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The Philosophy of Sports
There is one recurring theme in all sports, and that is competition. From Baseball to Rhythmic Gymnastics competition is always present, and is lives in locker rooms around the World. It is what drives athletes to practice and get better, the thrill of competition. What is the most used word in sports? "Win". Win at all costs, win ugly, just win. Oh, some coaches may say that you should just play your best and that they cannot ask for anything else, but they want to win. And how badly they want to win, they want to be able to go shake the other coaches hand and be the one to say, “Your team fought well”, or “Good effort.” When two teams are forced to shake hands and say “good game”, it is always the winners that are upbeat and the losers that mumble half-heartedly. The word win is embedded in all athletes minds, planted there by their coaches and parents. As much as everyone wants to get away from it, it is here and here to stay.
Competition is what creates the tension in a stadium; it is what drives fans to hate each other. Hate each other over a game? Well, don't let a sports fan hear you say that or you may be facing an angry mob of Yankee fans with a Boston Red Sox jersey on. This brings me to my next point, rivalries. Rivalries are all over sports, and the media feeds off these rivalries. Yankees/Red Sox, Raiders/Broncos, United States against the World, all are fierce rivalries that increase interest in the games. Some might say then that competition only pertains to professional sports, but it is everywhere. There are Little League Baseball and Junior Pro Basketball rivalries too that extend far beyond what the average parent can see.
The main goal of sports is to beat the other team(s), plain and simple. Some join a team for fun, but when it comes down to games and meets’, winning is number one. Look in a dictionary and it will tell you that competition is “a contest: an occasion on which a winner is selected from among two or more contestants”. That is not what it is, in order to understand what competition is you must experience it for yourself. Feel the exhilaration of the battle between competitors, the wonderful feeling of victory and the terrifying sense of defeat. In the definition there is no passion, none of the intangibles that make up competition.
Hand in hand with competition is recognition. Everyone enjoys to be recognized and this is especially true in sports. Athletes compete in sports to be recognized, whether it is in the form of an award or in the form of a winning record. People usually need incentive in order to perform something and recognition is an excellent incentive. Besides money, the idea that a person will be recognized is the first thing they think about before doing something voluntary. If you are never recognized for your actions, be it good or bad recognition, then you will have no will to do anything, to be anything.
Together competition and recognition make up the basis of sports. Athletes compete to be recognized, and are recognized because they compete. It is cause and effect in its simplest form, and it motivates masterfully. Sports were created for enjoyment, but are played to win.
Competition and recognition are not just on the playing fields of sports, no they are everywhere. In the workplace, in the streets, in the schools, and in the courtroom, competition and recognition encompass the whole world. But I thought this article was about sports you might say, not about the world. If you really think though, what is the World but one big game? Everywhere you go there is always a desire to be the best a desire that cannot be extinguished, only hidden from view. A fire that is rarely spoken , but always on the mind. A fire called competition...
Thanks for reading, and if you have any comments on how to improve this piece at all it would be much appreciated. Also, if you agree or disagree feel free to post that too.
There is one recurring theme in all sports, and that is competition. From Baseball to Rhythmic Gymnastics competition is always present, and is lives in locker rooms around the World. It is what drives athletes to practice and get better, the thrill of competition. What is the most used word in sports? "Win". Win at all costs, win ugly, just win. Oh, some coaches may say that you should just play your best and that they cannot ask for anything else, but they want to win. And how badly they want to win, they want to be able to go shake the other coaches hand and be the one to say, “Your team fought well”, or “Good effort.” When two teams are forced to shake hands and say “good game”, it is always the winners that are upbeat and the losers that mumble half-heartedly. The word win is embedded in all athletes minds, planted there by their coaches and parents. As much as everyone wants to get away from it, it is here and here to stay.
Competition is what creates the tension in a stadium; it is what drives fans to hate each other. Hate each other over a game? Well, don't let a sports fan hear you say that or you may be facing an angry mob of Yankee fans with a Boston Red Sox jersey on. This brings me to my next point, rivalries. Rivalries are all over sports, and the media feeds off these rivalries. Yankees/Red Sox, Raiders/Broncos, United States against the World, all are fierce rivalries that increase interest in the games. Some might say then that competition only pertains to professional sports, but it is everywhere. There are Little League Baseball and Junior Pro Basketball rivalries too that extend far beyond what the average parent can see.
The main goal of sports is to beat the other team(s), plain and simple. Some join a team for fun, but when it comes down to games and meets’, winning is number one. Look in a dictionary and it will tell you that competition is “a contest: an occasion on which a winner is selected from among two or more contestants”. That is not what it is, in order to understand what competition is you must experience it for yourself. Feel the exhilaration of the battle between competitors, the wonderful feeling of victory and the terrifying sense of defeat. In the definition there is no passion, none of the intangibles that make up competition.
Hand in hand with competition is recognition. Everyone enjoys to be recognized and this is especially true in sports. Athletes compete in sports to be recognized, whether it is in the form of an award or in the form of a winning record. People usually need incentive in order to perform something and recognition is an excellent incentive. Besides money, the idea that a person will be recognized is the first thing they think about before doing something voluntary. If you are never recognized for your actions, be it good or bad recognition, then you will have no will to do anything, to be anything.
Together competition and recognition make up the basis of sports. Athletes compete to be recognized, and are recognized because they compete. It is cause and effect in its simplest form, and it motivates masterfully. Sports were created for enjoyment, but are played to win.
Competition and recognition are not just on the playing fields of sports, no they are everywhere. In the workplace, in the streets, in the schools, and in the courtroom, competition and recognition encompass the whole world. But I thought this article was about sports you might say, not about the world. If you really think though, what is the World but one big game? Everywhere you go there is always a desire to be the best a desire that cannot be extinguished, only hidden from view. A fire that is rarely spoken , but always on the mind. A fire called competition...
Thanks for reading, and if you have any comments on how to improve this piece at all it would be much appreciated. Also, if you agree or disagree feel free to post that too.