Knowing about sports is a part of being American. Even if you think you know nothing about sports, you still know who Barry Bonds is, you still know what the term “home run” means, and you still could tell the difference between a field goal and a soccer goal. But are many American’s too obsessed with sports? We spend nearly $8 billion every year buying merchandise. Many national leagues, like the NFL, don’t pay any taxes, and it’s well known that our sports superstars get payed millions upon millions of dollars to destroy their bodies our amusement- and many of them go bankrupt shortly after retirement.

American’s tend to make winning the most important aspect of anything.

“Second place is just the first loser.”

“A tie is like kissing your sister.”

We keep score at T-ball games where the kids playing can barely count. We create our own self-worth through the things the win at, not the experiences we’ve had. This culture of winning is toxic, and likely highly contributes to our need to constantly be at war with our countries, and it’s not a stretch to say that a lot of it comes from sports.

Children start playing sports often times before they can even walk straight. They’re taught to swing a bat or kick a ball before learning the alphabet. We put success in sports above all else. This of course, leads to the culture of cheating. When winning the game is the most important thing, not the team or the experience, there’s no reason to not do everything in your power to make sure that you win. From drugs to surgeries and everything in between, when winning is your only goal there’s nothing you won’t do to achieve it.

Right now everyone is watching the World Series, well, everyone in America is anyway, because most of the rest of the world didn’t get the invitation. Many watching the series are young kids, who love the game and dream of getting to play in it one day. Very few have the talent necessary, less have the drive to development, and even fewer will be lucky enough not to suffer debilitating injuries while playing their beloved sport. American parents spend roughly $300 million every year buying sports supplies for their children. While it’s great that these sports are helping to get kids active, because obesity is caused by lack of exercise and poor diet, is this the best way that these households could be spending their money.

American’s love sports, even those who haven’t watched any sort of game all year still love when the American soccer team wins at world cup, or when a horse from nowhere takes the Triple Crown. This is just another part of what it means to be American, and even with more and more information and films being released about how detrimental sports like football are on the bodies of its young players, our sports aren’t going anywhere.