Below the Rim: Finally above the rim
By Chris Potter
Last Updated:3:09 PM EST 4/22/09 Section: Sports
What is sport?
What is this thing that consumes so much of our time, energy and riches? Not to mention the proverbial blood, sweat and tears that goes along with the action on the various fields of play, be it as a spectator or a participant. What keeps us sitting through subfreezing temperatures, cheering a perpetual underdog? What drives the weekend warriors to continue playing, long after any dreams of stardom have faded?
As someone who has written a sports column for the past two years (and would like the opportunity to someday pursue the craft professionally), the answer is of some interest. Below the Rim has stretched 24 editions, covering everything from the Bills elusive quest for a playoff berth to what costume different athletes would show up wearing to a college Halloween party.
With each column averaging around 600 words in length (a figure some past editors would no doubt label a conservative estimate), that's at least 14,400 words of commentary. What's it all add up to?
The answer may lie in the tremendous popularity of our twenty-first century games. If ever there was a Golden Age of Sport, a Renaissance of Athletics with figures like LeBron James and Peyton Manning as the leading luminaries, then surely this is it.
Athletics have never been more prevalent in society. ESPN and its Brady Bunch-sized family of networks beam sporting action into living rooms 24/7, 365 days a year. The idea of a television network devoted entirely to sports was once laughed at. Now ESPN is among the most profitable and ubiquitous business entities in the world.
Consider this: the network's first televised contest was a match-up between the Milwaukee Schlitzes and the Kentucky Bourbons - slow-pitch softball teams. Not exactly the worldwide leader in sports. That's a far cry from the ESPN of today. It owns television rights to all of America's major sports, and the catch phrases of its anchors pervade pop culture (he…could…go…all…the…way!).
What is this thing that consumes so much of our time, energy and riches? Not to mention the proverbial blood, sweat and tears that goes along with the action on the various fields of play, be it as a spectator or a participant. What keeps us sitting through subfreezing temperatures, cheering a perpetual underdog? What drives the weekend warriors to continue playing, long after any dreams of stardom have faded?
As someone who has written a sports column for the past two years (and would like the opportunity to someday pursue the craft professionally), the answer is of some interest. Below the Rim has stretched 24 editions, covering everything from the Bills elusive quest for a playoff berth to what costume different athletes would show up wearing to a college Halloween party.
With each column averaging around 600 words in length (a figure some past editors would no doubt label a conservative estimate), that's at least 14,400 words of commentary. What's it all add up to?
The answer may lie in the tremendous popularity of our twenty-first century games. If ever there was a Golden Age of Sport, a Renaissance of Athletics with figures like LeBron James and Peyton Manning as the leading luminaries, then surely this is it.
Athletics have never been more prevalent in society. ESPN and its Brady Bunch-sized family of networks beam sporting action into living rooms 24/7, 365 days a year. The idea of a television network devoted entirely to sports was once laughed at. Now ESPN is among the most profitable and ubiquitous business entities in the world.
Consider this: the network's first televised contest was a match-up between the Milwaukee Schlitzes and the Kentucky Bourbons - slow-pitch softball teams. Not exactly the worldwide leader in sports. That's a far cry from the ESPN of today. It owns television rights to all of America's major sports, and the catch phrases of its anchors pervade pop culture (he…could…go…all…the…way!).
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