Sociogenesis of Ruby

The sport of Rugby is a style of football that consists of the ruby league and the ruby union. It is an international sport that originated in England in the 1800's. The games of rugby may seem complicated. once understood it is a fairly simple sport. It is played with an oval ball as you try to bring the ball to the end zone by either running with it or kicking it forward. The ball can not travel forward through the air. You have to tackle the opposing opponent from gaining forward progress. If a team fails to core before six tackles the other team receives the ball. A scrum is when multiple players from each team push against each other for possession as the ball is thrown in the air. 

The largest ruby event in the world is the Ruby World Cup which is held every four years. It is a competition between the top 20 international ruby countries throughout the world and was first held in New Zealand and Australia in 1987. 

The Sport Ethic

The sport ethic has four dimensions. The first dimension has to do with sacrifice to the game. Different sacrifices include physical and mental strain on the body. Another may be time away from other productive activities such as homework or work. The second dimensions is seeking distinction. For many athletes being average isn't good enough. Athletes seek to become bigger, faster, stronger than everyone else's; trying to be distinct. This can also include breaking records and winning championships. The third dimension is taking risks and playing through pain. Injuries occur often in sports and many athletes fight the pain to play through their injury. I can relate directly with this dimension while paling soccer my senior year of high school. I had a bad ankle injury and the season and my high school career was coming to an end. I wasn't going to let this injury deny me from competing so I suffered through the pain and played as well as I could for the last 3 or 4 games. This can have negative long term effects on the body. The final dimension promotes the idea of athletes refusing to accept limits in the pursuit of possibilities. What drives the best athletes is the pursuit of perfection and never being satisfied.

Humans are born with a competitive mindset so athletes unconsciously conform to these set of beliefs.

Sports in the Ancient World

In Ancient Greece, the Olympics were a celebration of the beauty of humans shown through naked body sprinkled with gold dust. Only the strongest, most athletic males competed. The games evoked the perfection of the gods and promoted equal opportunity for any free born greek. The sister of Zeus was the only female allowed in the games themselves. The Olympics started with chariot games, followed by a 200m dash that revealed who was favored by the gods. Other sports included the triple jump, javelin, discus, boxing, sprinting, and wrestling. There were various awards many including olives. The champions were honored in the presence of gods. The Olympic games

In Ancient Rome, gladiators were armed combatants who fought with other gladiators with swords who fight to the death. Most gladiators are usually slaves or brave volunteers who risk their lives for entertainment to the Roman people. The participants honored the gods both before and after the fighting. The fight was played in a large arena seating 10's of thousands of people.

Sports in the USA

Sports in the US has been a huge part of American culture for 100's of years. Baseball is known as "America's pastime" because it has been the most popular of the longest period of time. The popularity of Baseball has diminished over the years as the NFL has become the most popular professional sport. The four major professional sports are the NFL (football), MLB (baseball), NHL (hockey), and the NBA (basketball). While although all of these sports are very different from one another, attending one of these games would like somewhat similar. Each is played in a large arena or stadium in which up to 100,000 can attend to watch. There are halftimes for the NFL and NBA while the NHL has three periods and the MLB has 9 innings. 

Many of the same values are reinforced through all sports in America. Competition is probably the main value, but sportsmanship, team building, and pure enjoyment are also very large values. Although technically we measure success in sports usually by winning and losing through a set of rules, entertainment to the participants as well as the athletes can measure success. Successful athletes not only are some of the most athletically gifted people in their given sports, but are also great leaders, motivators, and sportsmen. Physical ability alone does not fully determine the success of an athlete. 

Sport, Society, and Me

Starting from the first time I put on a pair of skis at two years old, sports have become such a huge influential part of my life. There are so many things I enjoy about sports and the values behind it. Sports became part of my life due to influences like my father as well as my competitive attitude. Growing up I played just about every sport from individual sports like golf and tennis to team sports such as soccer and football. Each sport presented different qualities that I enjoyed. I enjoy individual sports because its only you out there so you don't have to worry about pleasing anyone else. You can just use your physical ability and determination to compete with the opponent. Although I enjoy individual sports, I enjoy playing team sports better. Team sports forces you to involve team work and chemistry to accomplish a similar goal which I thoroughly enjoy.

I believe sports can provide both positive and negative influences to children growing up. Although sports is such a huge part of our society, it can give children the wrong idea about what sports are supposed to accomplish. This mainly starts with their parents. If parents put too much pressure on their kids to succeed and win, the children worry more about being physical and dominate, rather than showing sportsmanship. Sports, especially team sports, force you to use teamwork and create chemistry to accomplish a similar goal. This can be a very positive influence on children, but if the game becomes too serious, children are blinded by this idea. Along with parents, professional athletes are a very important role in enforcing the positives from sports. Pro athletes are such a huge role model to many young children so their actions will directly influence the actions of kids. Athletes need to respect the opportunity they have been given and become positive role models.