Although this question can be debated its answer is widely accepted as “yes.” Sports have been around for centuries, even though we may not recognize the ancient games that extinct civilizations would have considered them to be. The ancient Greeks had boxing and wrestling while Mayan people had invented a game, pok-a-tok, that was played with a rubber ball.

Despite their long existence they were not widely popularized until the early and mid 20th century due to technological breakthroughs and the shift from the study of arts and sciences to the search for money, fame, and power. This is when I believe the most dramatic shift of sports following and coverage occurred.

The coverage of sports can be traced back to money strictly through common sense. The more people who watch or read about that specific sport, the more money you can make off of advertisements or pay per view. This is why more violent sports such as football, basketball, and ice hockey are so dominant in today’s society. Why would someone want to watch a cross-country runner cramp up and puke when they could see a game-winning touchdown, glass breaking check, or block that echoes through the building. “It is all about what the fans want, they spend the money, its all based off their interests,” said LHS Senior, Tiernan O’Malia.

It is reasons such as these why Title IX was passed. Title IX prohibits the discrimination based on gender in schools programs and activities including sports.

There are not many ways I can think of to change this problem other than creating an atmosphere in a school that advertises all programs equally. This would add a trickling down effect beyond high school and college. Tt would influence all of those prior to the professional level possibly popularizing more sports and equalizing the power, money, and fame throughout the wide variety of sports we recognize today.