Until the start of this season, the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League were the most dominant team in professional sports history. The Raiders were the most dominant presence in professional football, if not all of sports from the late 1960s through the mid 70s. Just as imperious was the personality of the team's owner, Al Davis, whose rebellious attitude and abrasive nature were focused on winning and nothing else. His ubiquitous message of "Just win baby," would become the commanding theme in sports.
This theme has manifested itself into the mindsets and lives of America's youth. Sports figures have become such a pervasive influence on adolescents as they grow up, and the players that the kids will look up to are the ones that win. This can be seen in the sports merchandise that children buy the most. The Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bulls are the biggest sellers in sports merchandise today, and it is definitely not coincidence that these two teams have been the dominant force in their respective leagues.
Parents try to teach their children that if they try their hardest, that's all they can ask for and that winning is not important. However, the sports world has shown that qualities like sportsmanship, gamesmanship, community service, good morals, and trying your hardest are negligible to winning. Thus, all that kids care about is winning.
Sports and society in general has become so competitive, it's kind of scary. Sports has gone from fun to pure competition. Little League has gone from fellowship and fun among friends to highly intense situations. Reports of fighting and shoving during high school sporting contests and college intramural contests are not scarce at all.
Professional athletes who fight through pain and succeed are revered in society's image of sports. Athletes like Emmitt Smith and Kerri Strug are admired greatly, not only because of their ability to play through pain, but also because they win. The ideal of playing through pain has become incorporated into the mindsets of today's young athletes as well. Every year six or seven high school football players become paralyzed in football-related accidents. Young athletes try to play through pain because they want to emulate their heroes and because they want to win. And in many cases, they will hurt themselves even more.
Many people consider Dwight Gooden's comeback story to be one of the most compelling stories in sports this year. He came back from drug addiction and a suspension form Major League Baseball to throw a no-hitter this year for the Yankees. His story has been sold to a movie studio and his life story will be made into a movie. Indeed, it is a great story, and hailing from New York, Doc Gooden was one of my childhood heroes, but the only reason his story has been publicized is because once again, Gooden has proven himself to be a winner.
It would be safe to say that most baseball fans probably don't know the story of Curtis Pride, who has overcome deafness to become a major league baseball player, or Joe Aska, who has overcome blindness in one eye to start for the Oakland Raiders. These are the stories that should be known to the public, but they aren't because to them, winning isn't everything. Just being there is reward enough for them.
