When individuals across the United states think about the most extravagant, famous, and finest sport in today’s society what sport makes the cut and comes to mind? In today’s America, the most beloved sport is American football. Across the United States, football is known through live broadcasting, news, well known medias, the renowned super bowl, college sporting events, and the National Football League (NFL), and a tad more. Over the course of time things started and have drastically gotten different. In the period of the 1920’s the standout sport wasn’t football, but baseball.
The extravagant sport, football, was not admired once upon a time. The sport of baseball went through a tenacious and trying time during the 1920s period, which assisted it in becoming the most beloved and known sport by every race of people imaginable. Even Though the sport of baseball was the sport to partake in and do, there were numerous sports that were bold too. “The 1920’s was a transition period for many sports. It wasn’t anything like today’s athlete’s making big money, using steroids, or promoting a media fast diet. (The Sport Era).
During the period of the 1920s, the black leagues and other fine sports assisted in impacting a powerful social and respectable progress in U. S. history. During the period of the 1920s, sports impacted many American souls. When World War One came to a close, individuals were in demand for excitement and entertainment. This singular and special era was known as the “Golden Age of Sports. ” The main reason it was known as the Golden Age was because of numerous superstar athletes were rising in stardom in a variety of sports.
Even Though the sport of baseball was the center of attention, other sports such as tennis, swimming, boxing, and football were also great sports that got the attention of a significant number of Americans across the nation. The sport of baseball itself, and many individuals gave in to these movements and made a huge impact in U. S. history. One of the many key events that had a huge change and impact on U. S. history during the 1920s period was the National Negro League ( NNL). Through the years starting from the 1800s all the way to the 1900s, Negroes were not prohibited to participate in any major league baseball teams.
The result of that was the NNL. On the special date of February 13, 1920, all that had changed and a new era had began. The first Negro League was started in the state of Kansas by an individual known as Rube Foster. The league was the NNL. The club was made up of individuals mostly from the Midwest and South. The National Negro League wasn’t the only one made and established during the 1920s. Another league, Eastern Colored league ( ECL) was established in the year of 1923. During the year of 1924, the first ever world series for Negroes was played between both leagues.
Over the course of time, things started to change. An astonishing eleven inter-leagues Negro world series were established and being held. The pair of leagues had played from the year of 1925 dating to the year of 1927. An additional Negro league was made up and individuals had partaken through the year of 1948. Even though the movement of having Negro leagues was a huge impact, they took it up a notch when they created an all star event which was played during the season of summer. This event alone was considered to be more imperative than the World Series and accumulated fifty thousand joyful fans.
Over time, the NNL fought through adversity and dodged many tough obstacles. Numerous individuals had been involved in harsh act of segregation. During the start of all this, Negroes were not prohibited to partake on teams that had white individuals. The salaries they had acquired were extremely modest. On top of all that, the NNL was given drastic and horrific conditions for playing. The NNL was given weak equipment, and worn out ripped clothing. All these drastic conditions still didn’t stop Negroes from going out on the playing field and proving that they deserve to be with the top dog.
At the time where the Negro Leagues were challenged by the white major league, the Negro clubs had destroyed competition and won an astonishing number of more than sixty percent of the games. Before the close of the leagues that were segregated, the Negro Leagues were one of the most successful black businesses in the United States, and after a short period of time, a new era had began. The Negroes were playing with white individuals. The NNL had a huge impact on the sport of baseball by making it famous and a good source for money.
Negroes had fought through adversity and proved to be the equal of whites. Negro baseball superstars had proven their talent and skill set, which had resulted in integration. The NNL was not the only thing that made a huge impact on the sport of baseball during the 1920s. An individual by the name of George Herman Ruth Jr. , or Babe Ruth was known for his tremendous career and legacy for the sport of baseball. Babe Ruth had numerous accomplishments during his baseball run. To start, he set the record of sixty home runs in a season in the year of 1927.
During his time, Babe Ruth was regarded as the best baseball player to ever play the game. Babe Ruth had led his club, The New York Yankees, to seven World Series runs and made a jaw dropping two million U. S. dollars over the course of his illustrious career. That wasn’t the only accomplishment for Babe Ruth. Ruth also had led The New York Yankees to seven League championship runs, and four World Series titles and wins. Babe Ruth had also led the league in total home runs for a player multiple times. Babe Ruth had established a record for the 154-season game during the year of 1927.
The sport of baseball was not the only thing that had a huge impact during the 1920s. The sport of football also had its superstar athletes, and givers. Fritz Polard and Paul Roberson were two individuals that had impacted the sport of football drastically. These two men were the first ever negroes to ever play in the NFL. During the 1920s, the first ever organized football league was started. Clubs at the time were only charged one-hundred U. S. dollars to join the league. During the 1920s, Harold “ Red” Grange, “he was known as the player you had to see to believe. ” (1920s sports).
Harold had drew everyone’s attention to the sport of football because of his special skill set. An additional sport that isn’t regarded as an exciting or famous sport today, but dominated during the 1920s was the sport of boxing. In the beginning of the 19th century, the sport of boxing had been banned from the United States. New York had started a movement and made boxing legal during the 1920s. Over the course of time, other states followed the movement and boxing had been a popular sporting event. An individual by the name of Jack Dempsey was a superstar in boxing.
Dempsey was regarded as “ The Manassa Mauler. ” Dempsey was thought of to be one the greats to ever box. Dempsey had partaken in his first one million dollar fight against a top boxer in Georges Carpentier. The boxing match was watched by one-hundred thousand people. The match had opened the door wide open for the sport of boxing and lead it to fame. The match was later called as “the fight of the century. ” In the United States boxing world, this was a very good and productive result. The sport of swimming had a tremendous impact as well during the period of the 1920s in the history of the United States.
Not a single swimmer was able to swim one-hundred meters in under 60 seconds before the year 1922. Over the course of time a swimmer by the name of Johnny Weismuller had arrived on the scene. Johnny had broken the long lasting record by getting 58. 6 seconds. Johnny continued his illustrious career by smashing competition and winning three gold medals in the 1924 olympic games. He also had attended the 1928 olympic games and had won two gold medals. Over the course of Johnny’s career, he won fifty-two U. S. titles and twenty-eight distant records.
Two individuals by the name of William Tilden and Helen Newington Wills had enormous contributions to the sport of tennis. During the 1920s, Helen was regarded as the best tennis player in the nation. Helen had defeated every opponent and won every single match dating from the year 1927 to the early 1930s. Helen continued her run by winning two gold medals at the olympic games, and nineteen singles championships. Helen career was proven to be illustrious as she was inducted in the U. S. Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame. William Tilden was regarded as the best male tennis athlete across the nation.
Known as “Big Will”, he was the first U. S. individual to accomplish and win the Wimbledon title. The sport of tennis gained instant fame and attraction because of these two marvelous individuals. A numerous amount of sports and the black leagues had impacted the country of the United States. The Negro leagues had an enormous contribution in proving that blacks were just as equal as white individuals and being accepted into society. The Negro leagues went through tough adversity and came out on top with numerous accomplishments.
American sports have had an impact not only on our national pastime, but upon America’s social and moral development. ” (Negro League History 101). During the 1920s, the sports that have been produced had molded the present day sports we see in today’s America. Today’s megastar athletes are always compared and resembled to the great athletes of the 1920s period. Great attention is attracted when athletes break records that were made sixty years ago. This ensures that that the past mega star athletes are never forgotten in today’s society.
