What's up with the sports references?

Have you ever noticed the huge amount of sports related colloquialisms available to us in the English language? I don't speak specifically about the British, as I haven't studied that form of English much, or the Australian, or any other form but the American. In the American, however, there are any number of sports related metaphors and quick comebacks we can use for just about any situation. I noticed this first when I thought about how pervasive our national pasttime is within our langauge. But then I started to think about how many other references we have as well. Perhaps not so widely used or understood, but still there.

Here are some examples:

"That's strike three."
"You hit a home run with that one."
"The Ball's in your court."
"Nice save."
"Good call."
"You threw him a curve."
"He is going for the Hail Mary."
"Swung on and missed."

I mean, they go on and on. Do you all think this is a representation of a certain pattern or sociological sign of our culture today? Do you think that entertainment so pervades our lives now that we are reduced to describing our world through metaphors to what we understand?

Do you see this as a bad thing or a good thing?