and learn different aspects of life while they play. This is caused by the feeling of doing something as worthwhile as playing for their countries and states. This makes the participation in sports a memorable experience which adds to the healthy growth of one’s personality. The self-belief that comes with sports is also an indication of tremendous mental capacity which helps the participants excel even in other aspects of their lives (Tomlinson et al).

Fourth, is the maintenance of discipline among the participants. Most of the professional sports are founded on stringent practice and training schedules. Also, they are guided by rules which once breached may attract such repercussions as being discontinued from the specific games in question. This becomes clear in the playing of the football games. The games are strictly monitored through some regulations which are embodied in the yellow and red cards depending on the gravity of offense during the actual playing of the game. Having to follow these rules to the letter, helps the players remain disciplined in their actions during the game. Moreover, before making it to the particular teams available, the players are required to spend much of their time training and learning rules of the games. All these regulations and rigorous sports schedule promote discipline within and without the sports settings. To put it differently, sports helps the participants to remain occupied which spares them from all cases of indiscipline including drug abuse and alcoholism (Markovits and Rensmann, Chapters 1 & 2).

Fifth, sports may lead do better classroom performance on the part of the participants. This is true for the simple reason that the participation in sports requires the skills of repetition, memorization, and remembering which are necessary for a typical classroom. Also, the determination and the techniques used in setting goals can be applied in the academics’ field, which translates to more impressive grades. Additionally, sports improve on one’s degree of concentrating: regular exercises or any physical activities help in sharpening one’s mental skills. These skills include learning, critical thinking, and sound judgment. The mental skills are needed in the process of the tight academic’s schedules.

Sixth, some forms of sports are a basis for the making of leaders. This is clear in such games as basketballs, baseballs, and soccer which have to be used as the breeding foundations for the making of the current most renowned leaders. This is made possible by the fact that sports present the windows of training, attempting, winning or losing as a team. These team mindsets over time lead to the acquisition of strong leadership skills (Jerome).

Lastly, sports have become full-time careers and sources of livelihood, especially for the professional participants. This is seen in such sports as football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, hockey among others. These games have been transformed into careers which are now lucrative livelihoods. This is evident in such players as Serena Williams, Mike Tyson, Usain Bolt, Michael Jordan, Cristiano Ronaldo among others who live off football, basketball, tennis, athletics among other sports (Bottenburg).

Despite this, some people see sports as nothing, and they could technically be justified given the various issues associated with sports. To start with, some sports are related to bodily injuries. These games may include, skating, boxing, football fencing among others. They are related to injuries that may range from bruises, sprains, milder cuts to even more debilitating injuries: fractures of the spine and the born, loss of eyesight and the hearing sense. Given these cases, the body may sustain permanent damages and impairments.

Secondly, there is a lot of pressure for the players who are forced to perform aggressively at peak degrees to help them win. This inherent pressure comes from such peoples as the coaches, parents, countries and the organizers of the many competition available today. This pressure may cause emotional problems which may lead to such players as the athletes adopting destructive actions which may include the taking of asteroids which are believed to increase body activities by reducing fatigue (Young and Richard, pg. 1986).

Third, the intense competition moods that engulf the sports platforms and the prospects of such rewards as medals and cash may cause the players to remain aggressive throughout their lives. While the degree of aggressiveness may be manageable and benign, there are cases where it has grown from simple name calling to actual violence with their competitors. This may lead to bodily harm and societal disintegration (Markotis and Hellerman, pg. 132).

Third, sports may require large chunks of the players’ time and money. These players may travel from country to country for the organized competitions which may be unrelenting at times. This also denies them a chance to be with their families. As such, most of these players lead isolated and miserable lives which may bring an eventuality of depression.

Fourth, since sports may enhance the sense of self-worth, they may also lead to the degrading of self-esteem on the part of the players. This becomes evident when the players lose in the much-anticipated games and cannot imagine forfeiting the rewards that are inherent in winning the specific games in question, especially football. Also, on losing, some players have been nabbed contemplating suicide which does not add anything to their overall wellbeing (Markotis and Hellerman, pg. 132).

Lastly, the over emphasis on sports may lead to the negligence of other talents that people especially youngsters may be having. This is because not everybody will have the talent to play in football or any other game for that matter. Paying more attention to sports may lead to the overlooking of other outstanding talents such a singing, dancing, public speaking, acting among others which are equally important. This becomes even more evident in the proceeds that come from sports compared to other talents. Even then, it is clear that these disadvantages are negligible compared to the inherent advantages and this means that sports have become a livelihood for many and may mean everything to them.

The four major games in the North American Continent include basketball, hockey, baseball, and football. These games have been entirely absorbed in the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB and the National Football League (NFL) respectively. These leagues are mainly referred to as the ‘main 4’ each of which is owned by wealthy professional clubs in the world. Along with the English Premier League, they are the leading clubs by revenue world over. These leagues have the significant role in the general culture in Canada and the US where the best players become the most important iconic cultural figures.

To start with, the major-league baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball club that is the oldest among the four top leagues in the United States as well as Canada. Presently an aggregate of thirty teams plays in the American League (AL) as well as the National League (NL) with fifteen teams each. The thirty MLB teams are distributed both in the U.S. and Canada where twenty-nine teams are found in the U.S. and only one team in Canada (Markotis and Hellerman, pg. 132). The teams play 162 games every season, and five teams in each league qualify to participate in the postseason tournaments that eventuate in the world series. It records the highest attendance compared to the different sports available world over (Allen, pg. 107).

The league is governed by the Major-League Baseball Constitution which guides the league in hiring and maintaining the umpiring personnel as well as the closing of deals with the media. The league represents the Baltimore, Network, Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles among other states in Canada and the U.S (Tygile, pg. 56).

On a cultural view, the major basketball league presents a culture where the players are given the freedom to do other jobs besides playing in the league. Secondly is a culture where there is intense cooperation between the managers and the players. Third, it is a culture that brings equitability between the young and older players. Lastly, the MLB’s culture promotes the negligence of personal differences for the greater good of the team (Gorn et al, pg. 122).

The league was founded in 1903 with its headquarters in the New York City. The most recent champions are the Chicago Cubs while the team was having the highest number of championships being the New York Yankees. The league is associated with such TV stations as Fox/Fox Sports 1, TBS, ESPN/ESPN2 and MLB Network in America as well as the Sportsnet, RDS, SN2 and MLB Network in Canada ( Radet, pg.118).

Secondly, the National Basketball Association (NBA) is the primary professional basketball league which is widely deemed the pioneer of men’s professional basketball world over. It has thirty teams where similar to the baseball league, twenty-nine teams are found in in the U.S., and only one team is found in Canada (Rader, pg. 291). The league is also an active stakeholder of the USA Basketball which is also a signatory to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). It is one of the major four sports in North America, more so in Canada and the United States. It is believed that the players in this league are the best paid in the world. The current champions in the game are the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the most championships are held by the Boston Celtics. The league works in association with such TV partners as NBA TV, TNT and ABC/ESPN in U.S. and NBA TV Canada, TSN/TSN2 and Sports net/ Sports net One (Markotis and Hellerman, pg. 89).

It has in many cases been criticized for embracing the hip hop cultures. While there have been, castigations were painting an impression of the league as the one embracing cultural discrimination, the team is mostly connected to the hip-hop stars. This goes given the fact that such rappers as Jay-Z and Nelly have shares in the NBA professional club. Also, many of these rappers wear the NBA jerseys in their music videos. As a rejoinder, the NBA plays the hip hop tracks in their tournaments. Some of the associate TV stations the likes of ABC/ESPN also play the hip-hop music in the background as they streamline the games (Gorn and Goldstein, pg. 175).

Based on these accusations the NBA propose a neutral dress codes for the players which resulted in the banning of clothes that would as little as connote the hip hope culture. To this effect, the wearing of jewelry, headphones, throwback jerseys and baggy shorts were banned for the players during the games (Vincent, pg. 240).

The third is the National Hockey League (NHL) is one of the four leagues in the North American continent and has 30 teams where twenty-three are in the U.S. and seven in Canada. The headquarters of the game are in in the New York City. The league is deemed the pioneer of professional hockey playing in the world. The Stanley Cup is awarded to the winning team at the end of each of the seasons organized annually. Different from the other leagues, the National Hockey League mobilize its players from different parts of the world and has, therefore, a myriad of cultural interactions. Even then, it has been reported that Canada has taken the lion’s share of the teams, but with time the European and American players have involved in the team (Gruneau

and Whitson, pg. 94)

The league is at the custodian of the Board of Governors who is the governing body of the league too. In this case, each team presents its chosen governor as well as two alternative members to the board. The role of the board of governors is to develop the policies of the league and to uphold the cognitions that govern its operations. Other roles include the approval and proposal of changes to the game rules, hiring and laying off of commissioners, the approval and reviewing of any purchase made in the name of the team, the approval of the salaries of the members of the club as well as the approval of any changes in the game schedules (Bottenburg, pg. 75).

Founded on November 26, 1917, the league has its headquarters in New York where the most recent champions are the Pittsburgh Penguins with the Montreal Canadiens having the highest number of titles. The league is associated with such TV stations as the Sports net and TVA Sports in Canada and NBC, NHL Network as well as the Univision in the U.S (Critcher, pg.83).

Lastly is the National Football League (NFL), which is a professional football club that is composed of thirty-two teams. These teams have equally been divided into the American Football Conference (AFC) as well as the National Football Conference (NFC). Unlike other leagues, this league is only found in the U.S (Markovits and Hellerman, pg. 159).

Having been founded on August 20, 1920, the National Football League is associated with such TV stations as the CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, NFL Network and Telemundo in the U.S. The most recent champions are the New England Patriot but most of the league titles are held by the Green Bay Packers.

The organizational structure of the league is made up of the executive as well as the commissioner. The members of the executive committee include one representative, as well as a top officer, form the 32 teams. Any changes to the laws and regulations governing the league must be approved by the committee where without unanimous consensus, nothing passes. Similar to the executive team, the commissioner has the high influence on the league but remain accountable to the owners who through a vote of no confidence by the executive team can strip the commissioners off their roles (Spirn, pg.1869).

There are many similarities in the for leagues of North America. To start with, they have their headquarters in New York. Secondly, some of the associate TV stations are common for example the Sportsnet in Canada. Third, except for the National Football League (NFL), all the other teams have thirty teams which are located in both the U.S. and Canada. However, the National Football League (NFL) has thirty-two teams which are located only in the U.S. Fourth they all have commissioners which are at the heart of the organizational structures of the leagues ( Gorn and Goldstein, 165).

In conclusion, there are also some notable differences between the teams which cut across the founding of as well as the organizational structures of the leagues. They were all found in different years with the Major-League Baseball being found in 1901, the National Basketball Association in 1946, the National Football League in 1920 and the National Hockey League in 1917.Secondly, there are also differences in their organizational structures. While the other teams are mainly run by commissioners, the National Hockey League and the National Football League have the additional board of governors and the executive committee respectively who are involved in the running of the organization structures of the two leagues. Third, they use different playgrounds and balls which come in various designs depending on the league. Lastly also differed considerably in the number of seasons they have ever had the National Football League has had 97 seasons, the National Basketball has played 71 seasons, the Major Baseball League has been involved in playing 140 seasons, and the National Hockey League has played 100 seasons.

Work Cited

Allen Guttmann, From Ritual to Record: The Nature of Modern Sports, pp. 1 – 116;

And Samuel Whiston Spirn, “A Scientific Sport Fit for Gentlemen: Why Rugby Supplanted Soccer in the Early History of American Football, 1860 – 1877″ (Senior Honors Thesis, Department of History, Harvard University, 2003);

Andrei S. Markovits and Lars Rensmann, Gaming the World, Chapter one.

Elliot Gorn and Warren Goldstein, A Brief History of American Sports, pp. 153 – 169;

RAnd Geoffrey Blainey, “A Game of Our Own”, pp. 1 – 30.ichard Gruneau and David Whitson, Hockey Night in Canada, pp. 1 – 7; and 31 – 106;

Tony Mason, Association Football and English Society, 1863 – 1915, pp. 1 – 81;

And Alan Tomlinson, Andrei S. Markovits, Christopher Young, “Introduction: Mapping Sports Space” American Behavioral Scientist

And Andrei S. Markovits and Lars Rensmann, Gaming the World: How Sports Are Reshaping Global Politics and Culture, Introduction, Chapters One and Two.

Jerome Karabel, “The Reasons Why” published in The New York Review of Books as a review of Werner Sombart Why Is There No Socialism in the United States?

And Maarten Van Bottenburg, “Why Are American and European Sports Worlds So Different? Path Dependence in European and American Sports History” in Alan Tomlinson, Christopher Young and Richard Holt (eds.) Sports and the Transformation of Modern Europe, 1950 – 2010.

And Elliot Gorn and Warren Goldstein, A Brief History of American Sports, pp. 114 – 129;

And Jules Tygiel, Past Time: Baseball as History, pp. 3 – 63;

And Andrei Markovits and Steven Hellerman, Offside, pp. 52 – 69 and pp. 128 – 136; Readings: Elliot Gorn and Warren Goldstein, A Brief History of American Sports, pp. 153 – 169;

And Andrei Markovits and Steven Hellerman, Offside, pp. 69 – 82 and pp. 136 – 145;

And Allen Guttmann, From Ritual to Record, pp. 117 – 136;

And Benjamin Rader, American Sports, pp. 89 – 101; pp. 181 – 200; and pp. 267 – 286.

And Ted Vincent, The Rise and Fall of American Sports: Mudville’s Revenge, “The Liberal’s Game”, pp. 225 – 254.

And Benjamin G. Rader, American Sports, pp. 289 – 293.

Readings: Richard Gruneau and David Whitson, Hockey Night in Canada, pp. 1 – 7; and 31 – 106;

And Maarten Van Bottenburg, Global Games, pp. 45 – 98;