Emergence of college sports
The Emergence of Sporting Events
The act of playing games and sports has been around for a very long time. Historians take games, sports were considered games long ago, back to the colonial era. Those games were not like the games we currently participate in. The colonial games were casual and had more loopholes to the game rules. The games were less governed; meaning one could change the game rules without being someone of higher power. If someone explained the name and the game of these colonial pastimes they would cry of laughter. Colonial America had little time for games or amusements but when they did they used little luxury items that made the game more simple. Hunt the Slipper was one of those pastimes they played. One player was the hunter who went out of the room for a small second. He then walked back in the room to look for the slipper that was being passed around secretly while he was not looking. Hunt the Slipper was considered a sport, as sports were very casual previously.
In the 1870s, colonial games expanded to more diverse rules, but also became easier to categorize. The colonial people inherited Puritan beliefs of what the everyday life was supposed to consist of. These Puritans were bred off of hard work and survival. The games they played symbolized that. Historic Puritans claimed, If a game encouraged participants to shirk their essential obligations for work and worship [then it was inappropriate]. The Old English Puritans engaged in bloody sport games. Their games were made to imitate the lives of the people of England including rowdy behavior, excessive drinking, and gambling. The organization of sports is really an interesting situation because mostly all sports went from having one or two people or even tribes playing this game; to a team being put together or events planned for the sport.
During an era when America went to a period from mining and merchandising, to railroads and rapid expansion, sports emerged the most. One sport in particular was horseracing. Horseracing was a leisure activity that became more popular as the American people became more modernized. Horseracing was populated by individuals who were interested in playing competitive games and agreed to a set of rules. These rules were set by a committee or a club to bring order to the sport. In 1821, New York voted to legalize horseracing making it much easier to push sport toward modernity. William T. Porter played a humongous role in organizing horseracing. In 1831, Porter published Spirit of Times where he reported on many sporting activities. Porter showcased odds for the viewers, encouraged bets for those interested, and set standardized rules for more order. These guidelines preserved the future of horseracing. About 56 horseracing events occurred in one year and the number tripled into the next year.
Horseracing became harness racing and it engendered widespread public interest. The owners of county fairs incorporated harness racing to their shows and many clubs opened because of the racing of horses. In 1842 the first Jockey Club in New York was created which dramatically increased the organization of the sport. Betters were in and out of the club and a large network of individuals interested in harness racing emerged. Porter loved order in the sport of harness racing claiming, gentlemen of standing, wealth, and intelligence were the true leaders of the sport and the lower-class ruffians and neer-do-wells, should not be. That is near the current circumstances of country clubs with horse racing and even golf. The rich play and own the place; the others almost have no place.
