What is with
Western society and
sport?
We seem to worship it and the people involved in it. Why? Does it make our lives better? Will it save lives, like the medical sector? No. Yet doctors are not revered in the same way that sports men and women are. Try to name five famous doctors (or more, if you know that kind of thing). A difficult task? In contrast, the media makes learning the names of our sports people almost a day-to-day necessity to survive in many social circles.
Will sport entertain us? Yes. The head-smashing antics of aggressive players makes the spectators almost riot with glee; people watch sports to see competitiveness, team work and athletic ability combine to make an afternoon of entertainment.
So is that all it is? Entertainment? The idea of, "I'm too lazy to get out of this chair but I'll watch some people half my age get the crap beaten out of them and that's my exercise for the week"? Aren't movies enough? Fair enough, they're predominantly fiction and sport is *real life*, so there is a basic difference. But wouldn't a *real life* form of entertainment be popular with all sections of society; sport therefore becoming as popular, or even more so, than the film industry? This clearly has not, and in the near future, will not, occur.
Why the Olympics? What's most important: National pride, the sport or the athletes ?
Ah, to hell with it all. Sport is a mystery, and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who can put their finger on the defining aspect that makes it so... you know... important? Exciting? Unimportant? Not exciting? So... sport-like?