What does the word sports mean to Americans? To one person it could mean a since of togetherness while sitting in the stands with their father, watching their favorite baseball team hit home runs. To another, looking up to their favorite basketball player as a role model type, gives them hope of one day being able to shoot hoops as well as there them. Whatever the case, athletes play a very important role in our media today. But is all this publicity going to result in long-term success or is it just giving them short-term fame.
             Just picture being on the couch with a bowl of chips and salsa watching a football game all alone, with a beer and the television. Now just think if that were the super bowl on and watching it all alone. Not so much fun now is it. With the biggest televised sporting event in the United States, have a party. Invite all the friends and family, the grand parents, kids, dogs, they all come over for this one sporting event. Break open the beer, grab the chips and dip, and huddle around the TV to support the team. The smack talk is going on, the bets are getting larger right before kick off and there is no where else to be; well maybe at the game supporting that team. This isn't just in football this is in any sport. For generations families in the US have idolized sports teams. Growing up as a kid, we all had a sports team to love and to hate just by what you were taught by your father/mother or any other person in your life that introduced sports.
             If a professional athlete has undergone the spotlight, it can really be a double-edged sword. Yes all the publicity is there, the name and face of the athlete is on all of the newspapers and headlines; but is that what it is all about? Sure its great for a period of time, but as the media puts out headlines saying that they're a drug addict and a terrible role model or you should really do more for your community. After the
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