About sports

Julia 01/10

Around high school, I started a period of really hating professional sports. I thought the athletes were overpaid and the industry in general completely was unethical (as much of the entertainment industry is, in all honesty). It irritated me when people announced their sports allegiances in class or tried to use a game as a current event in AP US History. Looking back, I think this was in part because disliking athletics is a major part of your indie/alternative street cred. Sports are mainstream and therefore lame -- just another mind-numbing drug for the uneducated masses.

Okay, some of that is actually true, indie street cred or no. In the past few years, however, I've come to realize that sports do play an important role in our culture and -- gasp -- can actually be entertaining. For instance, I've always enjoyed watching the summer and winter olympic games. Should we raise some eyebrows about the inflated medal counts? Of course! But that doesn't decrease the pride of a community in sending a son or daughter off to the games, regardless of their country of origin. I think the honor is what gets lost in American sports, actually, and that honor is what appeals to me most. You can see in when you watch the smaller contingencies of athletes walk into the stadiums. The look on their faces is unmistakable: whatever the outcome, they are thrilled to be there. And you know there are folks back home who are even more thrilled.

And I don't even need to knock Americans, because we care about our athletes more than we should. But we care about all of our celebrities too much, so why should I criticize only the sports industry for this? The answer: I probably shouldn't. The last few years, I've started hanging out with my brother while he watches football games (by the way: GO RAVENS!). And they can be genuinely entertaining, in part because I'm watching them with my family. We have our teams and we scream at the television and that all can be fun.

So why do the academic and cultural elites often reject athletics as a viable form of culture? Certainly some of their complaints are legitimate, but is there something else there?

Kelly 01/11
Took me a while to digest this one. Primarily because I am one of those people that does not actually attach that much emotion to sports. In fact most of the time I would say that I don't care for sports. But then again, as you point out there is something fun about watching the olympics. And the pride and honor factor there makes it all the more satisfying to watch. However, over all I don't care for sports and god help you if you are trying to get me to play them. (My reaction is generally "You want me to chase after that little ball?..... and possibly hurt myself doing it?.....why?.... think I'll pass")

Now I have a few theories about why so called "intellectuals" reject sports as a form of culture. The first is due to what you have already mentioned. We pay WAY too much attention to our athletes. I mean if half the fun of sports is thinking about honor, then that aspect is kind of crushed when you know that the sports star you are so in love with is cheating on his wife, running illegal dog fights, or cheating with illegal steroids. All of that cheapens the victory of that person and in a way the team (if they have one). You become so interested in what that one individual is doing that the team gets caught up in the scandal. When these types of stories break it is not "just about the game" any more. How can you root for someone that you know is an awful person? So if you take all of the gossip into account, sports is no longer a noble pursuit.

My second theory about why sports are rejected is due to something other things that are considered "culturally relevant" have in common. They leave something timeless behind. Paintings, poems, music, theories, philosophies. All of these were left behind by some form of activity that is usually considered to have some higher cultural merit. That and the triumphs of the future do not decry the trumps of the past. Is a Monet painting any less beautiful simply because someone now can build this same masterpiece in a 3d environment? Most would say no. However, when a record is broken it's done. The person that broke the record is now on top while the first person to do it is now a historical foot note. And this cycle not only continues but it strived for. People that play sports want to be the new person on top. Now while I sound like I am decrying this, I'm not really. I understand that sports is about pushing yourself and going beyond what has already been done. But I think that is partly why people see it as incopral and fleeting.

There are other pet theories I have about why sports are ignored (blood sport nature of them, the games changing, and the simple "oh you geeks just can't play so it's us vs them" syndrome) but those are my top two. Now while I don't care about sports personally, I don't really hate those that do. It does still confuse me why people care to such great extents though. I mean it's not like you personally are achieving anything by your team winning. I guess that returns us to the honor aspect, but I still don't 100% get it. I mean as a country at the olympics? Yes I get how national honor is caught up in those particular events, but I don't feel like anything of mine is lost when my state's football team looses. And then, what about those that root for teams that are not their home state? Or those that root for a team that lives in a state they may have never even been to?

Hmm... Well looks like I can cover why people dislike sports, but not why people like them. Other side of the coin fail. xD

Julia 01/17

I thought I had mused all I was going to muse on this topic, but then I went to DC Roller Derby yesterday and, well, suffice it to say that I've had a few more thoughts on the matter. I want to remove athletics from "sports entertainment" for a moment. True, the two are related, but they are not one and the same and I know I'm often guilty of lumping everything together.

The thing is, that an amateur golfer has very little to do with our famous adulterer. It's too easy to criticize both of them in the same breath, simply because they are both players in the same sport. And athletics do help people achieve self-actualization. The women I watched yesterday were athletes. They worked hard to be good skaters and good team members. I hear the DC League Teams practice five times a week. They have goals . . . and achieving those goals boosts their self esteem, allows them to set more goals, achieve more. And striving for those goals as a team gives them a community and a sisterhood. And it's not only a community of their team, it's a community within their city: fans, volunteers, competitors. They have the opportunity make connections with each other because of the sport they play. And hey, exercise is never a bad thing either. They were pretty buff-looking women.

I observed similar effects as a college student. One of the most unexpectedly fun things I did my senior year was attend my roommate Cheryl's fencing tournament. Fencing takes skill and precision and grace. Man, did Cheryl have those things. When she made it to the final round, she called us (we had gone to lunch) and we went running back to the gym so we could see her win the championship. And knowing how hard she had worked and how much she enjoyed it, it was truly rewarding to watch.

So good athleticism is more than just running or hitting a ball or breaking a record. Sometimes it's a lot more like art. If it isn't something that we can achieve just by being mobile, if it requires time or effort or practice, then it's more of skill than we realize. And watching people do anything with skill -- whether it's painting or sculpting or playing the guitar -- is about more than entertainment.

Again, are professional athletes overpaid? Yes! Is there something strange about only being a spectator of sports, never a participant? Yes! Do pro-athletes get away with ridiculous things because they are celebrities? Yes! But in the same way that we can't dismiss all actors because some cheat on their wives or threaten them with axes, we can't dismiss all athletes. Especially when they're volunteer athletes or student athletes. Because the energy they put into what they do isn't really that different from the energy I put into writing.

As for playing sports, I've always been into the more solitary forms of exercise (hiking, bikeriding, swimming). But I can see the appeal, I certainly can.