1920s Sports Impact

How Sports Left an Impact Sports in the 1920’s were not only important to how the games themselves were transformed, but also as an impact on America as a whole. The most monumental sports in the era included baseball, boxing, and football. Other sports like Golf and Basketball were in their infant years, as the 20’s marked the beginning of these sports being put onto a small portion of the spotlight. Prior to the Great Depression, the 20’s had begun a booming era in terms of income and jobs. With this peak in the economy, many Americans looked to leisurely activities to spend the excess money they had. Sports were a perfect opportunity for fans and even a common person to develop an interest in a sport. Racism, Media, and iconic sports
heroes were all a part of this incredible representation of our American identity then and now.

One example of Sports impacting American identity includes sports media. Radio was a huge factor in transforming young ballplayers or even college football players into potential stars. The first Prizefight, Baseball Game, Collegiate Football Game, and Tennis match were all first debuted in the early 1920’s. This allowed people throughout the country to hear bits of information on an up and coming star, injuries, or what teams and players were the ones to watch. It also gave the game character with another voice being able to portray emotion and thought on what is happening inside the game. Newspaper was a large influence that allowed these inside sources to distribute information to the entire nation. Writers were able to spark rumors or spread dramatic information to appeal to large crowds of newspaper subscribers. Racism was one of the unfortunately remaining difficulties that the 1920’s faced. WIth the media setting the tone for American culture, they played a large part in how everyone tuning in would portray African-American figures in sports. Most racism was not widely talked about in media. The one significant issue was with Boxing and Baseball. In baseball, negro leagues were developed due to segregation. Whereas in Boxing, most white boxers refused to fight black boxers. Without the media, stories like this may not be blown to the proportion they were. Since many righteous citizens were able to observe this segregation, many were able to make a change that did take awhile to become set and stone. Without the media, sports segregation may not have become as irrelevant as it is today. The decade really did set the tone for future technological advancements in communicating news in sports, marking the 1920’s as the Golden Age of Sports.

Icons of their sports were also an extremely influential part of impacting a quickly transcending American identity.
Those who are still legendary today include George Herman Ruth Jr. (Babe Ruth) in Baseball, Jack Dempsey in Boxing, and Bobby Jones in Golf. To begin, Babe Ruth was well known for his freakish power as a home run hitter. With over 700 home runs, which still remains third on the all-time list, but remains a near impossible task for his era, he proves to be arguably the most iconic power figure of all time in baseball. His off the field actions were also a factor to his fame. As an alcoholic, he was the focus of even mainstream media of the time. He had many troubles off the field including car accidents, smoking, and patchy injuries over his career. In spite, he managed to persevere through these things and become what many still consider the greatest baseball player of all time and one of the most heroic figures in sports. In addition, Jack Dempsey was a World Heavyweight Champion for over 7 years, before his crown was stolen from Hall of Fame Gene Tunney. His rematch with Tunney years after, was the first to generate over $1 Million. Lastly, Bobby Jones revolutionized Golf, being the first one to win all 4 majors (also known as the Grand Slam). This is a feat that has only been accomplished by 5 people to this day. In addition, Racism among players became a trending issue of the time. Segregation was still strictly enforced and African-Americans were not
offered the same opportunity as white players. Although this problem was a tough one to budge, ballplayers like Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige did what the could. Each of these young men were stars in negro leagues in the late 1920’s and early 30’s. They’re character and courage to play a sport they loved and become nationwide stars proved that a movement was developing among America. Eventually, these steps led to possibly one of the biggest accomplishments in Baseball and sports in general: breaking the color barrier just ten to fifteen years later.

Racism was one of the unfortunately remaining difficulties that the 1920’s faced.
Although it was a tough thing for many to get over, it helped shaped American and the character of a growing nation. Racism and sports had an extreme parallel where many sports had segregation. Boxing was one of the few sports that did not have extreme racial issues. Not only was racial segregation an issue, but separation of men and women in sports was also popular. Women did not seem to have the same opportunities to succeed in athletics. Many African-Americans did have great success, though. One of these successful African-Americans was 1st basemen Hall of Famer Walter Leonard. Other significant baseball players and even role models included Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, who came around the late 20’s. These players not only demonstrated magnificent efforts in Baseball but also off the field with advancing advocation for African-Americans for sports in general. These popular figures are the ones that transformed Baseball and many other sports into games with equal opportunity no matter your race or
gender.

All in all, sports in the 1920’s were one of the forgotten treasures of the time. These traits have carried over making sports one of the most widely televised events. Racism, iconic figures, and mainstream media were all the most common factors to shaping the American identity. Today, we