What Do Sports Mean To The United States?

With the Summer Games fast approaching in Beijing, athletes from hundreds of countries will compete in various competitions for gold medals and national pride.

But everyone in America has read plenty on the Olympics through the SI and ESPN magazines, as the hype continues to build.

Don't worry, I'm not going to try to paraphrase half of the Olympic Preview in the SI magazine and post it in this article, like many other writers on Bleacher Report and pretend that I'm something else when it comes to covering the Olympics.

It's a question that arose in my mind when I was in France for the last month.

You could not drive by a couple of streets without seeing a soccer field, and rightfully so.

Soccer is the iconic sport that dominates France, and it holds a deep meaning to the people.

So I began to wonder, What do sports mean to the United States as a whole?

While pondering this simple yet profound question, I had the opportunity to play a couple of baseball games with a team in one of the few city baseball leagues in France.

I greatly enjoyed myself as I played a new style of baseball in France with players who worked their tails off.

You may be laughing right now as you are thinking, "Baseball in France, you've got to be joking me."

That's what I thought when I stepped on the field, but I was quickly proven wrong.

What these ballplayers lacked in talent, they made up for it with hustle and determination.

I came away impressed and enjoyed my time there.

Eventually, I came to the conclusion that sports are a significant part of American culture, and they should not be taken for granted. It is a privilege to be able to play sports and enjoy them.

I went on to Paris and gawked at the Eiffel Tower with millions of other tourists there and took in the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame.

For the record, people in America bemoan the gas prices; in France, it costs over $10 a gallon! Don't even get me started on the food prices.

It was then on to Normandy, where I saw the beaches where the Allied soldiers mounted one of the largest invasions in Modern history on D-Day, and the cemetery honoring the soldiers who laid down their life for America.

It was a sobering experience, as over 27,000 American soldiers died in the Normandy invasion.

Next time you complain over some petty little issue and think its not fair, remember that those soldiers died so that you could have freedom in America today.

This includes the freedom to play and enjoy sports.

Sports allow us to decompress and relax after a hard day at work.

In the case of many employed Americans with desk jobs, sports help pass the time at work.

Year after year, millions of fans around the country root for their teams, hoping for that elusive Championship for their beloved club.

Only one lucky team will be left standing, causing the rabid fan base to erupt into a state of euphoria and create lasting memories.

There is the popular trifecta of sports in America that garner the bulk of the attention, football, baseball, and basketball that correspond through the cycle of seasons.

Hands down, football is the most popular. Ask any American and they will say the same thing; it just doesn't get any better than a quality football game on Saturday and Sunday.

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