Problems connected with sports nowdays

Problems connected with sports nowdays
• I think that the main problem connected with sports nowdays is that the reason why people did sports a hundred years ago and why they do it now changed
In the past – people did sports for fun, they just wanted to move their bodies, they didn’t care whether they would get on Olympic games – they liked the sport for itself and the sport made them happy

Nowdays – in our present society, when the world is quickly developing and modernising, when everything becomes more difficult and elaborate, the standard for being the best in something moved up > only very few people can stand on the real peak of human race and sportsmen think that they can if they work very, very hard; so the reason is not the fun of the game or sport, but it is to be the best, to beat everybody and to show everybody I’m the best
• and what’s the result of this degeneration of the function of sports ? > people regardlessly try to win at any price, fair play is not important anymore and spotsmen start to take drugs (no matter they destroy their body, but they win and that’s what they want)

• another problem is commercialism of sports and Olympic games – sportsmen need proffesional and expensive equipment, so the companies support them and than everybody can see that the fastest man wears a Nike T-shirt; sometimes I think that the competers didn’t win for themselves but for the company; it’s not surprising anymore when you see a famous sportsman in a commercial or when he has a restaurant (e.g. Michael Jordan’s in Chicago)

Sports and me
• I think that the main and only function of any sport is to bring happiness and fun from moving; of course it is nice to win some competiton but the winner has to say : “OK, maybe I’m so good maybe it was just a luck, but I like this sport and I would be happy the same if I was the last”

• when I was young, I used to play tennis for about 3 years, but I must say I didn’t like it very much; I didn’t like going to trainings because there were too many people and I was the youngest and the worst of them; but what I liked was to play on weekends mornings with my father (I beated him twice)

• I did judo for approximately one year but I gave it up because I didn’t like it at all – I was kind of sensitive

• now I play frisbee and it’s the greatest game in the world; it originated in America in 1960’s and came to Europe in early 90’s, I started to do it 2 years ago and quickly learned the basic – throw the disc, now I’m not the worst; once a week we go running and another day we train in a hall or outdoor during the summer; I’ve been only on four ultimate cups and our team was always on last three positions; but it doesn’t matter, we are relatively young team and we all like it

• I would also mention that I do rollerblade skating, but mainly during the summer

• I don’t watch TV very much but if I had to choose a sport to watch, it would be hockey – it is quick, action and CR is good in it

Sports popular in our country and in the English-speaking world
CR – Czechs are traditionally good in hockey, football and athletics; I think that I don’t have to remind the Olympic games in Nagano, because everybody in Czech country knows our “Golden Team” or at least goalman Hasek or forward Jagr; we were good in football between two world wars and now it is still the traditional sport, but rather domestic; we have always been good in athletics and still are; I could name Zatopek, Fibingerova from 50’s and 60’s and Zelezny, Kasparkova and Dvorak from present days

USA – we could say that Americans created their own, very uncommon sports, which became more popular than anything else – baseball, basketball, American football and golf; 40 000 people visiting one match is not surptising, but many people go there not to see the match, but their heroes or to chat with friends; you can get 10 000$ if you catch the homerun from Mark McGuire

England – traditional sports would be here probably football and tennis; although the English tennis players haven’t been succesful since 1930’s, Wimbledon is the most famous of all lawn tennis centres; it is home of the “Lawn Tennis Championships on Grass”, the oldest and most prestigious of the tournaments; Wimbledon is situated in Church Road, in a residential district of southwest London; there are some 16 grass courts and 10 clay courts, the Centre Court and the No.1 are the two principal courts; the first championships were held by the All-England Club in 1877 at the original site in Worple Road, Wimbledon

Highland Games – series of organized sports events held in Scotland annually since the 19th century and in many places in Canada and the United States; one of the best known of the games is the Braemar Gathering, held in Aberdeenshire in Scotland in August; competition for prizes is held in the standard athletic events and in uniquely Scottish sports such as tossing the caber – a fir tree pole about 5 m long and weighing about 41kg and the weight – a 25-kg sphere; Scottish dancing, Gaelic recitations, and the playing of the bagpipes are also featured