Your sport sucks, track is better 

Forgive the inflammatory title, but what’s a more fun way to end the semester than with something a little bit controversial? I know this may seem like a bit of a crazy take, especially when it is being published at a university known for its basketball, but I will not be deterred. If I take a shot at you or your sport in this article, well, I’m not sorry. As someone who has played many sports through the years and likes to overanalyze things, I am here to tell you why your sport sucks and why track and field is the superior form of competition.  

Track and field is the purest sport in existence, it is literally the answer to the earliest question surrounding any physical competition that has pitted people against each other. Who is the fastest? Who is the strongest? In any given event there are no rests, there are no timeouts and there are no teammates who can do it for you, it is simply the competitor demonstrating 100% of their drive and pushing their body to its absolute limit. In stripping away all the confounding variables found in other sports we find a better form of athletics that better tests the nature of a competitor’s spirit.  

The accessibility of track is also to its benefit, especially from a cultural standpoint. What do you really need to be a competitive track athlete? Effectively nothing. I went to a high school with a pretty good track team and we never had a track. Now the benefit from this is that you get away from the certain types of sports that require either very costly equipment, training or only really exist in more affluent neighborhoods (tennis, skiing, golf, I’m looking at you). The lack of concentrated wealth in the community makes it much more diverse and much less snobby. There is also the accessibility of physicality, in the sense that no matter what type of athlete you are there is probably a place for you on a track team. If you’re big and strong, go throw a shot put. If you’re skinny and have long legs, go run a 5K. The diversity of specific strengths that exist across a track team adds to the interest and appeal of the sport for both players and spectators.  

Now I’d like to explore the nature of competition itself within track as compared to other sports. In football or basketball, for example, competition is primarily through your opponents. This is where we get a little abstract, but in sports like that, there exists a certain dominance-based culture. Instead of just focusing on performing personally at the highest level, the focus is also on putting down the opponent, and defeating them is a goal. This is the root of showboating (and to some degree dirty play) which is often idolized in ego-centric sports, and when taken too far can degrade the quality of competition. This is not to say that track competition does not exist, it absolutely exists, but it is combined with a more positive goal of self-actualization in the form of new personal records. In this sense, it is not over or through the competitor, but rather with, which is a very important distinction. This increases the sense of overall collegiality within the sport and promotes support for others when trying to improve on their own best.  

There is also significant interplay between dominance-based sports cultures and the levels of masculinity or “bro culture” valued as inherent determinants of success within them. In certain sports the traits associated with proficiency and masculinity often overlap, leading to the entire culture surrounding those sports being overtaken by a hypermasculine view. The most extreme example of this is combat sports, but to a lesser extent, this also exists in sports like hockey, football or basketball. As most sports have historically been made chiefly in the space of men this problem has developed, and it remains as most sports have stayed separated by gender. This is not the case for track, as teams have successfully integrated both genders into practicing and competing together. This normalization has greatly decreased the bro culture aspect and made track a much better community than other sports can claim.  

Now I do have to address some important points I can see coming. In terms of popularity or spectator interest, the argument that track does not match up to other sports is completely invalid. First off, if you make that point and choose any other sport than soccer or cricket it’s invalid because it’s hypocritical. Secondly, at the end of the day the interest in a sport is a matter of socialization and cultural significance. This is a matter irrelevant to the discussion of the best sport.  

The sport itself and the culture surrounding the sport is simply better. If you disagree, you’re wrong. Anyways, see you next semester and keep reading The Daily Campus!