Growth of Extreme Sports
A lot of people attribute the growth of Extreme Sports to a deliberate media effort to popularize them for their commercial potential. There may be some deeper reasons.
Growth of Extreme Sports
Extreme Sports can be viewed two different ways. The purist would view them as an extension of the deep rooted desire in human beings to excel and to push the envelope of what is possible. They existed in different forms in the past. Many of today’s traditional sports were at one time considered the extreme sports of their era. The growth of extreme sports has been steady through out the ages.
The skeptic would counter with the argument that it is ESPN and it’s X Games that led to the growth of Extreme Sports. This claim assumes that people are helpless in the face of media pressure. We enjoy something because television tells us we should enjoy it. A closer look at the history of extreme sports seems to rebuke this assertion. Young people were engaging in the former Outlaw Sports such as skateboarding and snowboarding long before ESPN got involved with them. Complete with their own subculture with its unique clothing styles and underground folk heroes, these sports grew on their own without any media help.
In fact, it would seem that the media has jumped on the Extreme Sports bandwagon rather than being able to take the credit as its creator. The real truth is somewhere in the middle. Extreme Sports were on the move anyway. The media recognizes this and joined in to help this growth by bringing Extreme Sports to more spectators. This exposure led to more participants.
So, if the media is not totally responsible, what is it that has spurred this growth of dangerous sporting activities? Although it is certain that a small number of people have always sought out risky adventures and activities, never has this been on such a great scale and with so much public acceptance. It is very possible the answer lies with the relative safety of our daily lives. Throughout most of human history, just getting through the day alive was a big enough challenge without jumping off a cliff or sliding down a glacier on a board for fun. This is no longer the case, and maybe something in our genetic makeup misses the danger a little bit even as our rational side breathes a sigh of relief.
Whatever the reason, Extreme Sports has grown at a rapid rate in the last decade. One former X game event has become an Olympic Sport and more are on the verge of acceptance. It is a safe bet that this will continue until the Extreme Sports of today become the Traditional Sports of tomorrow. When this happens, we can expect our children to look around for new challenges and the next generation of Extreme Sports will be created in the imaginations of our young.