Sports are a huge part of American culture but the same can be said about Mexican culture. These sports have helped with the formation of the country and the culture. They have changed from playing with a huge rubber ball to being played with many different shapes and sizes of balls, and sometimes none at all.
The oldest sport played in Mexico is thought to be called “mesoamerican ballgame”. This ball game was played in many places of Central America in the precolonial ages. This game was so long ago that the rules are not totally known but the people that study it say that it was close to racquetball. “The ball was solid rubber and HEAVY, ad archeologists believe that players used their hips to keep it in the air” (Carey 2018). There has been sight evidence that has been found that
...suggests that this mesoamerican ballgame was also used in ritual sacrifice, meaning the losers never had a change at a rematch. This game became popular throughout almost all mesoamerican cultures. Personally I have never played racquetball but I know that it is still a well loved game in America.
The next sport that has helped formed Mexico is the sport of bullfighting. Bullfighting is outlawed in most of the world except for 8 countries, including Mexico, because it can be seen as animal cruelty. The sport was brought to Mexico by the Spanish conquistadors more than 500 years ago. “Mexico has the most important bullfighting events and torerors (bullfighters) in the world”. (Carey 2018). The sport takes places in 3 rounds and each round is more intense than the last. I have never watche
bull fighting but I do know it is not pretty. It ends when the torero stabs the bull between the shoulder blades and kills it. This sport is widely disagreed upon between people making it a controversial topic.
The most popular sport in Mexico is soccer. It is the favorite sport to watch and to play. This sport of soccer was brought into Mexico by the British people. The British founded a club called the Orizaba Athletic Club in 1898. The main sport was cricket but they began a soccer team about 3 years later. A year after this the national soccer competition was held. This sport is played all around the world but is “Particularly popular in the central and northern parts of the country with the teams from Mexico City, Guadalajara, Pachuca, and Monterrey are some of the most famous” (Cray 2018). I have not noticed Elizabeth say much about soccer in the book but I am sure that it was very popular for her which must have been a change from American football. I am curious if sports were a big part of Elizabeth’s family life in Mexico. I have noticed that soccer is not as popular in America as football is but I do notice that it is still very popular just more popular for Mexico.
Another popular sport in Mexico is baseball. The popularity is growing faster and faster. Many players from Mexico and many areas of Latin America have gone to play for the MLB. The sport of baseball is more popular in Cuba and Latin America than it is in Mexico but it is still very popular. Mexico has 2
leagues of baseball, the northern and the southern league. The have a schedule that is quite similar to the one that is in the United States MLB. “Mexican baseball is slightly more popular on the border with the United States and in the country’s port cities because it was brought to those areas of the country first by US soldiers stationed in Mexico” (Carey 2018). Because baseball is not as popular as soccer, it is not enough of a money making sport to bring it lots of cash flow and revenue so the baseball stadiums are not that nice and are medium sized, also not all of them are broadcasted on television. I always grew up watching a lot of baseball. I did not know that this sport was not always popular in Mexico but I am happy to hear that it is growing in popularity compared to what it used to be. I think it is so fascinating that a sport from the United States was brought to another country for them to play.
The last sport I am going to talk about is boxing. “While most people would assume soccer is Mexico’s biggest sport, they might be surprised to learn that boxing has gained the country the most achievements on the world stage” (Carey 2018). Mexico has 204 world champions which is more than any single country. In the 19th century when boxing was a sport for the amateurs it was called “a game for children”. It was thought to only be for thieves and drunk people because in Tampico sailors used to fight each other for drinking money, using napkins around the hands
instead of using the gloves that are now used today. In the 1930’s boxing had had its first Golden Age in Mexico and made its way to the United States through immigrants who left Mexico. “Fourteen Mexican boxers have been inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame and there are 12 medal-winning OLympic fighters in the history of the sport in Mexico” (Carey 2018). I am not a big boxing fan but I do know that it has become very popular throughout the ages and is not just a sport for the thieves and the drunks. I think it is very cool that it was brought to the US by Mexico.
I consider sports a big part of my life. I grew up playing many different sports and continued to do that throughout high school. I also consider sports a big part of my life because it has led me to be introduced to many of the friends that I have and they would not have been made if I did not play sports. I think that sports can bring people closer to becoming friends as well as families closer because they can all watch big games together on television or play them with each other creating family bonding. No matter what the culture or country is sports are very important in life.
The most popular sports in Mexico are not the same as they are in the United States but was really fascinated me was that we have some of the same sports are they do. For example baseball and boxing. We brought baseball to the Mexican culture and the Mexican culture brought boxing to us.
It is awesome to know that sports are very important here and that they have changed from what they used to be.
