Sports in the 1990s: Age of Technology, Greed and Perseverance and Sports Lighting Decoration

The 1990s was the decade of technology. The world of sports and its stars came to everyone’s home instantly and sports fans didn’t have to wait until the morning paper to see the results before or to read about their favorite sporting event, team or player. With the click of a mouse and high-speed technology, sports news reached fans’ homes almost as quickly as it happened. Fans lit up their homes with sports-themed lighting décor. In addition, television reached Americans 24 hours a day, seven days a week with the start and growth of cable television and 24-hour news, sports, and entertainment channels. American also enjoyed a decade of relative peace and prosperity as the economy soared on the heels of dot-com and tech-related companies. However, this created some challenges in the sports world.

With this economic stimulus, athletes began to want more. They were able to move more freely between teams that would pay them more money and the success of a team was often judged by how much money the owners spent to get the best players than by the player himself. The fans began to support the uniform instead of the athletes themselves, as the athletes changed teams in the blink of an eye.

Michael Jordan became one of the richest athletes with his sponsorships and sneakers. This caused even high school and freshman college athletes to want to get in on the act of making money. More kids than ever dropped out of school early to play professional sports. And, for the first time ever, the World Series was canceled due to argument over how to spend the billions of dollars that sports owners were amassing for themselves.

The scandal also hit athletes and Americans alike. The decade saw former football running back, OJ Simpson, on the run from the law and former boxer, Michael Tyson, raging inside a jail cell. He saw President Clinton fight Monica Lewinsky. This brought to light the racial problems that still persist in the world of sports. The buzz over Tiger Woods in the golf world reminded us how golf was primarily a game played by white men. But on the other hand, Americans of all colors celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of baseball’s great Jackie Robinson. Additionally, women began to prove themselves in sports with Olympic medals in softball, soccer, and volleyball and the United States Women’s Soccer Team 2 World Cup Championships, one even on American soil.

And, as Americans began to look to the next century and the challenges that might lie ahead, they, as they always have, turned to sports and athletes for inspiration and courage. They found this in cyclist great Lance Armstrong, who won the grueling Tour de France after surviving cancer and when one-handed baseball pitcher Jim Abbott threw a no-hitter in baseball.

Show your passion for sports by displaying sports memorabilia in your home. You can also add sports lamps and accessories to provide that illuminating light while showing your team spirit and loyalty.

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