Describe American Sports Culture

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The game of soccer, known as football across the globe, is considered to be one of the world’s most popular sports. Its origins trace back to China and it was said that football consisted of a few individuals playing with leather balls attempting to kick it into small goals. Similar games were played by the Greeks and Romans according to FIFA. Over time the game of kicking a ball around a field evolved into what that we call football today. In Italy, football is a very popular sport. Football is referred to as Calcio in the Italian language which means “kick” (Serie A). Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (The Italian Football Federation), was established in the year of 1898 and this organization specifically sought to make football …show more content…

While team rivalries exist in America, they are very different in Italy. Unlike Americans, Italians and Europeans in general, are extremely passionate about the game in a way that Americans are not. The best way to describe American sports culture in regards to Italian sports culture is “friendlier.” While fans certainly root for their teams, and always want them to do well and beat the other teams, they typically have a certain level of respect for the players on their team and other teams. Italian fans, on the other hand, are more fanatical. They will go crazy when their team is doing well, but at the same time go so far as to curse out players on their own team when they have given up possession or let in a goal. There have even been many incidents of violence during Italian soccer matches between fans as a result of events in the game. If incidents like these were to happen in America, they might even make it into the news, but in Italy these incidents of violence are common occurrences. There are two major kinds of sports fans or, “Tifosi” in Italy, fanatics and moderates. “‘Fanatic’ supporters identify more strongly with their group than do ‘moderate’ fans and since wearing distinguishing marks makes them almost anonymous in the collective situation of a football stadium, their behaviour is strongly regulated by group norms” (Bruna and Kirchler). These fanatics seem to revert to crowd-sourced madness with their group behavior, which is what can lead to the breaking out of violence. “‘Fanatic’ supporters form groups with rather clear boundaries, ‘moderate’ fans do not. ‘Fanatic fans develop strong ties, wear distinguishing symbols (e.g. badges, flags, hats, specific marks), and generally watch all home matches and all away matches. ‘Moderate’ supporters, on the other hand, do not wear distinguishing marks or may wear some occasionally (e.g. special T-shirts)” (Bruna and Kirchler). These fanatic

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