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.
