I'm far from being a supporter of "Professional" sports and the gung-ho testosterone driven machismo lie that permeates the U.S. (in particular) and yet, I understand a few sides of this sub-culture -- the actual social benefit behind competition of this sort -- starting with the social need for "Team Players". Though the impetus behind many a conspiracy theory, the sense of loyalty and paternal/maternal & sibling-based rapport found amongst "team mates" (including Fraternal & Civic based organizations) is what literally makes the world go round, the buzz term in today's culture is "Networking" and the fact that people who share a common foundation tend to lend benefit & support to one another.
I do loathe the fact that sports has encouraged a very false ideology in society when it comes to the famed "Survival of the Fittest" concept; the Machismo addicts believe this pertains to physical might only, be it athleticism or military power. It wasn't until recent decades that a stronger, more series sense of acknowledgment has been given to those gifted in other areas where the macho types would seriously fail. The former "Warrior" attitude is something that has actually brought about a large amount of social issues such as hate-crimes, domestic violence, and of course the classic "going postal" antics of the suppressed, be it in regards to job or school bullies.
I honestly do believe that the money grabbers surrounding professional sports have robbed the games as well as society of "innocence". It's not even affordable for most to just drop in on a game as we did when I was kid -- $8.00 for a hot dog that cost the F&B service less than .50 cents to produce & market is BULL SHIT! Let alone the $10.00 Beer and $5.00 peanuts and outrageously priced nose bleed seating. Kids don't even have that long ago advantage of the "secret way in" (that most of the management knew about, truth to be known).
It's not sports that's "bad" as much as it is the rape of the consumer by way of Advertisers and greed driven elements that surround the world of sports. Frankly I think all sports needs to stick with their own specialized networks and leave commercial television networks alone -- get out and let those that want to relish in such silliness pay for the special viewing so the rest of us don't have to deal with it. But there's too much money involved for that to ever happen; tens of millions of dollars to be made around a single event -- a single 4-6 hour day.
