Professional Sports vs. Olympic Sports
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posted by Sport Management Education This blog discusses current issues and trends in Sport Management Education. |
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In the world of sports, there is always something happening. With so many sports to choose from, fans certainly have a variety of events to watch each week. For example, just look at the overlap in terms of some of America’s major sports leagues: Major League Baseball (today is Opening Day www.mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule), National Hockey League (the 2010 regular season ends on April 11th www.nhl.com/schedules/20092010) and the Professional Golf Association’s Masters Tournament begins April 8th (www.pgatour.com/r/schedule). Even in terms of the sports not currently in-season, the media keeps fans up-to-date on breaking news and events such as the National Football League’s 2010 Draft (which takes place in one month www.NFL.com/Draft). Of course one cannot overlook other sports, such as basketball, especially since games are taking place at both the professional and collegiate level (March Madness is certainly in full swing www.ncaa.com/champ/m-baskbl-d1-champ.html).
With so many sports opportunities available it is no wonder that the sport industry must constantly strive to attract AND maintain fans, particularly in difficult economic times. Given all of this, I surprised myself when I realized how much I actually missed watching the 2010 Winter Olympics. I can’t believe the Olympic Games ended almost a month ago. No matter how you look at it, there is something different about watching the United States Hockey team as opposed to watching the same players on their regular NHL teams.
For me, a large part of it boils down to the pride and importance athletes take in playing their sport for their country. In today’s world, with free-agents and the reality of “sports as a business” there can be something lacking in terms of player and fan loyalty. However, the pride of playing for a medal for a country transcends all of the other stuff. In a sense, the Olympics seem to have a sense of innocence or purity that doesn’t exist in professional sports or even college sports when athletes have an eye for turning professional down the road.
I know I can be a bit idealistic but I can’t help wondering if there is a way to bring some of the pride, dedication, sacrifice, work-ethic and honor that accompanies successful, individual, Olympic athletes to our young athletes in recreational sports to collegiate sports and eventually to professional sports as well. In fact, we could all use a little of those qualities in our everyday life, regardless of the profession in which we work.
What do you think? How can society use professional sports in America as a vehicle to inspire others towards attaining excellence in ways OTHER than looking at the paychecks of professional athletes? How can we take some of the business out of sports and put the emphasis on the game? How about the character of the player? Or, maybe I’m just wrong and nothing should change. What do you think about professional sports versus Olympic sports?
View Original Post at sportmanagementeducation.wordpress.com
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- Filed Under:
- Olympics, SportsPLUS, College, OpEd, Student-Athlete, Media/Marketing
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