Baseball may be America's pastime, but football has become America's sport.
It is the most popular sport in the country and continues to grow each year. The NFL dominates Sunday television like no other event. It is one of the few sports where a mass majority of the fans are willing to watch any game, not just the game involving their favorite team.
The rules have changed over the years, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. However, football has never lost that magic that has made it the king of sports in the United States.
Why is football so great?
Here are five simple reasons.
Amazing Athletes
The NFL is home to some of the best athletes in the world.
What is even more amazing is that their skill sets vary so much from player to player and position to position.
You have wide receivers that can run 40 yards in a little over four seconds, and then you have linemen that can bench 250 pounds 30-plus times. You have quarterbacks that can sling a football 70 or 80 yards down the field right into the hands of a waiting receiver, and running backs that can carry defenders on their back as if they were small children. There are linebackers that can hit you hard enough to rattle your insides around, and kickers that can boot a ball through two posts from 50-plus yards away on a windy day.
The magic is that all of these athletes are on the same field at the same time.
At any point during a football game, you could see an athletic feat that you never expected. Who would have ever thought they'd see a wide receiver front flip over a defender into the end zone?
Other sports have great athletes as well, but none of them can match the variety that football brings to the table.
This is now set to be reviewed and ratified by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board and be voted on during the 141st IOC Session, set to begin in Mumbai in India on Sunday (October 15).
"In building the Olympic sport programme, we were willing to challenge the status quo and think differently about what’s possible for the Games in Los Angeles," Los Angeles 2028 chief executive Kathy Carter said.
"We approached the process holistically and authentically, ensuring that our decisions were grounded in the Games’ commitment to fiscal responsibility.
"We’ve landed on a bold and balanced proposal that will energise the Games with culturally relevant competition and boundless possibility."
Cricket, which has been proposed to be contested in the Twenty20 format, has only previously featured in the Olympics at Paris in 1900.
ICC chairman Greg Barclay said: "We are delighted that LA28 have recommended cricket for inclusion.
Lacrosse has officially been contested at two Olympics, at St Louis 1904 and London 1908, and subsequently featured as a demonstration sport at Amsterdam 1928, Los Angeles 1932 and London 1948, respectively.
For Los Angeles 2028 its sixes format has been proposed.
"We are absolutely thrilled and honoured by LA28’s decision to propose lacrosse for inclusion in the 2028 Olympic Games," World Lacrosse said in a statement.
We are one huge step closer to a monumental milestone for our sport and international community.
"Lacrosse is globally played, accessible and equitable, with a unique origin and modern, youthful relevancy. We are on a path of ascendency, and will be a great partner for LA28 and the IOC.
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