Action Sports and Television
Actions sports have always been interesting to me. The way the athletes perform their tricks, how judges score them, and how the camera operators keep up with such a fast paced competition. The more I thought of my interest in this subject, the more I wanted to know. The growth of action sports on television follows the same pattern of any other type of show genre in its early stages. Documentaries, themed shows or movies, and especially the coverage on live television would be good places to start looking into. The impact on cable television and sports channels could further delve into other questions that comes to mind, like how the public viewed them. When did corporate sponsorships begin to move the funding along to keep such events growing in the public eye? When did extreme/action sports become a “regular” in sports programming?
It is difficult to pin-point precisely when the phrase extreme sports began to refer to specific modern sports. It goes back to the 1970s when mountain biking and marathon running were two of the most extreme sports. I believe extreme or “action” sports grew into popular past-times in the late 20th century as a way for people to step outside of a somewhat overly conservative comfort zone. Lacking a feeling of danger in their day to day activities, people may have felt the urge to increase their drive for something out of the ordinary. As more people become aware of extreme sports, the activities gain more participants and supporters. As interest and participation in challenging, cutting-edge activities competitors constantly search for something new
and different to set themselves away from the pack. Basically, this creates an assurance of growth and continued popul...
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...nsorship." CNN. CNN, 01 Aug 2007. Web. 23 Nov 2013. http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/wayoflife/07/31/censorship/
Marill, Alvin. “Sports on Television.” Westport, Conn. Praeger, 2009.
Chapter 49: Action Sports
Miller, Richard. Washington, Kelli. “Sports Marketing.” 2013, p373-377. 5p. 1 Chart.
Owens, Jim. “Television Sports Production.” Burlington, MA : Focal Press, c2007. 4th ed.
Smith, Chris. “X Games Brings Action Sports Stars To Mainstream Popularity.” Forbes.com. 1/27/2012, p36-36. 1p.
Grossman T. Shooting Action Sports [Electronic Resource] : The Ultimate Guide To Extreme Filmmaking / Todd Grossman [e-book]. Burlington, MA : Focal Press, c2008.; 2008. Available from: COLUMBIA COLLEGE's Catalog, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 8, 2013.
http://sk8alittle.webs.com/howtogetsponsored.htm
Little, Kyle. “Is it that Easy? I Think Not!” 2009
Accessed November 23, 2013
“The athletic craze began in the late nineteenth century when American’s were looking for some recreational activities to add to their daily lives during the Depression. In the cities, industrial wage earners frequented play grounds. They went dancing at the dance halls and had fun at the amusement parks. People that lived in rural areas simply rode bicycles, played baseball or football. “
When the Olympic Games first began in 776 B.C. in Athens, Greece, wrestling was the premiere event. It was considered the ultimate test of discipline and strength, in which the world would discover who the greatest warrior is. Wrestling exemplifies the motto of the Olympic Games: Citius, Altius, Fortius. Which means faster, higher, stronger.
There is a lot of confusion when talking about football and flag football. I realized they are both a type of football played, but there is so many differences and similarities the two sports share. The main difference you can notice just by watching is the equipment used or maybe the places you can play the sport in. Another thing you will notice are the rules the two sports have for each other. Overall these sports are just something fun for families to play or watch to connect with one another.
In fact, the introduction of new technological entertainment has served as a gateway for the new generation of athlete culture: video games. As a result of the growth of video games, Esports (short for ‘Electronic Sports’) is slowly being integrated into athlete culture worldwide through its spectacular foundations, overwhelming popularity, vast prize pools, and recognition by official authorities. The birth of Esports can contribute most of its discovery to its original roots from the 19th century era (Bellis). To understand the next generation of athlete culture, Esports, it is necessary for individuals to understand the beginnings of the new breed. During the 19th century era video games were often overlooked due to its funky nature, however, the introduction of new technology that allowed individuals to manipulate and control objects was appealing to some (Bellis).
Abstract: Society is affected every day by many different kinds of sports. These sports often govern society's way of life. People all over the nation turn their TVs to sporting events, such as golf, during the weekends. Scott Stossel states that "more than six million Americans enjoy watching golf on the weekends." Parents use sports as a teaching tool for their children. Kids learn teamwork and discipline from team sports programs and sports have also helped many students with their grades. Kids who want to compete in school sports are taught to keep their grades up or they won't be able to play, but the greedy coaches and schools often look around grades to keep their "star athletes" in the games. Adults have been affected by sports in their bank accounts. Tax increases for funding a new stadium, golf course and even school programs have hurt the middle class Americans. Sports have taken control of small communities and soon will take control of society
"Politics has come to be considered not only inappropriate in the arena of sports, but actually antithetical to it," Zirin says. "We want so much to see sports solely as an arena of play, not seriousness. But here's the thing, this can cheapen not only the greatness and relevance of sports to us as a society, but also the courage of the athletes" (The Nation). The pursuit of fame, wealth and status can blind the human conscious, which is why it is important for us to encourage athletes to speak their minds. As a nation, we should not silence the athletes, because it is the truly courageous athletes who have the audacity to stand up when it’s not popular. Sports should be used as a platform for a certain kind of politics: militarism, nationalism. There is a rich tradition of resistance to politics in sports, but their actions have been integral to country’s struggle for racial and gender equality; sports are a safe place to discuss these difficult topics.
I want to discuss how the business of pro wrestling is viewed in today's society, and how wrestling has reached such widespread notoriety. I mean, honestly. Let's face it. The vast majority of the American population looks down upon this form of sports entertainment. As a whole, professional wrestling fans are thought to be toothless, sweaty, smelly rednecks with low IQ's, low morals, violent streaks, and a thirst for blood. Stereotypes of this magnitude are partially to blame for the mainstream media looking at professional wrestling with a condescending eye and, as such, making a mockery of it. Those stereotypes also couldn't be farther from the truth. Wrestling fans are a surprisingly entity of sports entertainment.
The Ancient Olympics were huge in introducing sports and events that we now play. The sports that were played in the Ancient Olympics consisted of boxing, chariot racing, riding, pentathlon, discus, javelin, jump, running, and wrestling. All those sport would have never been played without the Greeks introducing them. These sports have become very popular and a lot of people play them. For example wrestling can be played at very young ages and all the way through high school. Another example is running, jumping, javelin, and discus which are all played in high school and some even in elementary.
Sports can help many at- risk youths. In order to participate in sports you need to be committed and willing to work hard. You also have to learn to respect others and accept that winning isn’t the only measure of success. Losing can build character as well. When youth participate in a sports they enjoy, they are less likely to engage in behaviors that are harmful or dangerous to themselves and others. It is for these reasons schools should strive to maintain athletic programs for their students.
Runge, Paul. “Video Games Represent the Most Powerful (and Potentially Dangerous) Era in Storytelling”. Huff Post Tech. 10/21/2013 31 January 2014
Technology is changing everything around us including our sports. With modern technology now, we can implement it into our professional sports to make the games fair. Instant replay is the most important luxury in our sports today. It allows officials and the fans to look back at the recent play and decide if the correct call was made. Not all sports have implemented it into its rules yet. The commissioners of America’s favorite sports are discussing the rules of instant replay and are including the use of it into the sports. Instant replays are the most accurate source for officials to use, and should be used in all professional sporting events. A con to having instant replays in any sporting event is that it takes away human error which can be seen as defacing sports. Although using instant replays in professional sports makes the game longer, it is great for the officials to use instant replays because there will not be wrong calls made in baseball, football, and hockey.
In below section, a variety of successes in these 7 sport movies will be discussed, defined and presented one by one.
Bell, Chris. "Video Games: The Sport of the Future?" The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 26 June 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.
"Politics has come to be considered not only inappropriate in the arena of sports, but actually antithetical to it," Zirin says. "We want so much to see sports solely as an arena of play, not seriousness. But here's the thing, this can cheapen not only the greatness and relevance of sports to us as a society, but also the courage of the athletes" . The pursuit of fame, wealth and status can blind the human conscience, which is why it is important for us to encourage athletes to voice their opinions. As a nation, we should not silence our athletes, because it is the truly courageous athletes who have the audacity to stand up when it is socially unacceptable. Sports should be used as a platform for a certain kind of politics such as militarism, nationalism and human rights. A few athletes stand out as political advocates of their time who were not afraid to express their opinions: Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, and Billie-Jean King. There is a rich tradition of resistance to politics in sports, but their actions have been integral to country’s struggle for racial and gender equality; sports are a safe place to discuss these difficult topics and therefore is essential.
Watching Televised Sport The answer is all of these reasons, and others, which I will explore in more detail throughout this essay. To do this successfully I am going to focus on three sports, which I intend to compare and analyse. These are: The London Marathon, The Brazilian Grand Prix and The Champion's League semi-final between Manchester United and Real Madrid. I have chosen these sports because they are each different; The London Marathon is an individual sport, which covers a large area and has many competitors; The Grand Prix is raced for a team but by individuals using very fast cars around a circuit; and football, which is a team sport with only two teams competing per match.