SportsNation? Try SportsWorld

The 1980 US Hockey team was not full of just kids. Jackie Robinson was not just another Dodger. And the Superbowl, it’s not just a game. Sports have been an

d forever will be a huge factor in the lives of every person, in the nation and in the world.

The world’s list of most watched televised events is as follows:

1. 2008 Summer Olympics with an estimated 1-4 billion viewers
2. 2011 Cricket world cup
3. 2006 FIFA World Cup with 715 million viewers
4.  First step on the moon 530 million viewers

What I got from this list is that sports, to human kind, rank above hum

an beings walking on the moon. Now if that’s not important I don’t know w

hat is. Not just from a television aspect, but from marketing as well. On Superbowl Sunday it is estimated that Americans will consume 1.25 billion wings. That’s four for every man, woman and child in America.

There’s a reason Alabama, LSU and TCU’s application rates have been skyrocketing in the past few years. No its not because everyone in Texas suddenly converted to Christianity. But it’s rather their fame, for these three specifically, on the field.

After the impressive TCU 12-0 run a few years back in t

he 09-10 season, the school received 19,000-applicants for its 1,800 available spots, a 5,000-applicant increase than in the previous year.

On a more local note, the University of Missouri just recently obtained quite the mass amount of attention for snagging the top ranked receiver in the nation Dorial Green-Beckham, or DGB. A leading story for a newscast? Yes. And why? Because the addition of DGB or the move to the SEC or the basketball team, ranked fourth in the nation, is more than just athletics. Its more than just sweat and sneakers. It’s an ac

hievement and improvement for the university and community.

I know athletics are not directly involved in everyone’s lives, we aren’t all at practice everyday, we aren’t all calling plays, we don’t even all watch sports, or pay attention to them. But to not accept them as life altering for all of America seems nearly ignorant.

Herb Brooks united a nation with his “Miracle” team. Jackie Robinson changed the way the African American population was viewed in America. And Superbowl Sunday is about three school cancelations away from practically being a national holiday. When big things happen in the sporting world, it often coincides with big things happening in the lives and home of every American. Fan or not, sports are here and changing the world.