Leisure Time- Part 2

​Most social scientists believe that the sports that are organized by a society generally reflect the basic values of that society and attempt to strengthen them in the minds and emotions of its people. Therefore, organized sports may have a more serious social purpose than spontaneous, unorganized play by individuals. This is certainly true in the United States, where the three most popular organized sports are American football,* basketball, and baseball, with soccer gaining in popularity.

​Traditionally, Americans have seen organized sports as an example of equality of opportunity in action. In sports, people of different races and economic backgrounds get an equal chance to excel. For this reason, notes sociologist Harry Edwards, ·Americans have viewed organized sports as "a laboratory in which young men, regardless of social class, can learn the advantages and rewards of a competitive system." Although Edwards specifically mentions young men, young women also compete in organized sports without regard to their race or economic background. The majority of American football and basketball players, both college and professional, are African-American, and about one-third of professional baseball players are Hispanics or Latinos. Women's sports have grown in popularity in the United States, and they now have more funding and stronger support at the college level than in the past. The Olympics provide evidence of the increased interest in women's organized sports. American women have won gold medals for several team sports-softball, basketball, and soccer.

​The American ideal of competition is also at the very heart of organized sports in the United States. Many Americans believe that learning how to win in sports helps· develop the habits necessary to compete successfully in later life. This training, in turn, strengthens American society as a whole. "It is commonly held," says one sports writer, "that the competitive ethic taught in sports must be learned and ingrained in youth for the future success of American business and military efforts." In fact, about two-thirds of American boys play organized sports outside of school, and more than half of the girls do, too.

​Amateur athletics, associated with schools and colleges, are valued for teaching young people traditional American values. The competitive ethic in organized sports contains elements of hard work and physical courage. Hard work is often called "hustle," "persistence," or "never quitting" in the sports world, while physical courage is referred to as "being tough" or "having guts." Slogans are sometimes used to drive home the competitive virtues for the young participants: Hustle-you can't survive without it. A quitter never wins; a winner never quits. It's easy to be ordinary, but it takes guts to excel.

​In the process of serving as an inspiration for traditional basic American values, organized sports may be considered as part of "the national religion," a mixture of' patriotism and national pride on the one hand, with religious ideas and symbols on the other (see Chapter 3). Billy Graham, a famous American Protestant religious leader, once observed: "The Bible says leisure and lying around are morally dangerous ... sports keep us busy. ... There are probably more really committed Christians in sports, both collegiate and professional, than in any other occupation in America." On the other hand, in recent years there have been a number of examples of professional sports stars behaving very badly, and there have been significant scandals in college sports as well.