Challenge Match: PatrickGarrow17 vs. adjensen: Sports culture is good for American society

Being my first debate, I must first thank ATS and it's staff for granting my request for fighter status and allowing for a new member to participate on this board.

Also, thank's to adjensen for agreeing to this topic. It is one I am very passionate about.

Sports culture is good for American society

I will be arguing in favor of this statement, with the honest opinion that sports culture is not only good, or great, but one of the very best aspects of American culture.

Opening Statement

Why debate sports on ATS?

Because it is, perhaps more than any topic, important in the common mind of the American people. There are few events that draw such crowds and such fanaticism, and when considering the consistency with which sports does so, there may be no more significant cultural phenomena.

The total attendance for the NHL, NBA, MLB, and NFL combined is about 130 million for 3,894 total events. 130 million! And this number doesn't include spectators at thousands of amateur sporting events. Anything that creates this much attention and fanfare is worth discussion.Wiki Pro Sports attendance

So, is this level of interest a productive thing for our society?

Before delving into what exactly "sports culture" entails, I would like to share some personal experience. This anecdote will serve as a compliment to essential points of my reasoning, but not that basis.

Growing up, I was an avid sports fan and participant in athletics. I played Little League baseball, youth soccer and youth basketball.

At 14, I gave up other organized sports in favor of baseball. I was lucky enough to survive tryouts and make the elite competitive travel team in my area. We played a 40 game regular season in about eight summer weeks. Then, we won the state championship as an underdog. From there, we advanced to the regional tournament where we lost our first game in a double elimination tournament and proceeded to run the table and win another championship.

Already beyond expectations, a team of 12 boys, two coaches, and our families traveled by bus to Rockford, Illinois to compete in the Sandy Koufax World Series. Once again, we were the underdog, and once again we overcame the odds to advance to the championship game. Finally, we lost to a team from Puerto Rico with multiple players that would go on to get selected in the Major League Baseball draft.

I still look back at this as one of the most valuable experiences of my life. Complete with everlasting friendships, team accomplishment, personal success, travel, and family bonding.

While that was my high point in athletics, I had similar experiences playing on a championship high school team and the privilege of playing with and against talented individuals seeking high achievement. As a catcher, I received pitches from two pitchers who are currently in the Minor Leagues and may play in the MLB. Our team played against the #1 overall pick in the MLB draft at a tournament in Atlanta when I was 16.

These types of stories are retold by thousands of Americans as a source of everlasting pride.

Which brings me to the crux of my argument, which is pointing out that sports culture in America is primarily geared toward providing positive experience for our country's youth.

I anticipate that my opponent may argue along the lines that the obsession with professional sports serves as a distraction from a pile of difficult issues facing America. Any topic worthy of debate must have some questionable components, but I reject the notion that even the big business, marketing machine, that is the professional sports construct of the US is a negative influence in the aggregate.

The opponents say over-competitive, I say the young are learning to overcome challenges. Building a work ethic, learning cooperation within a team. Sports is a vehicle for transmitting skills to the young that will come in handy when competing in the economy later.

The opponents point to the jock attitude and common associations like sex, bullying, and partying. I'll reply with the facts that college athletes actually do better in school, and sports provides some with an opportunity at a respected university that they would otherwise not have.

So how are student athletes doing? According to the NCAA’s analysis, if we look at the more restrictive FGR for students who began college in 2004, student athletes actually have higher graduation rates in general, especially for African Americans

Source

And once again, the opponent may point to a distracted majority of adults being hypnotized by an ultra-marketed dual between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. To this I will point right back to an increasingly bored youth looking to fill a void and participate in the community.

I point to the youth seeking experience like what I had.

I point to the 35 million, age 5-18 that participate in sports. Many of them eagerly, a mere 15% reluctantly.

I point to statistics like female high school athletes being 92% less likely to use drugs and 80% less likely to get pregnant.

And that 73% of corporate executives played sports.

It's about the youth, building a foundation for future success. Making friends and memories.


Source of statistics


We're only at the ticket window of a stadium filled with tiers of reasons for why sports must be promoted and continued as a major factor of American culture. There are plenty of benefits yet to be touched on. But as with any facet of popular culture, restating for emphasis, the children should always be considered the primary audience and most significantly influenced.

With so much negativity bombarding the people of America, sports culture remains a gem with a positive net influence.


Thank you for reading. The podium is adjensen's.

I would like to thank the mods and the ATS Debate Forum for hosting this sure to be interesting debate, and for my opponent, PatrickGarrow17, for suggesting the topic and accepting my challenge.

It is ironic, perhaps, that the foundation on which sport was built, athletic competition that focused on fun and personal challenge, has been replaced in the United States by the typically callous pursuit of the almighty dollar, colluding with the powers that be, who provide a "bread and circuses" atmosphere that diverts attention from matters of note, bleeds off resources and provides an outlet for human tribal aggression.

Ironic, in that it simultaneously breeds corruption, brokers an environment of geographical hostility among some members of society, and has actually helped contribute to the appalling state of health and obesity among the American population.

Sports in World History

When we think of sports, we often think of things like these…

Chariots of Fire - Opening sequence

Wimbledon 1975 Final: Ashe vs. Connors

1980 Miracle on Ice

Sports Culture in Recent American History

But the reality, in the United States, can be a much different thing...

Colorado Avalanche win the 2001 Stanley Cup, riots ensue

2002 riot in San Francisco after Giants appearance in World Series

2006 riots in Oakland following Super Bowl XL

Los Angeles Lakers Riots 2010

Four major sports in the United States, all with repeated instances of violent fan behaviour. And it's not just limited to the pros:

2002 University of Maryland rioting after the Terps win the NCAA Final Four

2011 Sarasota, FL High School




Where is the disconnect here? I propose that the greatness of sport is sport itself, and the downside of it is the proliferation of sports culture. It is not surprising that the term "fan" is applied to followers of sporting clubs, as the word is a shortened version of fanatic, and it is not much of a stretch to say that many of these people are tending into actions that seem more cult like than simply having loyalty to a local team.

And the root cause of all of this? What else? Money.

In 2010, the National Football League had a combined income of all teams of about 8 billion dollars. Roughly half of that came from media contracts, and that number is solely driven by advertising revenue, which is earned by producing those fanatical eyeballs, who will sit, stupefied, in front of a big screen television for hours on end Sunday afternoons. And Sunday evenings. Monday nights. Thursday nights. Interrupted only by trips to the fridge, liquor cabinet and bathroom.

It is not in the NFL's best interests that its core audience be fit, active or energetic. The perfect television target market is exactly the opposite -- the more time on the couch, the more advertising can be sold. While it is not a stated goal, and promotions such as the "punt, pass and kick" competitions are exemplary, let's face it, ten year olds don't drink enough beer to make them the prime audience for televised football games.

Are We Heading Towards Running Man?

While I believe that we're still a ways away from pitting prisoner against prisoner in a Roman Colosseum death match, it is abundantly clear that things are moving in that direction. Violence sells tickets, at least to some core audience bred on testosterone and anger. Consider "Ultimate Fighting Championship", one of the fastest rising sports, versus boxing, once considered the "sport of kings."

(Forrest) Griffin, who squares off against Stephan Bonnar tonight, struggled to describe UFC's appeal, before finally hitting it perfectly: "It doesn't try to be something it's not. We're not carrying sticks and chasing a puck on ice. We're the part of sports that you like. We just get in there and fight in every style we can."

UFC vs. boxing - it's not a fair fight. They're in different divisions. One's on the cusp of the mainstream. The other is best viewed on ESPN Classic. (Source)

In other words, forget the skating, forget the sparring, forget the subtleties -- we just want to watch people beat the stuffing out of each other.

Even among standard contact sports, the risk of life threatening injury is quite high, and often ignored or even covered up by regulating organizations. How many former NFL players have died from brain related causes? Have we forgotten the recent tragedy of Junior Seau, a man whose suicide was a cry for help for his fellow players?

We shall continue our tour of the horrors of our sports culture in the next post.

Every year in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 16 teams meet in the Little League World Series. America sends eight teams from around the country which compete against regional champions from Latin America, Canada, Europe, Caribbean, Mexico, Japan, Asia Pacific, and Middle East/Africa.

Broadcast on ESPN, the event brings 12 year old's from around the world to live out their dreams as sports stars.

It is a competition that exemplifies the best of the sports world and shows that profits can be in line with higher ideals like sportsmanship and global respect. This is exactly why I propose that the business aspect of the sporting world is not entirely, or even majority, a negative thing.

Are you proposing that all forms of entertainment should be rejected as corrupt, distracting, and a projection of the elite agenda? If dismissing sports for this reason, we must also leave behind movies, books, music, and any other form of entertainment that is popular across America. Where then, do we find relief?

A significant point is that sports is a common factor all across the US. You call it geographically divisive, I propose the opposite. Where it is difficult to start a conversation and find some commonality with a stranger from a different state on heavier topics like politics, it is easy with sports. When standing in line at any business throughout the country, we find that a momentary friendship is commonly struck by one asking the other, "did you see the game?"

Where it might seem that team rivalries are ruthless, it is truly the common respect of the game at large that in fact binds people and brings them closer.

Take for example, baseball star Chipper Jones. Jones recently finished his 18th and final season in Major League Baseball. Throughout those years, one of the more intense rivalries in baseball was between the Mets and Braves.

Jones walked, and once a pinch runner came in to replace him, the retiring 40-year-old star trotted back toward the Braves dugout on the third base side and Mets fans stood and cheered.

Jones took off his batting helmet, raised it to the crowd, and then was gone down the steps.
For that, and for his long career as a most worthy adversary, Mets fans stood and applauded.

I can think of few, if any, other instances where a crowd of thousands in New York City would applaud a man whom they have considered a rival for nearly 20 years.

And this was not isolated, Chipper Jones received ovations at every stadium as he played his last season.

Such is common for legends at the end of their career, and serves as a nice example of how sports brings people together out of a shared interest.

Millions will spend time sitting in front of a television watching a game. Many fathers and sons will solidify their relationships, friends and family spending valuable time together. At the professional level, sports is entertainment just like other television, movies or video games. Marketing is directed at adults, who have income. The game is directed at young and old alike, and it encourages exercise.

Sporting events are very family oriented, more so than rock concerts.

Crowd riots are a product of unruly people and not sports. Thousands of sporting events happen with large crowds, and yet we very few such instances.

What we see more often is a large group of people clapping for a common cause, sharing a form of kinship in an ever polarizing world, and celebrating human excellence.

This night, it is worth mentioning the fall tradition of Monday Night Football. Tonight it is the Texans vs Jets.

Monday Night Football has given America some powerful collective moments.

As I start to type this example, I feel the chills of an incredible national moment. On September 26th, 2006, the Atlanta Falcons visited the Superdome in New Orleans to play the Saints on Monday Night Football. This was no ordinary game. Hurrican Katrina had decimated the New Orleans community, displacing their beloved Saints for a full season. The Superdome itself served as a shelter for refugees.

The Saints entered the game as the underdog, and persevered for a 23-3 win in an emotionally charged performance.scores.espn.go.com...

Tell Saint's fans that their team and it's leader, Drew Brees, haven't had a positive impact on that community.

Sports provides relief and unity when life is at it's hardest, another example are games in the weeks following 9/11.

Tribal aggression? I would prefer to call this aspect of human nature competitive drive, and see few better alternatives than athletics. Sportsmanship is priority at the youth level, and continues to be so in the pro's.

Prime example of the positive example being set by an athlete is Tim Tebow, a participant in tonight's game and advocate of Christianity. It is standard for athletes like him, and the aforementioned Drew Brees, to thank God after a win and live the creed by serving the community.

Are you proposing that all forms of entertainment should be rejected as corrupt, distracting, and a projection of the elite agenda? If dismissing sports for this reason, we must also leave behind movies, books, music, and any other form of entertainment that is popular across America.

To the contrary, I believe that, while it is obvious that entertainment of all sorts can be used to distract the general populace, it seems like the culture which surrounds organized sports can bring out the worst in people.

These, for example, are movie "fanatics", nice and orderly…


And please don't get me wrong -- as I said in my opening post, I have nothing against sport, and think that, on an individual basis, athletics is an excellent discipline. It is the culture that we have developed in the United States that has taken healthy fitness and turned it into a disorderly, disenchanting and undisciplined institution which is contributing to the decline of our society.

This sports culture allows teams to blackmail civil government into granting perks, tax deals and insane spending on stadiums that benefit the private owners of these teams.

The three newest pro football stadiums have cost $720 million (Lucas Oil Stadium, 2008), $1.15 billion (Cowboys Stadium, 2009) and $1.6 billion (MetLife Stadium, 2010). Major League Baseball hasn't seen quite that level of inflation, but it has produced the three most expensive ballparks in history in 2008 (Nationals Park, $611 million) and 2009 (Citi Field, $900 million; Yankee Stadium, $1.5 billion). Perhaps it's worth noting that MLB's newest venue, four-month-old Marlins Park — the league's sixth to feature a retractable roof, and its smallest in total seating capacity — cost a mere $515 million. On the other hand, the stadium's complicated financing plan (currently being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission), will lead to a final public cost to repay debt incurred by the stadium's construction of $2.4 billion over the next 40 years. (Source)

$1.6 billion for a football stadium? $2.4 billion for a baseball field? In this economy, that is not simply absurd, it borders on criminal recklessness. The money spent on Miami Marlins Park is twice the amount that the entire state of Florida spends on higher education ($1.17 billion - Source). Surely we can agree that it would be better to spend taxpayer dollars on educational betterment, rather than building more skyboxes for millionaire team owners!

Because of the constant need to drive ratings, top ranked players are paid salaries that make bank CEOs look like paupers in comparison. This, in turn, can motivate players to do almost anything to find that "edge" that will boost their rankings and, thus, their payout. Steroids can make a wimp or a blimp into a champ… and it might drive you to kill your family. Play through a concussion, or a series of them… just might cause Parkinson's Disease.

Typical of other overpaid celebrities, professional athletes live a bizarrely pampered life, where a convicted dog torturer can find redemption and a $100 million dollar salary when released from prison, an active wide receiver in the NFL is simultaneously running an illegal drug operation and an NHL Center is convicted of trying to hire a hit man to kill his agent. This doesn't begin to count the dozens of active players every year arrested for violent crimes like assault, rape and domestic violence.

And, because of the timeliness of its mention, I will close this statement with this damning indictment of the sports culture at the vaunted institute of higher learning, Penn State.

One of the most challenging of the tasks confronting the Penn State community is transforming the culture that permitted Sandusky’s behavior, as illustrated throughout this report, and which directly contributed to the failure of Penn State’s most powerful leaders to adequately report and respond to the actions of a serial sexual predator. It is up to the entire University community – students, faculty, staff, alumni, the Board, and the administration – to undertake a thorough and honest review of its culture. (Source)

Entertainment? Yes, but at what cost?

Sports culture can be subdivided in the following way:

1. Professional Sports Leagues, as business and entertainment.
2. Amateur athletics, as hobby for individuals.

To this point adjensen's argument against sports culture has centered on the first, even ceding:

I have nothing against sport, and think that, on an individual basis, athletics is an excellent discipline.

Which leaves him in a difficult position, because in fact the second aspect of sports culture listed above is a large portion of the total picture, and one we agree is positive.

As for his arguments against the business of pro sport, all can be refuted as issues that do not originate from sports culture, but contaminate what is a positive industry. We find his issue of manipulative advertising repeated across multiple industries and should be seen as a problem of business, not sports culture. Questionable spending on new stadiums by government, this is a pervasive problem throughout the public sector: fiscal irresponsibility. Once again, not originated from sports culture. Violent crowds are violent crowds, I don't recall any sporting events being played on the rooftops of American embassies in the Middle East last week.

And beyond all of that, the professional leagues spark friendship and provide common interest. Opportunities for lifelong memories and family bonding; a day at the ballpark. Not to mention, the ability for social change.

Jesse Owens made a case against Nazi racism by winning 4 gold medals at the olympics in Berlin.

Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in the Major's 15 years before the civil rights act.



These types of stories are not a thing of the past. Michelle Wie has attempted to compete in men's professional golf events and helping the cause for gender equality.

Professional sports maintains some social responsibility, with league wide initiatives like the NFL's play 60.

NFL PLAY 60 is the National Football League's campaign to encourage kids to be active for 60 minutes a day in order to help reverse the trend of childhood obesity.

Another example is the NBA's Read to Achieve.

The NBA’s Read to Achieve program is a year-round campaign to help young people develop a life-long love for reading and encourage adults to read regularly to children. Reaching an estimated 50 million children a year, Read to Achieve is the most extensive educational outreach initiative in the history of professional sports

Lebron James made headlines by promoting reading as a great pre-game activity to help focus during the playoffs.


Sports culture has a major effect on the population. For the most part, the proffesional leagues promote good characteristics and the athletes set great examples for the young.

Thanks to the big business of these leagues, more children want to go out and be active. Playing spots while young creates an outstanding ethic, builds friendships, and has a positive effect on health/fitness.

While you have said sports are getting more violent, reality is the opposite. And the pro-teams are playing a major role in improving safety with rule changes, equipment improvement, and education.

This past spring, the NFL announced a youth football Helmet Replacement Initiative as a measure to promote safety. The program began this summer in four "underserved communities," including the New Orleans area as part of the Gulf Coast region, where helmets 10 years old or older were targeted and replaced with new helmets. The initiative will provide about 13,000 helmets to youth teams in the Bay Area in California, Northern Ohio, New York City and the Gulf Coast.

www.nola.com...


The problems related to big business and politics should not be seen as a product of sports culture. As America moves toward the future, we must maintain a commitment to making sports a major part of our childhood experience.

Livestrong.com lists some of the benefits of playing sports as physical exercise, self-esteem, handling disappointment, social skills, empathy, reaching goals, and discovering skills.

Even being a fan of sports can be beneficial, studying baseball statistics helped me become a good math student.


Adjensen has made no arguments that can lead to the conclusion that sports culture has a negative effect on society. He has pointed to some isolated incidents, while I have provided statistics on top of anecdotes that argue toward the benefit of sports. His position is entirely subjective.

In his closing statement, my opponent seems to be confusing, once again, sports with sports culture. Sports are activities participated in by various people, whether professional or amateur, while sports culture is the collection of traits, behaviours, values and other variables of the society which is ingrained in the sporting community.

As we have seen in my previous posts, America has bred a sports culture that embraces unrestrained violence, both on the part of fans (who "celebrate" team victories by lighting the night on fire) and athletes, whose on field hostility all too often bleeds over into society. In addition, the economic factors which drive the multi-billion dollar professional sports result in players begin treated like animals, players treating themselves and their fellows as lab rats (did someone mention livestrong.com?), and fans whose interest in the personal well being of human beings only extends as far as it benefits them.

The economic blackmail that teams use to extort billions of dollars from cities and states for stadium construction can hardly be considered "fiscal irresponsibility" if the extortion originates from the team, not the government. I've seen it happen a number of times, personally, and here's how it works -- team gets a stadium, under the basis of a long term lease. Lease expires, team demands a new stadium, because the old one isn't good enough, in an era of mega-stadia. If the government balks, the team threatens to move to another city, the league implies that's a good idea, the fans revolt, the politicians cave, and we have a new stadium, new taxpayer held debt, and a new long term lease.

Rinse and repeat.

Let's say that Bill Gates got the state of Washington to pay for 80% of his house construction costs, by threatening to move out of the state if they wouldn't. Imagine the moral outrage! Now wonder why you have none when it is the millionaire owner of the Miami Marlins doing the extorting, under the exact same terms.

There is, however, one place where these shenanigans don't, indeed, can't, take place -- Green Bay, Wisconsin, home of the Packers football club. Why won't the team threaten to move out of small town Wisconsin? Because of the team culture -- they are owned by the community of Green Bay. It is notable that the NFL bans any other team from adopting the Green Bay ownership model, despite the fact that it clearly serves the team's fans best.

Before we close out this economic discussion of sports culture run amok, I think it germane to point out this shocking graph, pulled from the damning 2010 report on college athletics from the Knight Foundation.


So much for "education over athletics".

Finally, I would like to suggest that the pollyanna view of the influence of this modern sports culture on the youth of today is very misplaced. Many athletes are not only poor role models, but the actual skills of superstardom are so far beyond the typical youth that most have decided to hone their skills not on the field of play, but on this:



When I was a kid, even though I wasn't the most athletically inclined, most afternoons were spent on the neighbourhood baseball diamonds, basketball courts and backyard football fields. Today, I live in a neighbourhood crowded with elementary and middle school kids, and I note that the few who are outside, playing sports, are largely limited to those being prodded by their parents.

Perhaps the upcoming generations are not so much lazy as they are cynical -- seeing the American sports culture as something to be eschewed, rather than embraced. After all, one's Madden 2012 XBox game might lead to Gamer's Thumb Syndrome, but is less likely to result in repeated concussions, cast off as irrelevant complaints by a jaded culture that only cares about this week's score and next week's opponent.

Contrary to my esteemed opponent's claims, the evidence is overwhelming that minor acts of altruism and isolated incidents of individual merit do not outweigh the incredibly negative impact that the modern American sports culture has on our society, whether academic, economic, moralistic, civility or any number of other traits that a self-indulgent and "above it all" mentality has inflicted on civilization.


Once again, a big thank you to the ATS Debate Forum, and my opponent, PatrickGarrow17, for an interesting debate that went far beyond my usual "comfort zone" of topics.

I thank the judges for their thoughtful and elaborate rulings:

Round one:
PatrickGarrow17 opened strong with a clear intent to focus on the youth of this nation, the upcoming athletes of the world. Missing from his opening, which would have strengthened his position a bit more, was the lack of inclusion of any Olympic related material. With the Summer Olympics recently completed and still fresh in our minds, he may have utilized the patriotism felt when our swimmers set several new records this year.
Best line: "It's about the youth, building a foundation for future success. Making friends and memories."

adjensen counters with a sharp focus on the violence that sporting events produce, and on the all-mighty dollar, a point driven home very thoroughly. He was able to tie together several concepts effectively.
Best line: "The perfect television target market is exactly the opposite -- the more time on the couch, the more advertising can be sold."

The round goes to adjensen.

Round Two:
The pro position strengthens their point by displaying a global sporting community, and peaceful competition. He also addresses the cohesiveness of sports in general, and proves an example of being able to strike up a sport related conversation with a complete stranger. He's able to further his opening position by sticking to the positive aspects of sports in general.
Best line: "Sports provides relief and unity when life is at it's hardest....."

The con position opens the round with a bit of speculation, then immediately proceeds to provide facts about the cost of building a sports arena. Those arenas are not built with taxpayer dollars by the government, but by private companies which hire construction workers to build them, in essence, creating jobs. Job creation is good for American society, so I failed to link connection. The round finishes with a few newsworthy crimes, which honestly are not linked, in my opinion, to the sporting culture as a whole.
Best line: "It is the culture that we have developed in the United States that has taken healthy fitness and turned it into a disorderly, disenchanting and undisciplined institution which is contributing to the decline of our society."

The round goes to PatrickGarrow17.

Round Three:
The gloves finally come off. (Pun intended.) The round begins with an astute observation of a weakness in adjensen's position, and a further requirement of separating the business from the actual culture of sports. He sticks to his position, and is rather successful in refuting his opponent's statements, as well as being effective in presenting several positive programs sponsored by sporting organizations.
Best line: "Sports culture has a major effect on the population."

adjensen fights back with a speculative claim of "unrestrained violence", which is even a stretch for my overactive imagination. He furthers his point by giving contradicting claims. An extortion in Miami, then the solidity of a fan-base in Green Bay. If he would've proven consistency in every sports team's ownership, then I may have believed his claims. The graph of athletic to academic spending was a nice addition to his position, but that was also limited to an isolated portion of the entire sports culture in America.
Best line: "Sports are activities participated in by various people, whether professional or amateur, while sports culture is the collection of traits, behaviours, values and other variables of the society which is ingrained in the sporting community."

Unfortunately, the round goes to PatrickGarrow17.

I declare PatrickGarrow17 the winner by a 2-1 decision.

Congratulations to both fighters. The NCAA graduation rates and numerous examples of friendship, teamwork, personal achievement, mentoring, and bonding associated with the sports culture provided by PatrickGarrow17 was very compelling. I can see how the lessons learned by participation in sports as well as family bonding can benefit all aspects of a person’s life. However, the numerous instances of civil unrest provided by adjensen and the argument that corporate interests fuel the mainstream sports culture were also very compelling. We’ve all seen the ridiculous outburst by sports fans (fanatics), and the way some ultra-wealthy athletes conduct themselves in their personal lives is appalling.

Based on the submissions by both fighters I must conclude that PatrickGarrow17 made the more compelling argument in favor the sports culture. I think he proved that the benefits to both children and families that the sports culture provides far outweigh the negative aspects. Most of the negative aspects of the sports culture that adjensen provided can be found throughout our society. When watching those rioting fans in the clips adjensen provided I couldn’t help but draw a comparison to the insanity of Black Friday (simply a day of shopping). There are also many ultra-wealthy people in Hollywood who act ridiculous in their personal lives. I don’t believe adjensen proved that this behavior is any more indicative of the sports culture than other aspects of our society.

The winner of this debate in my opinion is PatrickGarrow17.

The Winner is PatrickGarrow!