Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Sportsperson or Entertainer?

Why a sportsperson becomes great? Is it just because he is very good at a sport or is it something else? Why is it that sportspersons earn more than most of our top notch executives? What is it that they are creating that’s worth millions of dollars?
A sportsperson is not just a player playing his sport to win but he is also an entertainer playing to entertain his crowd. Their job is to create entertainment and not to just play and win. That’s what they are worth. So when Ronaldo does a scissors trick, he is not just faking the player in front but he is creating entertainment. When Air Jordon dunked from the two- pointer line, it was not the addition of 2 point on scoreboard that made him great but it was the screaming crowd that made him great. In those mere 2 points he instantly created entertainment worth millions of dollars. A sportsperson doesn’t become great until and unless he doesn’t win the crowd’s, fan and critics alike, heart. This is the reason why some sportsperson become more famous than others because that sportsperson wins the heart of the crowd. So when you watch a soccer player running towards the corner line after scoring a goal, you know that it is not the joy but it is a tribute to all the people in stadium and the people in the stadium understands it. That’s why soccer has more fans than any other sports in the whole world. No sport can prosper without giving people what they want: Entertainment. That’s what dying sports like field hockey should aim to provide and not to change some rules here and there because it’s not just the rules but the players that makes or breaks a sport.
A player’s greatness is not made by the great statistics he has amassed in his lifetime but it is made by the great moments in the people’s minds that are imprinted forever. So when someone says Jordan, it’s not the statistics that comes to my mind but it is the last shot (famously known as “The Shot” taken when 3 seconds was left and 2 people were guarding him) in the 1989 playoffs that comes to my mind. And that’s why he is great and not because he averaged 33.4 points per game. This is something every sportsman should strive for and die for.

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