I guess I don't see sports as always "winning" over academics around here. Sure, athletic achievements are reported and celebrated, but I don't see anyone hiding the kids who qualified for MathCounts Nationals or USAMO. Those achievements are celebrated as well.
Every week our local newspaper has a sports section with reports on the games of the boys' and girls' high school teams, with the names of top scorers highlighted. I don't see stories writing up the results of say math competitions. (Which could be interesting, at least to some. You could print an interesting problem and describe how someone solved it.) In the high school there is a large trophy case for past athletic titles. I don't see the equivalent for academic competitions. Our town has a sports hall of fame where players and teams from decades ago are inducted.
Sports are honored. Academics are not. And this is in an affluent Boston suburb where high percentages of parents have college and graduate degrees. My gripe is not that sporting achievement is honored but that academic achievement is not, at least not much.
