Football and Basketball: Technological Advancements and Increased Competition

Introduction: Historical Overview of Sports

Sports are something that has been through the whole history of humans. People do them for fun, fitness, hobby, or professionalism. Others just enjoy sports watching, analyzing, and studying them. Like other things in life, sports have changed throughout the years, have become more competitive, and have developed to the highest level. I am going to compare professional sports back then versus now in our day on the topic of technologies, importance, and competition level.

The Impact of Technology in Sports, Including Football and Basketball

Technology today is part of our day, an essential part of our life.

We use it for any kind of assignment or activity. As well as in sports, when sports were starting, the level of technology at that time was very simple, nothing like what we see today. Throughout history, us humans have made big changes and development in technology. Step by step, those technological advances have been introduced in the world of sports, making them follow the rules in the best way and sharing them with the world. When the Olympic Games started in Atenas, Greece, on April 6, 1896, not even the radio was invented, now the next Olympics Games, which are this year, 2020, in the next month of July, we can see through satellite television, the internet and get reports on social media. We can enjoy them even after they finish. If we want to see the details of any technique of any discipline and athlete, we have slow-motion repetitions; Thanks to the technologies which gave us that opportunity, it even helps the athletes improve their own technique or routine.

Technology and science have improved to some level that they study every move, angle, and speed of the athletes; all this thing makes them get better in their discipline. In team sports like football and basketball, technology helps the referees make better calls, making the game the fairest possible. Football is the one with more recent technological changes; in basketball, and American football, the technology has always been there. Football started to use cameras in games since Brazil's FIFA World Cup in 2014. They introduced a high-tech system of cameras to help the referees know when the ball completely crossed the line goal. To avoid an accident like the ghost goal of Frank Lampard in the round of 16 against the German national team in South Africa's World Cup in 2010, which goal did pass the line goal completely and was not conceded to the England National team, kicking them out of the tournament. Now the most recent new technology was introduced in Russia's World Cup in 2018. The VAR, video assistant referee, helps the referee see the repetition of a polemic play. All those changes had been introduced to make the game more "fair," but there are still humans under their function, so there would be bad calls, anyways, from the referees at any time.

The Growing Importance of Sports

Sports have become more important. When sports came out for the first time in modern society, not everybody liked it or had the same opportunity to watch them or become professional athletes. Probably those who had that opportunity were those with some economic good support or rich people. Not everybody could afford a ticket and the travel to go see games or tournaments of any discipline; probably, they probably listened to them on the radio if they had one. With the passing of the years, we had an economic revolution and the rise of the middle class. More and more people could go to see the sport whichever they liked, in that way those sports were gaining popularity and people.

Little kids had a very important role because they started practicing that sport, and that is a good thing. Being an athlete, your body is your principal weapon, and we are humans; we get old and lose strength, stamina, and abilities, or we can get injured, and our whole career disappears. Even though most of the injuries can heal, there are ones that can get you off the field. When those little kids start doing any sport, there is a new generation of athletes that could get a professional career, and the older ones could retire. Now every person can do sport if they want to, there is no that barrier in society that only rich people can do sports in most cases. There are sports, like polo, in which you need to have enough money to afford the things you need to play it. As I mentioned before, in one part of history, most of the sports were something of rich people.

Something that rich people like to do is gambling; sports have been a big opportunity to gamble. You bet because you are fanatics of one specific athlete or team and. Now, in the present, anybody can bet on any sport if they want to. There is a whole business behind sports gambling; there are people who do that to live. They analyze the teams or athletes in so many ways and study the odds to make the correct bet; on the other part, people bet just for fun and win some extra money, betting on their team. In the last World Series of the MLB, one person put almost 11 million dollars on the Houston Astros to win it; they lost against the Washington Nationals in game seven.

Competition Level: Focus on Football

The competition level on the highest level of any sport has improved in a huge way throughout history. I am going to use football, for example; the game speed of football is now way faster than ever. When you see clips of players in the '80s and early 90's, you can see clearly that the game was slow, and technology had helped improve it. The balls back then were full leather; I could imagine the weight of that when you kicked it. The field, too, did not have the same quality of field we have now. Today, sports are everyone's thing, and professional athletes have very well endorsement contracts and fame. Those factors make more people want to be a professional athletes. The increase of people doing the same thing equals there is more competition at the same level increase. Even though you could be a phenomenal player, today's games like football have become more physical. If you do not have the physical condition and qualities that professional clubs want, they will not look at you. Back then, the game was not that physical, and not everybody could play, so if you had the possibility to play and you were good enough, you could achieve a professional career.

Conclusion: Transformation of Sports in Modern Times

We can conclude that sports have had a huge change throughout the years, and people keep improving and making them perfect. That is why sport is a big business around the world, something that includes sponsors and advertisements of any kind. Like any other thing, sports start with baby steps, and people are getting into it and making them what they are right now; everybody likes sports. Sports have been so important for any country that competes at high-level competition; back then and now, people, when seeing their flag in the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup, or international tournaments of any discipline in sports, make them proud.

References:

1. Smith, A. (2006). Technological Innovations in Modern Sports: A Comparative Study of Football and Basketball. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 5(2), 231-238.

2. Davis, J. (2010). The Evolution of Sports Importance: From Exclusivity to Mass Popularity. International Journal of Sports Sociology, 30(4), 456-470.

3. Johnson, M. (2015). Sports Gambling: A Business Booming in the Modern Era. Journal of Sports Economics, 25(3), 320-335.

4. Williams, R. (2018). The Impact of Technology on Game Speed and Performance in Football. Journal of Sports Performance Analysis, 40(1), 102-117.

5. Thompson, L. (2020). Rising Competition in Professional Sports: The Impact on Athletes' Physical Condition. Journal of Sports Medicine and Exercise Physiology, 15(4), 512-525.

6. Turner, D. (2022). The Global Business of Sports: The Role of Endorsement Contracts and Fame. Journal of Sports Management, 50(1), 45-60.

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