Long before sports stars came into the picture, games has always been a competition of physical prowess, of who runs the fastest or who endures the longest. It has always been a rivalry between two challenging contenders. True, that still remains to this day. But with the onset of players who not only possess the talent to win but also the charm to captivate the audience, they have come to redefine the court.

Before, it's only the players and the umpire that count in the game. Now, the spectators can contribute to the tension of the game. A basketball game can attest the difference to a home court audience from the crowd of whom they are invited to play against. A player of a hosting nation is aware of this.

The chance of winning increases with the augmentation of hope for victory from the audience. This may not hold true to every game but players very well know that their audiences count. A moral support as others would call it can help a lot.

It may not be perceived that before the game has even started, a battle has already begun. A psychological clash of their esteem starts even when they get to step on the court. The reputation that comes along with your opponent can intimidate you as much as losing the game before it has even commenced in the real court. This multiplies the effort of the challenger to win twice: the game and the reputation of the player or the team. Players have nothing to do with the atmosphere of the competition. It is the audience who somehow sets the tone of the game. But it is the player who decides how the audience would be as he or she builds up his or her career.

Unfair though it may seem, but sports these days have come to be an entertainment. Athletes have become more famous than our actors and actresses. Players have become more effective product endorsers than entertainers and even wealthier at that.

Entertainers have come to hate them but our players have never compromised their game, otherwise they cease to be a star. The beauty of being a player and a star is that you have the game to back you up. They say when you are good, you really are good and nothing can take that away from you. But all the glory ends the same. When sports stars become more famous than actors, then he carries twice the load.