Sports in the 1940s - Essay Example

Sports in the 1940s Sports in the 1940s The events of the Second World War influenced many people to involve in sporting activities. The major sporting activities in the 1940s were boxing, baseball, basketball, and football. These sporting activities were famous and people flocked in stadiums as well as other sporting arenas to cheer up and watch their favorite teams playing. Participating and watching sports played a vital role of helping people to overcome that harsh reality they faced during the 1940s World War II (Lindop & Goldstein, 2010).

People were able to overcome these challenges after a while as they cheered their teams as well as celebrating with other fans that were also in a similar condition. This paper discusses sports in the 1940s in regard to the life and career of one of the black athletes of that era, Joe Louis. In the 1940s, boxing was as big as other sporting activities like baseball. Due to the advancement of television technology, a huge number of fans were able to watch boxing/fights at their homes. Joe Louis was among the famous and boxing legends that started their boxing career during this decade.

Just like the other players, boxing players were not over drafted including Jack, Louis, and Montgomery (Lindop & Goldstein, 2010). Louis held the boxing title since the year 1937 to 1949 before he was knocked by Robinson. Joe Louis retrieved from: http://content.answcdn.com/main/content/img/BritannicaConcise/images/2196.jpg Born in the year 1914 in Alabama, Joe Louis succeeded to become one of the heavyweight boxers in the world. Due to the poor financial status of his family, Joe Louis was less educated and involved himself with old jobs to help his parents and siblings.

Afterwards, Louis gained interest towards cabinet making career. He temporarily attended Bronson Vocational School and during off-times, he could join violin lessons. Later on, a friend of Joe Louis suggested that he should try boxing. Joe Louis did not become an immediate success and he was defeated continuously in his first fights due to his lightweight (Freedman, 2013). In the year 1934, Louis won the national AAUL (Amateur Athletic Union light-heavyweight) title and terminated his amateur career astonishing fort three knockouts in fifty four matches.

During his career, Louis defeated six subsequent or previous heavyweight champions: Max Baer, Primo Carnera, James J. Braddock, Jack Sharkey, Kersey Joe Walcott, and Max Schmeling. Louis who was nicknamed Brown Bomber achieved the world’s heavyweight champion by knocking down Braddock in the year 1937 and held this title until the year 1949. When the United States began its war with German in the year 1941, Joe Louis was among the army listed members (Freedman, 2013). During this time, he was serving in a similar segregate with Jackie Robison.

During the U.S-German war, Joe Louis participated in 96 exhibition matches prior to approximately two million troops. Joe Louis also donated an approximately $100,000 to the United States Army and Navy relief efforts. To sum up, Joe Louis and the other famous athletes were important role models in America in the 1940s. This is because apart from participating in sporting activities, they also played vital roles in the country’s Army and Navy (Lindop & Goldstein, 2010). Most of the boxers such as Joe Louis could also involve in the nation’s Navy and Army during wars.

For instance, when the United States began its war with German in the year 1941, Joe Louis was among the army listed members. The 1940s sporting activities were also essential because people could flock stadiums not only to watch the matches but also to release the harsh of the Second World War. ReferenceFreedman, L. (2013). Joe Louis: The Life of a Heavyweight. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.Lindop, E., & Goldstein, M. J. (2010). America in the 1940s. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books.