Million Dollar Baby

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In another boxing movie called ‘Cinderella Man’ we can see how James Braddock lived with his family of three children and one wife while under welfare during the great depression while working two jobs until he won the World Heavyweight title. It highlighted another significant moment in American history showcasing the stress that America was under at that time.

Sports provides entertainment for the athletes participating to the fans watching from the stadiums and arenas to the audience watching live from their homes, bars or various entertainment spots. Bets are placed and a lot of money is made at the end of the day. In the movie, even the amateur boxing matches had a respectable audience turnout during Maggie’s first match. Maggie who was merely a waitress at a restaurant saw her progress take her from gym fights to filling arenas in Las Vegas and even internationally all the way in London.

For a brief period of time, people tend to unite and spectate regardless of whatever differences they have. This is the power of sports as we can see in the movie, Maggie is a female American boxer who goes to London for a match against a local girl, she adopts an Irish nickname but the crowd in the audience still supports her and even back home as she fights girls from different backgrounds and ethnicities. According to Naison, in the 1930s, when Joe Louis, an African American fighter beat Max Schmeling, it was considered a win not for black or white America but for America over Nazi-Germany which was a racist nation at the time.

To say that sports has nothing to do with what the United States of America is what it is today would be an injustice to the industry. It is so important to the American culture such that when sports teams want to build a stadium, the state allocates them public funds to achieve this. During the Olympics World Championships, the United States ranks highly in the competitions due to the variety of games the country is participating in. This shows how sports is highly valued in the country.

An America without sports would be unimaginable. Take away sports teams such as Miami Heat, LA Galaxy, Boston Red Sox, and the New York Jets and you will have taken away the people of America.

References

Eastwood, C. (Director). (2004). Million Dollar Baby [Motion picture]. USA: Lakeshore Ent.

Naison, M. (2011). Why Sports History Is American History. Retrieved from http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/reform-movements/essays/why-sports-history-american-history