Popular Sports In The 1920s

As Industrialization kept on progressing and going further and further, it allowed people to have more leisure time to do recreational activities. And none of these activities was done more often than sports. From baseball to football, table tennis to polo and everything in between, sports saw a rise in popularity during this time. During the 1920s, there were many popular sports that people participated in. The most popular was America’s pastime, baseball. First played in America in the 1850s, the first professional league started in 1867, which was the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) followed in 1901. In 1903, they decided to cooperate but still remain separate. (www.baseball-reference.com) Baseball’s early days were known

College football saw an increase in the number of men that went out and saw in increase in the want of people to watch the game so something had to be done. The solution was to build grand football stadiums that could trump any baseball ballpark attendance. Michigan’s Big House, when it was first built in 1927, could seat 72,000 and Ohio States Horseshoe stadium, was the largest poured concrete structure and could seat over 65,000 when it was first built in 1922. (www.retrowaste.com) Some of football’s early greats were Harold “Red” Grange, George Halas, Earl “Curly” Lambeau, and Guy Chamberlin. (www.profootballhof.com) They helped bring football into the spotlight and had some of the best careers that the NFL has ever

The 1920 games were the VII Olympiad and had 29 countries compete in many different sports. Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire were not invited since they lost World War I. There were no new sports, but since these games predated the Winter Olympic, there were 10 winter sports that countries competed in as well. The United States won these games with total number of 95 medals which included 41 gold and 27 silver and bronze medals. Then, in 1924, France hosted the VIII Olympiad in Paris and saw 44 countries and nations compete. Germany was still absent from these games, but China, Ecuador, Haiti, Ireland, Lithuania, and Uruguay attended for the first time and the Philippines competed for the first time. The United States won with total of 99 medals, including 45 gold and 27 silver and bronze. In 1928, the Netherlands hosted the IX Olympiad in Amsterdam and saw 46 countries compete. Zimbabwe, Malta and Panama competed for the first time while Germany was able to compete for the first time since 1912. The United States won with a total of 56 medals, which included 22 gold, 18 silver, and 16 bronze. (www.wikipedia.com) Some of the most famous Olympians during this time were Johnny Weissmuller, Dorothy Poynton-Hill, Ethelda Bleibtrey, and Jack Kelly Sr. (www.bleacherreport.com) There were