Response to Prompt 1 (Sports and War)

I do not feel that sports, as a general topic, mimic war; however, I do feel that there are some sports that were inspired by the idea of battling. If the topic in question was directed straight towards contact sports like football, boxing, or maybe even hockey, then I could see more similarities and more violence, but then the sports like baseball, basketball, or swimming that don't necessarily require contact. The common denominator in sports and war is victory, but competing to win is an everyday part of life, whether its for an employment position or a part in a show. Neither do i believe that violence is promoted in sports, it just happens, and when it does there are penalties to prevent it from happening again. Comparing current sports when gladiators fought for their lives as entertainment for a king and a crowd, there is no violence in sports today. I'm really not sure how i feel pertaining to the positive and/or negative impact on our culture, since sports are like a foreign language to me. I do think sports have supplied a great deal of inspiration to the arts, some of the most dramatic and evocative movies to ever be filmed have had a sports story line. Then there is the athletes themselves and their scandals, but all figures in the public eye are bound to have at least one scandal to taint their name, but that has nothing to do with the actual sport. The biggest negative impact sports has provided our culture is steroids, without sports there would be no need for that drug and all its baggage. In my opinion sports are just another good form of entertainment.