ABSTRACT
The chapters in Part III are about building, spreading, and disrupting sport in the golden triangle. This chapter focuses on how the golden triangle shapes and disseminates sports culture within nations and through globalization. The influence of the media will be given special attention. The role of the media will be particularly evident in the examination of how sports stars are made global celebrities and cultural icons and how they sometimes dramatically fall from their pedestals. An example of this process is the case of Oscar Pistorius, whom we considered in the last chapter. In addition, we will consider how the dominant US sports culture has changed and how sport could be interpreted as a secular religion in the United States and elsewhere. This chapter will conclude with a discussion of how the golden triangle has adapted to pressures to change by featuring new sports, including ones that emerged in alternative sports subcultures. The next chapter will focus on how social deviance and social problems can disrupt sports by threatening established cultural and social patterns in sport and society.
