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sporting and fitness programs in an effort to demonstrate superiority. During this long- simmering conflict, the Olympics evolved into more than just a venue for individual excellence; they became a referendum on cultural supremacy. Watching the rise of Soviet athletes, leaders at home rushed to create programs that prioritized physical fitness. “Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body,” President John F. Kennedy told the nation. “It is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.”The trajectory of fitness culture has continually trended upward since JFK uttered those words. A Vox article, wonderfully titled “When Running for Exercise Was for Weirdos,” notes the existence of a 1968 Chicago Tribune piece detailing a new phenomenon: jogging. Seeing runners dot the roads is a regular occurrence for most of us, but it used to be reserved for boxers and other professional athletes. There EDUCATING THE PUBLIC
are even stories of regular folks being tailed by the cops simply because they went for a run.
‘80s progressed, America’s appetite for exercise grew to epic proportions. You couldn’t turn on the TV without seeing an ad for a program designed to make you look and feel great.
As Americans grew more interested in fitness, they sought out ways to effectively work out. Before the internet, that meant scouring libraries for books and relying on word of mouth. The science itself was also in its infancy. Nobody had studied different exercise types or how much exercise we needed. Unsurprisingly, an approach that favored heavyweights and big muscles was one of the first trends to emerge. Released in 1977, the documentary “Pumping Iron” explored the world of bodybuilding and introduced Americans to a muscle-bound Austrian named Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not long after its debut, an increasing number of people — usually young men — began showing up to places like Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach looking to get jacked. Five years later, Jane Fonda released the first of her many aerobics videos, providing fitness instruction to a much wider audience. As the
EXERCISE SCIENCE GROWS UP
As getting fit became a bigger concern for the general population, figuring out how to get fit became a preoccupation in academia. In 2016, more than 25,000 undergraduates received a degree in kinesiology, aka exercise science. These folks and their professors research the safest and most effective ways to approach fitness. The days of Hulk Hogan appearing as a beacon of wellness and telling us to “say our prayers and eat our vitamins” have long since passed. For many, the gym is their “third place,” the spot where they are most likely to be aside from home and work. That’s easy to take for granted in 2019, but it’s important to remember that exercise in America, like America itself, didn’t come from nowhere.
ON THE TRAIL OF THE MADDEN CURSE Truth, Lies, and Superstition
There is no urban legend in the world of modern video games as well-documented as the so-called “Madden Curse.”The curse revolves around the highly sought-after cover spot of the popular NFL video game “Madden NFL,” formerly known as “John Madden Football.”While the games date back to 1988, the curse is said to originate with the 1999 version. Garrison Hearst, a popular running back at the time, broke his ankle shortly after being featured on the cover of the 1999 edition. This was the first in a long line of injuries and personal issues that resulted in the rumor gaining traction. Soon, the idea that the game’s seemingly innocent cover could have devastating effects on a player’s career was widespread. Once a substantial honor in
the world of football, the Madden cover spot has become one of the sport’s most feared superstitions for fans. The players, however, seem to find the correlation more amusing than scary. Most of the athletes in contention for the spot still consider it to be a great honor, choosing to brush off the rumors as coincidence. Despite the ambivalence of many players, there does seem to be a correlation between the cover and player issues. Of the 22 players who have been featured on the cover, 16 of them have suffered from significant issues in the season that followed. While the causes varied, with severe injuries, contract disputes, and personal issues all afflicting different players,
something about the spotlight appears to have disturbed the powers that be. In fact, sometimes these issues occur shortly after the game is released in stores. Whatever the true cause, the curse seems to have taken a dip in recent years. Only one of the last five players has been affected, a stat that bodes well for this year’s star: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The real answer probably lies somewhere between fact and fiction. The increased pressure of national attention is bound to make players tense up every once in a while, and in a game as physical as football, any distraction can end in disaster.
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