As an athlete and sports enthusiast, it is natural for me to think about change and innovations that have taken place in the world of athletics. If there is one constant that has remained in our society, I believe it lies in sports. Since the days of the first Olympics in ancient Greece, sports of all types have evolved, changed, been invented, and revolutionized the way we live our lives. But as technology advances and athletes push themselves and their bodies to the limit, is there a point where our society goes too far? With the conclusion of the 2010 Winter Games, we have all witnessed the world's best athletes competing harder, faster, and higher than we have ever seen before. Will there or should there be a limit to innovations made in the athletic world?

Change is an inevitable constant in sports just as it is in our daily lives. Rules, regulations, players, coaches, the game itself; they all change. Some are for the best and others aren't. Take the recent changes made to the rules of volleyball for example. It is now legal for a player to touch the net or cross the center line during play as long as it doesn't interfere or give an advantage to said player. The rule change that allowed for overhand passing on all first balls and serves also changed the nature of the game to make it improved, innovation, faster. However, in my personal opinion, I think those changes take away the finesse factor of volleyball.

Other examples that spring to mind are those that are both physical yet foreseeable. Look at the size of football players in the NFL today. Compare a defensive lineman to their counterpart twenty years ago, and it is amazing to see how much bigger, stronger, taller, just physically superior today's athletes are. Thanks to innovations in technology, weight training, even diet and nutrition, changes in the physique of today's top athletes are staggering. Certainly these changes are to be expected, and most stand to improve players and the sport itself. But when does becoming the best hinder the sports we love so much? Take the impact pharmaceutical and nutritional advances has had on Baseball over the past decade alone. A different player admitting to using steroids or performance enhancing drugs seems to be in the news every other day (Mr. Bonds, your thoughts?). The steroid-scandal shadow continues to hang over professional baseball yet it is becoming apparent that change takes a trickle-down effect. Change doesn't occur only at the professional level, but at college, amateur, and high school athletics too. As more reports show up in the news regarding steroid use on the rise among you males who play football, wrestle, or maybe not even a sport at all, it is obvious that change that may have once been confined to particular sports ultimately begins a societal, even cultural change as well.

I came across two different articles regarding change and innovation in sports:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2004-08-27-10-things-to-change_x.htm

The link posted above is an article I came across in the USA Today that discusses the unique ability sports has to effect us on a much bigger scale than simply entertainment. Author, Erik Brady brings up several interesting points about how changes made in the athletic arena are often times a precursor to societal or cultural change that is about to take place.

The link posted below offers an insight into innovations made in sports technology; specifically the flex-foot prosthetic limb and the Speedo LZR racer swimsuits.

http://www.america.gov/st/scitech-english/2008/May/20080515113855zjsredna0.712002.html

Both bring up interesting arguments about the role innovation plays in this sports obsessed world we live in.