Sports are pervasive in the United States. Every day images appear on television, through the Internet, on billboards, on the radio, and elsewhere, indicating the impact of sports on the lives of Americans. Sports stars are emulated, revered, and sometimes reviled, but they are always recognized and discussed. This basic pattern of sport and its involvement with Americans has been apparent for at least the past eighty-five years, since the end of World War I and the creation of a more “leisuretime” culture
