Importance of Sports on Society

It has long been questioned as to why do we idolize our athletes and pay them enormous amounts of money for simply playing a game, and why sports can cause so much happiness or pain on an individuals life. No one will ever truly understand why it is that we value sports so much but they will always have a huge influence on society.

Many non sports fans have always spoke out about how todays athletes are over paid when there are more important careers that have a bigger affect on life than sports do. Which is true to an extent, because without teachers, no one will be educated enough to better their lives, and there are many more careers that are vital to society that are underpaid for the importance their jobs have for humanity. But people love to watch the unimaginable and love to watch the extremely gifted athletes perform their respected talents in ways that they could only dream of doing. A reporter once asking the great Babe Ruth how is he able to make more money than the president (It was reported that Babe made 80,000 that year and Pres. Hoover made 75,000) and Babe simply replied, "Can the president hit a baseball as far as I can." People love to support things that take them away from their current lives and provide a sense of excitement and hope. They pay substantial amounts of money to watch people play a game that you can watch a 6-12 year old play on any given Saturday afternoon. Why? Because people love to see the extraordinary. For the everyday die hard fan there are fewer things more satisfying than paying 60 or so dollars to watch their favorite player hit a home run or to see their beloved team win the super bowl. People are willing to devote their hard earned money that could be spent somewhere more useful to watch a bunch of guys get paid to play a game. They are willing to do so because that home run or that Super Bowl title can give the average person especially in an economic depression that we have seen the past years a sense of hope. It brings communities together that can be torn apart by racism, religion, political differences, social differences, and many other ways that often tear people away from each other. Sports are the only things that can bring people together when it seems like they would never get along. It brings unity to people and can even unite entire countries as is evident when the world cup or olympics come around every four years.

People still may wonder why athletes are over paid and why everyone makes such a big deal out of sports but until they experience the feeling of seeing your team win the big game or even lose it, until they see the hope it can give the common man, or the way it can unite people that would never share a conversation together, those people will never truly know what it feels to appreciate such a simple game.

Determining the Greatest of All Time

With the recent success of Lebron James, there have been many stories going around whether James can finally get his name mentioned with Michael Jordan as the greatest basketball player of all time. James who just had a six game streak of scoring at least 30 points while shooting at least 60% from the field was astonishing as he is the only player in NBA history to achieve such a feat. After that streak many wondered if he could surpass Jordan as the best. Jordan fired back stating he is not even the  best player today because Kobe Bryant has 4 rings to Lebrons one championship ring. James then answered back saying if championship rings were the ultimatium in deciding the best then Jordan is not even the best of all time because Bill Russell has 11 rings. Ever since his prodigy days in high school many have wondered whether James was the second coming and if he could one day surpass the great Michael Jordan. It seems as if he is finally coming into his own after accomplishing maybe the greatest 365 days a basketball player can have as he was the season MVP, won his first championship, was the finals MVP, and won an olympic gold medal. His clutch play throughout the playoffs silenced many critics who questioned his toughness and leadership and now that he has that elusive first title its safe to say the he is about to explode and become unstoppable. When he once would shoot numerous shots to up his stat totals, James now is flirting with perfection each and every night as he is nailing over half of the shots he takes as well as bringing in almost 10 rebounds a night while dishing out assists and playing shut down defense. There is not a player in todays game or in the past that has the athletic ability that James possess'. He could very easily be an All-Pro tight end in the NFL if he put all of his focus on football instead of basketball. Not even Jordan can compare to the athletic ability that James has been blessed with. He recently became the youngest players to reach 20,000 career points and with the way the Heat are playing these days it seems like he will retire with many more championships under his belt and my opinion retire as the greatest basketball player on planet earth. With the comments that Jordan has said about James it isn't hard to notice that he has a sense of fear in his tone. Fear that the title of being the best is slipping from his grip while James continues to display his unreal talents each and every night.

Back to the Top....Almost

This is week one of my inaugural weekly sports blog. I'm going to try and tackle any issues or story that intrigues me from the week and I hope (you) my readers enjoy my feedback.


                                                         Back to the Top.....Almost
After concluding this season's Allstate Sugar Bowl, many thoughts were racing through my mind, such as how could Florida's vaunting defense be picked apart by a Big East team in Louisville and how their Sophomore stud of a quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater destroy the talented secondary that Florida boasted. After the dissapointment began to fade away I began to think, I could have never imagined Florida going 11-2 and advancing to a BCS bowl game, this season exceeded my expectations. A second year coach in Will Muschamp, inspired this overachieving squad to play with a sense of toughness that has not been seen since the championship runs of Urban Meyer. My mind then considered the recruiting class that Muschamp and his staff have put together this year and the amount of underclassmen that gathered a ton of game experience this season and I knew.....the University of Florida's football program is indeed almost back to the top of college footballs elite. Muschamp brings a blue collar gritty style of play that differs from the spread option attack of Urban Meyer's past teams but mimics the style of Nick Saban and his overpowering Alabama team. Those who were lucky enough to watch the Florida vs. LSU game this year witnessed how tough both physically and mentally Florida was as they took down the number 3 team in the nation. This was also on display as they brought down future Heisman winner Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M with a second half come back and convincing win. The throttling of top 10 team South Carolina and the come from behind win against despised rival Florida State showed just how scary Florida could be when rolling on all cylinders. But it was the 5 turnover debacle against Georgia and the collapse against Louisville that show they are not quite ready to conduct themselves as the nations best instead they are very close to becoming the championship team that is expected of them. With underclassmen stars such as Jeff Driskel, Matt Jones, Antonio Morrison, and Dante Fowler to name a few whom will be complimented with incoming freshman Vernon Hargreaves III, Kelvin Taylor, and Ahmad Fulwood, the gators have strung together one of the nations youngest but most talented rosters. The future is bright for the Florida Gators as they continue to recruit the nations best and develop stars, they will return to the pinnacle of college football and build a dynasty to last for years.
Jarrod Cochran