Extreme Sports
Over the past ten years I have noticed that my local snowboarding park has become more crowded every season, especially with younger kids. This has not only been the case for snowboarding, but for all extreme sports. I’ve noticed this trend at my local skateboarding park also. More so, there has been a noticeable increase of extreme sports being broadcast on television today than ever before. These changes caused me to ask the question: why have extreme sports become so popular to youngsters? It could be the appeal people have toward the imminent possibility that someone might get seriously hurt, but I doubt it. I think the media, especially television, has definitely increased extreme sports popularity. In this essay I will explain how the media, and other dominant resources have sparked and created the presence and increased popularity of extreme sports.
When extreme sports were first invented they were not meant to be a product of media culture. For example “Sherman Poppen was looking for an activity that would keep his young daughters occupied so his pregnant wife could get some me-time when he nailed two wooden skis together and called it a Snurfer. This was the snowboard born thirty-seven years ago.” (McCallum p.3) However, when extreme sports made it to television, they were became a huge product of the media culture and were not spread by word of mouth anymore. Media coverage of extreme sports has shown people what these new sports are all about. In 1995 ESPN started an extreme sports contest called the Extreme games; know now as simply “X Games”. This event is so popular that they broke the televised event into two annual shows: the “Winter X Games” and the “Summer X Games” to make it possible for s...
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...me products are reaching an all time high on the popularity scale. We can thank television and other media types for this trend. When we look at this increase we can’t leave out the support that local skate parks and resorts have made to support this uproar of extreme sport popularity. For example, the resort Keystone as added as of last year a super terrain park that extends all the way down the mountain. Two years ago, they had nothing. This is because Breckenridge, with one of the most well know terrain parks in the nation, has attracted more people in the past than Keystone. With this in mind, the up rise in extreme sports has not only changed the major business persona of attack, but has greatly influenced the activities performed by youngsters of today. Ten years ago, who would have thought a seven year old boy would pick up a skateboard instead of a baseball.
In “Its Time to Think About Visors,” Dryden exposes the fact that the stereotypes of risk in sport have pushed athletes to continue to compromise safety even with advancements in equipment worn. Dryden first explores this while talking about players from the minor leagues who have worn visors for all of their lives reaching the NHL and then stopping, stating, “Then most decide to play as they had never had before, with no facial protection at all.” This shows that even with athletes that have had this safety all of their lives they decide to stop when they reach the NHL because they see the stereotype created by the fans watching that push these players to risk their safety in order to bring a new excitement to the game. Even though the new rookies have been protected by visors the amount of influence of the huge fans of hockey pressure into danger that before they were safe from. In addition to this Dryden adds how there is appeal towards the dangers of life expressing, “People are attracted to risk. Near misses are thrilling.” This demonstrates that audiences don’t want to see players seriously injured but instead the close calls that come with sport and the smaller injuries that some equipment has gotten rid
Speediness, adrenaline, and the beauty of mind and body combine with a machine. Every racer lined up at the starting gate with their steel horses to achieve the desire of winning. These are some words that try to described what supercross is about, but is not even close to what really is. Over the years I have known people that don’t know anything about supercross; they believe that is an easy sport that just twists the throttle and hold on to the bike. For some, it might not even be consider as a sport because they believe that engines are not a sport. These kind of people will say that supercross does not requires any technique or much skills as others sports without engines. Here is some background information to my reader to get familiar with the sport. Supercross is an indoor sport that takes places in different stadiums around the US. In this races racers risk their life every time they are at the starting gate to win racers and finally to win the championship and be the fastest rider in the US. Through this essay I will provide fears, misperceptions and misunderstandings from people who don’t know about supercross. Secondly, I will respond to their claim with strong arguments and personal experience. Finally, I will construct a convincing conclusion where I will try to open the eyes to my audience, which are people who don’t know about supercross.
It’s hard to believe that back in the early 1980’s people “perceived [snowboarders] as daredevil adolescents who posed a threat to skiers” (Shipley). Though the sport was banned from almost every resort, it grew to be so popular that the resorts could no longer ignore the moneymaking possibilities. Resorts realized that the average young person was abandoning the sport of skiing, and learning the new trend of snowboarding. Not only that, but the younger generation who was taking up a new winter sport would choose snowboarding over skiing. These days, resorts spend thousands of dollars to attract snowboarders to their resorts with claims of the biggest halfpipe or the best board park. But how did this sport explode onto the scene? To answer this question, a brief history is in order.
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).
One of the assumptions Statsky makes is that, “One readily understandable danger of overly competitive sports is that they entice children into physical actions that are bad for growing bodies” (627). This statement rests on the assumption that children would not perform any “physical actions that are bad for growing bodies” (Statsky 627) without organized competitive sports. This is simply untrue. Children jump from swings, climb trees, skateboard, “pop wheelies” and otherwise put themselves in physical peril with alarming regularity. Children’s free and unorganized play often results in broken bones and stitches, even for the most timid children.
In October of 2015, a young man named Kenny Bui was killed as a result of a tackle playing football (BBC news, 2015). This tragedy is not an uncommon event in contact sport and it is ignorant to think that it is simply a fluke. This man as well as three other young men are only a few to have lost their lives from a severe concussion in American football (BBC news, 2015).The fatal consequences of playing a simple game are present in all contact sports. Particularly hockey and football which has been the focus of my research. These two sports embody a culture that is unique to hockey and football but similar to a warrior/military culture (R. Graham, F. Rivara, M. Ford, & C. Spicer, 2014, pg. 3). This is a culture which many athletes, students,
All moderately sized towns should have a skatepark for three main reasons: it will make the town look like a nice place to live, the kids in the town won’t be getting into trouble for skating around town, and it is a lot safer than skating in the streets. In countless cities around the world, well-built skateparks have also been proven to be valuable community assets with tremendous benefits. Instead of viewing skateboarding as a negative problem that needs to be solved, these forward-thinking communities have found ways to embrace these sports while showcasing their artistic and acrobatic spirit(“The Benefits”).
1. It has become much harder to identify the true and amateur-taught values around sport in our culture. The passion for competition, the aspect of a team, and the actions of sportsmanship are deep values that sports act to instill. It becomes one of the most important ways to teach those values to our young and unfortunately is becoming easy to forget. Throughout the semester we scrutinized sports, looking at their influence, role, and meaning in our American society today. Two foundations to view sport, critical and functionalist theory, were brought upon early in the semester, laying groundwork for looking at the rest of the topics. To better understand these two view points a working definition of each is needed. The three C’s of: capitalism, coercion and commercialism help describe the critical/conflict theory and view of sport in our United States. When looking with this viewpoint some of sport’s purposes in society include, promoting and expanding capitalistic drives as well as showing the power and privilege of elite groups within society. (Coakley, 2001) On the contrary the ...
Sport has not always been covered in such feverish enthusiasm, now with coverage on television, radio, and internet. The real emergence of sport into everyday life began after World War II, when new heroes were needed to dazzle and inspire. With the close of the war, sports stars became the new heroes, accomplishing daring feats and pushing the limits. The general public began to want more from the athletes; they wanted a better look into the athletes' lives and more media coverage of events such as boxing matches and basketball games. Without the excitement from the war and heroic war figures, sports stars became widely more popular and the business of sport marketing took off. Post war sport and figures such as Joe DiMaggio, Johnny Unitas, Jim Brown, Wilt Chamberlain and Mickey Mantle, "filled the gap" (Whannel 44) in terms of heroic figures. Audiences craved the heroic warlike figure with brute strength and quickness as well as interesting personalities. Thus we understand more the desire to market athletes, that "Audiences ...
Young athletes put in danger by the competition, aggressiveness, and intensity of sports. Kids everyday are being pushed past limits by coaches parents and fans. The intensity of sports has become so high they are causing mental and physical exhaustion. Sports like wrestling has kids eat different to either lose gain weight. Football player, Baseball player, and even cheerleader have to work out in extreme temperatures. Some kids involved in competitive sports have been taking weight lifting classes and even just conditioning. The youth are being put in danger due to how competitive, aggressive, and intense youth sports have become.
Hoffman, Frank W., PHD, and Bailey, William G., MA, (1991). Sports & Recreation Fads. New York: The Haworth Press.
...ent behavior in order to win the game. Whereas, “sports violence can be seen as either an example of laudable competitive drive present in worthy participates or an underhanded attempts at rule bending” (Raney & Depalma, 2006). Moreover, decades of media exposure may have led to an increase in the acceptance of violence. Is media coverage exploiting sports violence and aggression for ratings? It’s unclear if fans are becoming desensitized and/or imitating the violence witnessed through the medium of media. Regardless, it’s abundantly clear the changes need to be made in light of the negative effects. Identifying and examining media’s role in the public’s acceptance of aggressive behavior in sports may aid society in minimizing the violence and aggression as much as possible surrounding sporting events to make sporting events safer for both players and fans.
Skiing and snowboarding are two very different sports, that have evolved and morphed together to define an entire global industry and are now tantamount as salt and pepper. Skiing was popularized decades before the conception of snowboarding however, snowboarding was conceptualized in part, by skiing. Skiing became a mainstay when it was introduced to the Olympics, it quickly grew to dominate winter sports all over the world. The world was shocked when snowboarding made its way onto the Olympics roster and was perplexed by the influence it carried. The two sports were at war from the beginning, clashing in every possible way. As skiing and snowboarding grew and evolved, so did the winter sports industry. These sports spawned a new generation of athletes, with new trends and ideas, which have completely resuscitated the snow sports industry.
There is no doubt that the media can spin a story into a shocking and scary account produced solely with the intent to sell. This information, force-fed to the public, can cause fear and hatred to develop within our country and result in gun violence and bloodshed. One reason for the amount of youth violence in America is the violent content in many video games. The average adolescent spends a major part of the normal week watching or interacting with some form of the media’s products. Video games are one of these media-based mediums and have become increasingly popular since the 1980’s.
Tyler's Surf N' Turf, my proposed business, will be of service to both tourists and seasoned veterans of extreme sports. My business, located on the beach, will provide classes for beginners and those who want to become more skilled in the sports of surfing and skateboarding. My business will sell surfboards, skateboards, apparel, wetsuits, and other equipment th...