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498 Unit 4 Social Institutions
The prevailing American view of sport is the one reportedly expressed by the late Vince Lombardi, coach of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League during the 1960s: “Winning is not everything. It is the only thing.” For the most part, sport continues to be dominated by achieve- ment-oriented values.
Sport reflects society, so it is not surprising that males dominate the sports world just as they do many other aspects of American society. Females are
second to men overall in power, in- come, and job opportunities in sports just as they are in
business, education, medicine, and law (Eitzen, 1999).
Some progress toward equality is being made, however, es- pecially on the college level. The Virginia Tech and Louisiana Tech women’s basketball teams, for example, are currently drawing more fans than the men’s teams. Women are making inroads in professional tennis and golf, and a women’s pro- fessional basketball league has been formed. The place of women in athletics was given a healthy boost when Mia Hamm and her teammates captured the 1999 World Cup in soccer. But equality of opportunity for women in sports is a
distant goal, not one that is just around the corner.
As women’s place in American society changes, their place in sport also changes. Until only a few years ago, Virginia Tech basketball standout Amy Wetzel and World Cup soccer star Mia Hamm could only dream of a sport spotlight.