While I now agree with C.L.R. James’s opinion that sport can reflect and impact society, I did not always think this way. James reflects on the role of sport within the Ancient Greek and later 19th Century British societies. Those cultures, however, bear no significance to me. Instead, it is through more recent events in sports that I dispel this notion of an imaginary line separating politics and society from sport. These more recent events include 9/11, the War in Iraq, and Hurricane Katrina. With the attack of 9/11, I think many Americans saw our way of life being threatened. One way of dispelling that notion was through the continuation of baseball, America’s pastime. With the War in Iraq, I think of Pat Tillman and how he gave up playing football with the Arizona Cardinals to serve in Iraq, where he unfortunately died. He is a testament of how war affects everyone, and how the men and women serving in the armed forces make significant sacrifices for others. With Hurricane Katrina, I think of the joy that the New Orleans Saints brought to the city with their run at possibly winning a championship after being a bad team for so long. I know that when my sports team wins I feel good, and I can only hope that seeing the Saints win brought at least some moments of joy to the lives of people who must be miserable after Hurricane Katrina. I question whether any of the connections I just made will be mentioned in history books that reflect on 9/11, the War in Iraq, and Hurricane Katrina. I doubt it.
2 comments:
I also felt the impact of the Saints playing in the Championships - their last game, unfortunately.
But then there's the story of the Chicago coach Lovie Smith, one of the lowest paid coaches in the league and the first African-American head coach in a superbowl.
CLR James thought that there were great athletes that summed up a whole era - his example was a famous Victorian cricketer, WB Grace - and the person who comes to mind for me is Muhummad Ali, as symbol of the 60s & 70s, but even that's a bit before your time!
This may sound odd, but I wonder whether the icon of our age that will not be in the history books is the sports shoe: the sneaker is a symbol of America and coveted worldwide, as well has being connected to dubious "globalising" trends (ie sweatshops)...
Sports are an intergral part of society. I believe that they are important because they give an escape from reality even if only for 2-3 hours at a time. The recidence of New Orlenes were able to escape from their troubles and watch their team win and that is an important thing.
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