Sociological Exercise #2
The United States of America is often times referred to as a “melting pot”, meaning that its culture is made up of a mixture of different beliefs, values, races, religions, and ethnicities. From this unique blended culture, the United States of America has crafted many of its own styles of food, fashion statements, media, and entertainment sources. One very popular source of entertainment in particular is football. While football seems to be just a sport, America has its own style of playing football, traditions that come with it, and symbolic meanings to the citizens who engage in, and with the game.
The idea of sports similar to football, such as Harpaston, have been around since the time of the Ancient Greeks, but …show more content…
Some Americans have such a strong affinity for football that many go as far as to support and watch football when it is playing on major holidays, such as the National League of Football hosting games on Thanksgiving, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association playing games on New Year’s Day. But why do Americans invest so much of their time and attention into a group of men crushing each other over a …show more content…
In a way, football could even be related to that of anarchist calisthenics because as James C. Scott stated “What you need is ‘anarchist calisthenics.’…Use your own head to judge whether a law is just or reasonable.” (378). Often times, players have to make decisions in the game whether to follow the coaches’ game plan, or make the call they believe is best fit even if they were not suppose to. Because of this, a sense of uncertainty and anticipation is also created for society through football. According to George Ritzer, “…many people have come to prefer a world in which there are no surprises.” (338), and while football is somewhat predictable because there are only two possible ways the game could go, the sixty minutes spent watching the game are filled with surprises for a culture that has become so accustomed to predictability.
Throughout decades, football has surpassed several other sports as the most popular in American culture for various reasons. While not all of its effects on society have been completely positive, such as its support of aggressive behavior and highly gender specific nature, many aspects of football have helped to shape American society in beneficial ways like the spread of ideas through cultural diffusion, shaping important personal values and character traits, promoting unpredictably, by encouraging independent thinking, and by creating unity in the
The United States of America is often times referred to as a “melting pot”, meaning that its culture is made up of a mixture of different beliefs, values, races, religions, and ethnicities. From this unique blended culture, the United States of America has crafted many of its own styles of food, fashion statements, media, and entertainment sources. One very popular source of entertainment in particular is football. While football seems to be just a sport, America has its own style of playing football, traditions that come with it, and symbolic meanings to the citizens who engage in, and with the game.
The idea of sports similar to football, such as Harpaston, have been around since the time of the Ancient Greeks, but …show more content…
Some Americans have such a strong affinity for football that many go as far as to support and watch football when it is playing on major holidays, such as the National League of Football hosting games on Thanksgiving, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association playing games on New Year’s Day. But why do Americans invest so much of their time and attention into a group of men crushing each other over a …show more content…
In a way, football could even be related to that of anarchist calisthenics because as James C. Scott stated “What you need is ‘anarchist calisthenics.’…Use your own head to judge whether a law is just or reasonable.” (378). Often times, players have to make decisions in the game whether to follow the coaches’ game plan, or make the call they believe is best fit even if they were not suppose to. Because of this, a sense of uncertainty and anticipation is also created for society through football. According to George Ritzer, “…many people have come to prefer a world in which there are no surprises.” (338), and while football is somewhat predictable because there are only two possible ways the game could go, the sixty minutes spent watching the game are filled with surprises for a culture that has become so accustomed to predictability.
Throughout decades, football has surpassed several other sports as the most popular in American culture for various reasons. While not all of its effects on society have been completely positive, such as its support of aggressive behavior and highly gender specific nature, many aspects of football have helped to shape American society in beneficial ways like the spread of ideas through cultural diffusion, shaping important personal values and character traits, promoting unpredictably, by encouraging independent thinking, and by creating unity in the