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Jacksonville, Florida Some visuals in sports are forever etched in our memory banks. Generations will pass, yet no delete button can erase them. Jesse Owens breaking the tape in front of a disgruntled Hitler. Bobby Thomson's shot heard "round the world." Joe Montana to Dwight Clark. Hank Aaron circling the bases tailed by two young fans after home run No. 715. Tiger Woods' final putt to wrap up his first Masters victory. A jump shot leaving Michael Jordan's hand that won his last NBA title. These images remind us why we invest time to watch sports in the first place. Fans want to be entertained, riveted, allured, and moved. Preferably, all in one amazing sequence. For Americans, that package is most beautiful when wrapped in red, white and blue. You can question whether patriotism in this country is as strong as in your grandfather's time, but there's no denying that we still crave sports heroes who are made in the USA. Just consider what now holds our attention in sports' changing landscape. Football has long supplanted baseball as our national pastime, as least for television. The NFL is America's ratings monster, devouring all competition in its path from September through beyond the holidays.  Interest in hockey reached record highs in the U.S. following the "Miracle on Ice" Gold Medal victory at Lake Placid in 1980. Television viewership for the Super Bowl hovers around 90 million, which is now more than the total eyeballs watching five World Series games or, in some instances, an entire NBA Finals series in the post-Jordan era. Why is football the undisputed king? The game's violent nature, NFL marketing and John Madden's video games reeling in young audiences are notable factors. Here's another reason for its popularity that is seldom mentioned: Football is as American as John Wayne, apple pie and reality TV. Virtually every NFL player is American-born and raised in a college football system that has been heavily marketed to U.S. audiences on fall Saturdays. The Peyton Mannings and Reggie Bushes enter the pro ranks with more exposure than a Pam Anderson video. The only other major sport as USA-made as football is NASCAR, and look at the inroads that a once for-Southern-eyes-only entity has made with the American public. The popularity of Nextel Cup racing, especially as it pertains to television sets tuning in, has exploded in the last decade. It's no secret that Major League Baseball and the NBA are far more dependent on foreign players. Those sports are flourishing internationally in places like Latin America, Europe, Japan and China. But nothing makes Americans embrace sports more than our own Yankees, and not just Derek Jeter, soaring to the top. Are tennis' TV ratings spiking now? Certainly not as much as when sisters Venus and Serena Williams ruled the courts. With forceful personalities Jimbo or Johnny Mac gone, and Andre Agassi soon fading away, prospects aren't good for them to trend upwards. No matter how splendid the artistry of Switzerland's Roger Federer or Spain's Rafael Nadal, tennis will continue to spiral downward within our borders until Americans reclaim the throne. That's not going to happen when a Wimbledon passes by without one Yank in either the men's or women's quarterfinals.
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Newswire 
