Sports

Sports-- I think it's safe to say that sports are unarguably one of the biggest aspects of American culture. That being said, I think people need to analyze whether it has a positive or negative impact on our society. Not only is it a large part of our culture, but we have become obsessed with sports since the time of Babe Ruth and when leisure time came into the common person's life.
Sports and fitness have some very obvious benefits to both our physical health and our mental health. Being physically active is something that everybody should do and when it's in a fun and interactive manner such as with sports, I think it makes it much more appealing. Healthy competition also makes for an easy stress reliever and an ability to have some fun and release endorphins. Sports can also help build relationships and teach teamwork and life lessons, especially good for children and youth teams. While promoting physical health, sports also work in a lesson obvious way to help socially and mentally.
While all of the aspects above are clearly positive, there are some people who will say that sports are ultimately detrimental to society and specifically our youth. As our obsession with sports continues to intensify, so do the things that we will do to win. Pressure from parents in school or college teams can sometimes prove too much for athletes and the results can be terrible. Cheating and steroid use are a common outcome of our wanting to win and pressure from the environments around us.
There is much more that goes into American sports, but these are just a few of the things that have got people talking in recent times wondering just how justified we are about the extremes we go to with sports. In most cases, it's entirely up to the individual just how involved they want to get, but none-the-less everybody should examine the bigger picture.