The Role of Sports in American Culture

This past Sunday, most of us spent our night sitting back, relaxing and watching the Green Bay Packers whoop the Pittsburg Steelers like they deserved (you'll have to forgive me, Steelers fans, but I'm from Baltimore and we're taught from birth to hate the Steelers).  What we probably didn't know at the time, however, is that we were witnessing television history.  Super Bowl XLV was the most watched television program in history with approximately 163 million viewers, and that started me thinking about the role that sports play in our culture. 

Sports can be a harmless and compelling form of entertainment; they can be beneficial for the morale of a city or state; they can even inspire.  Who can forget the celebration in New Orleans, which suffered so much in the last 5 years, after the Saints' Super Bowl victory last year; or the tears in the eyes of players and fans alike as the Yankees played their first game in New York after the terrorist attacks on September 11^th?  Sports hold a prominent place in our society, and justifiably so.  Yet, in the grand scheme of things, there are many other areas of life which warrant greater importance, more celebration and closer attention.

It is common for the mayors of Super Bowl contending cities to make a friendly wager before the big game.  Usually it consists of a local delicacy or an agreement to wear the opposing team's colors in the event of a loss.  This year, however, there was an unusual wager.  The Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh bet a Renoir painting that the Steelers would win; the Milwaukee Art Museum took the bet and put up a Caillebotte.  My knowledge of and appreciation for art is limited, but even I think that works of this magnitude should hold a significant place in our society.  They should not be traded, bartered or wagered like a Steelers' hat or a bratwurst. 

For all you New York State residents, the New York Yankees recently built a new $1 billion stadium complete with restaurants, sports bars and 227 miles of Ethernet cables.  Did you know that $363 million of that $1 billion came from tax revenue?  Yes, your tax dollars went towards giving New York's wealthiest sports fans the most pleasurable and comfortable viewing experience in the country.  In a time when public schools suffer budget cuts and under-staffing, hard-working people are losing their jobs, and the state of New York has a $1 billion budget deficit, is that truly the the most responsible use of taxpayer dollars?  I don't think so. 

The same goes for the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the site of last weekend's Super Bowl.  This magnificent shrine to machismo excess cost $1.15 billion, with $325 million covered by the City of Arlington, and includes a 60 yard long jumbotron.  Meanwhile, last month Texas lawmakers announced a $5 billion cut to education spending. 

How has our culture so lost perspective on what is most important in life that we make cuts in education and subsidize professional sports franchises?  Maybe it's because more people watch the Super Bowl than vote in elections.  While 163 million people watched the Super Bowl on Sunday, only 90 million voted in last year's midterm election.  Even for a presidential election, which historically has a higher turnout, only 132 million people voted in 2008. 

As an aside, I am an avid sports fan and am not criticizing sports themselves but rather the stature they have gained in our culture.  Writer Russell Baker said that "In America, it is sport that is the opiate of the masses."  In light of the number of people that watch the Super Bowl and don't vote, the amount of government money spent on professional sports franchises and the flippancy with which art galleries wager paintings for sport, it is hard to argue with Baker's statement.  If our culture spent more time and money on meaningful areas such as education, art, and who leads our country, and allowed sports to act as simple entertainment, I think we would all be better off.