Sports Heros
Babe Ruth is one of the greatest sports heros of all time
Hollywood’s
chief rivals for the creation of heroes were the national’s
baseball parks,
football fields, and the boxing rings. Before the 1920’s
there were relatively
few nationally famous athletes but this changed in
the 1920’s which is often
called the Golden Age of Sports. Thanks to
increased newspaper readership and
the rise of radio coverage, every major
sport boasted nationally famous
performers. The leading sport hero at the
time was Babe Ruth, also known as
Bambino and the Sultan of Swat. He was the home run king, helping the sport win
back its fans. Other famous sports
heroes included Red Grange in football, Jack
Dempsey in boxing, Bobby Jones in golf, and Bob Tilden of tennis. Women athletes
also started to gain some
fame like, tennis player Helen Wills and Gertrude
Ederle, the first woman
to swim the English Channel.
There
were two reasons that athletes at this time gained so much
popularity, one
reason was because of sports writers. These writers had the
ability to make the
finest athletes into seemingly immortal gods. The
second reason that athletes
gained so much popularity was because this
decade needed more heroes. World War
I had affected the lives of many
Americans and made them believe that the world
is cheap and flawed.
Athletic heroes brought up the morale of these people
making them think
that they were capable of great feats and lofty
dreams.
American heroes
Charles Lindbergh was only 25 years
old when he flew over the atlantic ocean
One of the biggest
example of American
Heroes at this time were pilots. Americans
still marveled at
the sight of
airplanes which made the pilot the
perfect hero. Charles Lindbergh outdid
all other pilots. On May 1927,
he took off from Long Island heading to
Paris and a small one engine
plane call “The spirit of St. Louis.” He was the
first pilot to successfully fly over the Atlantic Ocean without any stops
and by himself. It took more that than 33 hours and he stayed awake the
whole time. When he landed in Paris, he became an instant celebrity and
became the greatest hero of his time.
example of American
Heroes at this time were pilots. Americans
still marveled at
the sight of
airplanes which made the pilot the
perfect hero. Charles Lindbergh outdid
all other pilots. On May 1927,
he took off from Long Island heading to
Paris and a small one engine
plane call “The spirit of St. Louis.” He was the
first pilot to successfully fly over the Atlantic Ocean without any stops
and by himself. It took more that than 33 hours and he stayed awake the
whole time. When he landed in Paris, he became an instant celebrity and
became the greatest hero of his time.