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AmericanSport–Introduction
13
thatsuchsportsasbaseballorAmericanfootballbuiltinthisperiod
hasensuredthattheyhaveenduredinpopularityuntilnow.
WhileanalyzingAmericansports,itisimpossiblenottotakeinto
accountahugeroleofAmericansportsheroeswhowereandarenot
onlyheroesofpopularculture,butinmanycasesgainedthestatusof
nationalheroes.Tereisanarrayofsuchpeopleanditisnoteasyto
chooseafewmostcharacteristicones,butletusanalyzejustahand-
fuloffamoussportsmen.Techaracteristicsofonefigurewillbe
givenmoreattentionhere,namelyBabeRuth.
AstarofAmericanbaseball,BabeRuth,isoneofthenumerous
examplesofaherodescribedinthenovelsbyHoratioAlger.Tat
boyfromthelowerranksofsocietyachievedasuccessthankstohis
talent,butalsoalittlebitofluck.Afteryearsofplay,hebecameaper-
sonsymbolizingtheGoldenAgeofbaseball,legend,idolofthemass-
es,“TeSultanofSwat”
,andeven“HisMajestytheKing”
,asawell-
knownsportsexpertPaulGallicocalledhim12,thoughhispersonal
lifewascomplicated(forexample,hehadaweaknessforalcohol).
Hisunbelievablerecordswerenotbeatenforlongyears.
Terearemanydiferentreasonswhyfootball(soccer)–themost
popularsportallovertheworldaslotsoffansdecidedlyclaimand
asfiguresclearlydemonstrate(inEuropeatleastthenumberone
sportandinsomecountriesalmostareligion),onAmericansoilhas
hadahardtimewinningaplaceforitselfformanyyears.Temajor-
ityofthereasonsaresimplystereotypeswhich–stubbornlyrepeat-
ed–wereconsideredtrue.Probably,soccerwasalwaysportrayed
(and,consequently,seenbymany)asaculturallyaliengame,where,
moreover,thereislittlephysicalfight,toofewgoalsandtoolittle
action–astereotype,whichdoesnotreflectthetruth,obviously.
AnotherreasonforlesserpopularitymayhavebeenthatAmerican
peoplewerejusttooaccustomedtotheir“tribal”contactgames,such
asAmericanfootball,whichbestappealedtotheirinstincts,and
sodidnotwanttoacceptacultural“stranger”fromEurope.Being
anon-Americansportwasaveryfrequentargumentagainstsoccer.
But,ashasbeensaidbefore,amongthemajorAmericansportsonly
basketballwasreallyinventedintheStates(thoughbyaCanadian).It
isworthremarkingthatatthebeginning,basketballwasplayedwith
12
M.Fishwick,TeHero,AmericanStyle,McKay,NewYork1969,p.171.
