The Popularity of Sport in America美国体育.doc

The Popularity of Sport in AmericaAbstract: Sport plays an important role in America. Watching or attending sports events is an important part of the lives of many Americans. Sport is an American nationwide leisure activity which is most popular. The importance and popularity of sport in American can be showed from these aspects: the introduction of American popular sports events, sports in American schools, amateur sports and professional sports, 4 big professional sports leagues and sports industry.Watching or attending sports events is an important part of the lives of many Americans. Generally, Americans either participate in sports activities or as the audience of sports competition. Sport is an American nationwide leisure activity which is most popular. Therefore, sport plays an extremely important role in society. I describe the importance and popularity of sport in American from these aspects: the introduction of American popular sports events, sports in American schools, amateur sports and professional sports, 4 big professional sports leagues and sports industry.Sports eventsBaseballBaseball is very popular in the United States, and many Americans have played baseball in their childhood. It became known as the national pastime, a game that millions of people continue to enjoy in each spring and summer. However, more viewers prefer to watch by radio or TV.Baseball is the earliest professional sport in the United States that originates in a childrens game in the 19th century. Baseball reflects American history. And Barsoom, a historian in Columbia University, said: To understand the American mindsets and thoughts, you should learn to play baseball or watch baseball. Major league baseball has just opened its new season. So this is a good time to explore the influence of baseball on popular culture, including music and poetry. Many songs and poems have been written about baseball. Baseball expert Warner Fusselle writes that there are probably more than one-thousand songs about baseball. The most popular is Take Me Out to the Ball Game. 1American baseball was spread to Japan in the end of the 19th century and became very popular in Japan, also in Cuba and many Caribbean countries.BasketballBasketball was invented by Dr James Naismith in 1891. And it became popular quickly because of its indoor condition, simple rules, and high speed. He cant predict that his invention is spread in more than two hundred countries, and American basketball is so famous among the world. Today there are 250 million people take part in basketball in the United States. When mention basketball, we will think of America.There is street basketball culture in the United States. And gradually it adds cool skills, hip-hop, X-game and the accompaniment of rap band.American footballAmerican football is the head of four professional sports in North America. American football originated in rugby in the 19th. And the rules had changed after it was introduced to the United States. American football is a very strong contact sport because the players have a strong body dash each other. Then they must wear helmets and protective devices, such as the padded plastic helmet, shoulder pad, hit pad and kneecap. Much physical impacts lead to American football is more dangerous than any other American popular team sports. It is one of most popular sports in America, and there are thousands of players and millions of audience every year. The teams of well-known colleges and universities are especially famous.Other sports activitiesAmerican are avid sports fans. One sport that has been gaining in popularity is ice hockey, first played in Canada and states bordering that country. Yet it has spread throughout the United States with professional teams in the warm states of Florida and California. It is also popular as a collegiate sport. 2Football is not popular before the 1970s in the United States, but a growing number of American teenagers choose football as their preferred sport after the 2000s. And football is also considered as the most potential sports to develop in the United States. In 1993, the Major League Soccer was set up. And the league owns some of famous football players in the world, like David Beckham. And American national football team achieved good results in World Cup.The United States is one of main countries that develop golf and tennis. Whats more, America is the development center of boxing and professional wrestling within western countries. At the same time, boxing and wrestling attract a large number of audience and all kinds of sports gambling activities. And there are a lot of famous boxing champions among the world in American. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American Wrestling federation, which attracts more than thirty-five million people in the United States weekly. And it is an American representative popular culture and is very popular all over the world. Other combat sports, such as karate originated in Japan, are also quite popular in the United States, and these sports often are organized as competitions. There are also many popular widely sports from Europe in America, such as horse racing. X - Game (extreme game) is an extreme sport that is heavily spread by Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) which is a famous American cable television that broadcasts all sports events 24 hours everyday. As for young people, except the Olympic Games, the influence of X - Game is the biggest. The main sports of X - Game are B3, namely Bicycle Motocross (BMX), rollerblade, skateboard, rock climbing and skiing.And many Americans have deep love for car auto racing. I think many people have seen a series of films about automobile race, such as The Fast and the Furious. And there is an Association called National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) in America.Sports leaguesAmerica has mature professional sports leagues, such as the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Football League (NFL) and so on.NBAThe professional league of NBA is the most important professional basketball competition in American, which represents the highest level of basketball in the world and owns some superstars, like Michael Jordan, Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and so on. The association has 30 teams belong to two leagues: eastern conference and western conference. And each league is composed of three divisions which has five teams respectively. Tow champions from two leagues compete for the NBA championship title after finished the season of game.NFLNational Football League is the highest sports league matches of American football and the most important association of American football. Nowadays, Super Bowl which produces the champion each year is the most popular sports event in the United States. Therere 32 teams altogether in NFL. And it is divided into two leagues: American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC). Each conference has 16 teams and divided into four competition areas: east, south, west and north, which have four teams separately. The NFL is the largest professional American Football League and is the most valuable sports leagues in the world.MLBThe competition of MLB is the highest professional baseball tournament in North America and is known as the professional sports event of American national sport traditionally. The sports competition season of Major League Baseball is from April to October every year, and the championship is called the World Series. NHLThe association of professional ice hockey teams is the National Hockey League which divides into two districts which have 3 small zones separately. And NHL is built up in 1917. The last 16 strongest teams produce a champion through the knockout, and the cup is the Stanley cup. Sport in American schoolsSchools and parents give a high degree of attention for children sports in the United States. The schools do not have mathematical, English or other training classes, and parents also wont let their children go to the cram school, but they will spare no effort to praise highly all kinds of sports activities. The elementary and secondary schools of each state attach great importance to sports, especially in Illinois where students must have PE everyday from kindergarten to high school. In addition to the campus sports activities, there are many after-school activities. Not only primary and secondary schools attach great importance to sports, so do colleges and universities. And they regard sports scores as important indicators of recruiting students, especially with a special focus on the students sports specialty. In the evaluation system of college entrance exam, a student with excellent physical performance is more favored than a student who gains full marks of SAT. American universities and colleges often organize various sports leagues, and many students are very keen to attend. All athletes base on their interests and dont have any income and bonus. In addition to take full credits like ordinary students, they must pay more because they need to use their spare time to participate in training and competition. Even so, many students are very willing to join because they are interested in sports and can rich their CVs. Whats more, sports performance is an important reference of the social evaluation of students. Many schools award the rights of school because of students sports ability. Their admission requirements lower, but they must meet some certain and lowest requirements.Almost all American colleges and universities pay special attention to the sports because sports performance is an important standard to measure whether a school is good or not. The United States has a special organization that is responsible for the development of American universities and colleges sports career and called the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It is participated in by hundreds of universities and colleges in the United States. Sports are quite popular in American colleges and universities, particularly American football and basketball. Millions of students participate in sports of colleges and universities. Many universities and colleges train sports teams and hold regular interscholastic competitions. The sports types are quite extensive. Similarly, American high schools have all kinds of sports activities, and these interscholastic competitions sometimes will hit the headlines in the local. It shows American love and think highly of sports. Sport plays an important role to develop education in American schools.Amateur sports and professional sportsAmateur sportsAmateur sports divide into amateur recreation and amateur competition. For amateur recreation, hiking, walking, boating, hunting and fishing are the most popular. Virtues in the sports games, such as community spirit, justice, discipline and durability, have a high prestige in American society. These virtues are showed in some team sports especially, like baseball, basketball, football and volleyball. So these balls are especially popular in amateur sports. But some single sports are also very popular, such as swimming, golf, tennis, bowling, and track and field. Most influential amateur sports organization is Amateur Athletic Association. And the audience of amateur sports in colleges and universities is more than professional audience. Professional sportsProfessional sports have great business opportunity in the United States. The people who choose to become professional athlete also gain extremely high reward. The sports teams and athletes who gain the top income are mostly in the United States. The sports referred to as the The big four including baseball, American football, ice hockey and basketball. Other popular sports include Automobile Racing and lacrosse that is derived from Native American and is the most ancient sports. The professional sports groups enroll players from graduated college athletes. The level of American sports professionalism is still in the leading position in the whole world, and the commercial operation pattern make each team pay more attention in business management to consider sports achievement. And American professio