Sport and Politics

                                                           Presidents Who Saved American Sport
                         

                                                                                By: R.J Swartz

     The article points many presidents that have actually saved american sport. The first example is President Teddy Rosevelt, in 1905 the game of football faced the possiblity of being banned in this country. This was due the 18 deaths in the sport in 1905 alone. Teddy took his power in the oval office to call together the officials of many of the ivy league schools such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton to get the game cleaned up.
 In 1961 President John F. Kennedy signed the Sports Broadcast act of 1961, feeding the frenzy that would become the NFL as we know it today. This relates to the notes and lecture we had on class on February 27th. The connection between the government and sport is outlined by promoting the prestige and power of a community of a nation. These presidents could see that the sport of football was something we as Americans grew very kind to even early in its development. Seeing this the government needed to help promote and save the sport realizing that the abolishment and publicity is vital for the american race to have more enjoyable down time. This also represents the connection of government and sport by highlighting the increase in support to political leaders and political structure. When each president decided to help promote or save the sport they gained a tremendous amount of support towards their political campaign. The people love canidates that care about sports and their hobbies as much as they do.

       This article is outlined in Coakley's text in chapter 13. On pages 443-444 the idea of promoting the prestige and power of a community or nation, this relates to the article by stating the people take pride in their favorite sports teams at all levels. Towns have signs that promote successes such a being the home of a state championship team. The correlation between the saving and promoting the sport on the professional level translates into saving the sport at the interscholastic level for communities to rally behind as well. The texts also outlines the increase in support for political leaders and the government. It explains how former President George W. Bush often was seen with famous athletes and inviting championship teams to tour the White House. The presence of sports in the political campaign of a canidate is vital and considered to be great for their public relations. It is much easier for us as voters and citizens to vote for a canidate that share similiar interest and can relate to us.