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AmericanSport–Introduction
cerandcricket.Americanfootballandbaseballwerethusablatant
answertoBritishexceptionalism.Tatattitudeconstitutedakindof
somespecificallyunderstoodpatriotism,quiteoriginalsinceother
countriesdidnotdefendthemselvesfromBritishgames,suchasfor
examplesoccer,whichwillbediscussedfurther.
IntheUnitedStatesthefansprefer“their”sports.Teyhave
ahabitofnamingtheirstatecompetitiontheWorldSeries10and
WorldChampionships–evenifteamsfromoutsidetheUSAdonot
participateinthem–andusingthenameWorldChampionswith
referencetoAmericanchampions.Itisoftenconsideredtobeaclas-
sicexampleofsuperioritycomplexofstereotypicalprovincialpeople
whodonotwanttounderstandotherpeoplesandtheirgames.
Asfarasthemajorsportsareconcerned,Americanfootball,base-
ball,basketballandicehockeymatchesattractthelargeststadium
crowdsandTVviewers.AtypicalfeatureoftheAmericansports
sceneisthefactthatcompetitioninthosesportsdisciplinesislarge-
lyrestrictedtotheUSAandthereislittleinternationalopposition.
Eventhoughtheirpopularityinothercountriesincreases,theyare
seenasdistinctlyAmericansports.However,itshouldbenotedthat
basketballistheonlyoneofthefourmostpopularsportswhichwas
inventedintheUnitedStates(althoughactuallybyaCanadianphys-
icaleducationteacher,JamesNaismith11).Alltheothershavetheir
rootsinEurope.
AnextremelyimportantperiodinAmericanhistorywasthe
RoaringTwenties(1920s),atimeofsustainedeconomicprosper-
itywithadistinctiveculturaledge.Manyhistoriansarefascinated
withthatdecade,whichisoftenseenasthebeginningofmodern
America.Tiswasanexcellentperiodforliterature,filmandmusic
intheUnitedStates.Sportsalsogrewandflourishedinthe1920s
duetounprecedentedpublicityandpromotion.Teyunderwent
atransitionfromamateurismtoprofessionalism.Tepublicflocked
tosportingeventsinrecordnumbersandmanysportsstarsofthe
RoaringTwentiesremainwellknowneventoday.Temomentum
10
TeWorldSerieschampionshipisapostseasonplay-ofseriesbetweenchampionsof
thetwomajorprofessionalbaseballleaguesofNorthAmerica.Itbeganin1903.
11
JamesNaismithinventedthegameofbasketballattheinternationalYoungMen’s
ChristianAssociationTrainingSchool,afterwardSpringfield(Massachusetts),in
1891.Interestingly,thefirstgamesemployedpeachbasketsastargets.
