Reply #25: It may be fun for some people, but it's not IMPORTANT

[Lydia Leftcoast]

Our media treat football and basketball as earthshakingly important, so important that 1/3 of each local newscast is devoted them, and a whole section of each metropolitan newspaper. Almost the only way a teenager can get his or her name into the paper is to excel at sports...or commit a crime.

Poor youth are taught that athletics are their only way of getting a college scholarship. Total myth. The best way for a poor youth to get a college scholarship is to be a straight-A student with non-athletic extracurriculars, even--no, especially at a private college. Take it from one who spent 11 years in academia. I knew kids from poor backgrounds who were getting free rides from private colleges because they were so brilliant--because, unlike public colleges, private colleges feel free to sweeten the deal beyond what the parents' financial aid statement figures indicate.

The myth of "sports as a way out of poverty" is about as valid as the myth of "the lottery as a way out of poverty." Both methods work for a few people each year, but the majority would do better with other means.

The Superbowl is treated as an event of cosmic significance, something that every red-blooded male MUST watch.

Sports are the only thing that the average American will riot about anymore.