The Age of Sports Heroes

Sports Heroes from the 1920s  George Herman “Babe” Ruth- Baseball  William Harrison “Jack” Dempsey- Boxing  Harold “Red” Grange- Football  Robert T. “Bobby” Jones- Golf  William T. “Big Bill” Tilden- Tennis  Suzanne Lenglen- Tennis  Helen Willis- Tennis  Gertrude Ederle- Swimming

Why sports idols?  Promoters made these athletes seem bigger than what they actually were.  Announcers and journalists also created images of athletes which often overshadowed the athlete’s actual achievements.

 However, for the most part the American public was at the focal point for why sports idols came about.  No longer were the heroes lone businessmen or statesmen, but the “stars” of movies, television and sports.

 Determining the level of success of a doctor, lawyer, or business manager might be difficult, but achievement in the world of sport was unambiguous.  It could be measured in home runs, knockouts, touchdowns, victories and even in salaries.

 Due to this, it stands to reason that boys dreamed of becoming athletic heroes rather than captains of industry, and girls dreamed of Hollywood stardom rather than the hearth.

 During the Great Depression, the age of athletic heroes seemed to be over.  “After 1930 our stream of super-champions ran dry, replaced by a turgid brook,” wrote John R. Tunis in “The champions were now just ordinary mortals, good players but nothing more.” But once prosperity returned with World War II, Americans again found a set of peerless heroes in sports.