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So, preliminary ramble on why I take such an interest in "sports" in general. Why it's a big deal to me. Probably requires much editing. And if I were still in college, I would have used the concept for the basis of a real research paper or study. Someone in an American Studies or Kinesiology department probably has a dissertation on the subject anyway.
Those who follow my journal are quite aware that I'm a huge sports fan. Obviously, not everybody cares about sports, and many care far more about sports than they probably should. Athletes probably get paid far more than they should, and it strikes me as a bit silly that when the Redskins rehired Joe Gibbs, it got more coverage in the Washington Post than the capture of Saddam Hussein did.
“Sport” has become pervasive in American culture, and sometimes it crowds out other, worthier things. Some people see the business of sports as offensive, or object to the "jock-ocracy". But it's a part of modern life, and sometimes surprisingly relevant and valuable.
So here, I'm going to go and make a little statement about why I care about sports, and why I think some other folks care about sports as well. Why "Sports" and "Sports Coverage" has social value. I'm not going to tell folks who don't care about sports that they should, but I do hope to spread a bit of understanding so that those of you who don't care can understand why some of us do - and why sports is often so important to so many.
I'm going to go ahead and not actually define sports, athletics or competition, although I probably should. Just bear with me.
Side Note - There's not much eye candy for me in sports, but that's pretty much the only reason anyone watches Anna Kournikova play tennis.
At the purest and most basic level, I enjoy the athletic contest for the performance alone. Stronger, swifter, higher, and so on. I like the aspect of competition. As a competitor and a spectator, I like the matched tests of skill and will, the opportunity to measure my prowess against an opponent and myself. I like having a scoreboard. The sense of accomplishment that victory brings. And I like the drama of sports. Watching a game ‘unspoiled' and without foreknowledge of the outcome. It’s fun to predict and project what might happen, to study the players and the game, and theorize. But there are also great plays or horrible blunders that come out of nowhere. Dramatic comebacks, and horrifying collapses. And I like following the personalities and individual stories.
I like "the game" in and of itself, but that doesn't explain the "passion". Why I (and so many others) care so much.
Revist the reasons I care. On a broader level, these are often why we read mythology or watch television shows isn't it? Why we care. By way of example, almost everything I've ever gotten out of watching dramatic TV, I've gotten out of sports too. (except eye candy)
I could talk about Sports all day long. I generally don’t post at length about the subject in my LJ, because it’s the locus of many of my real life conversations. Seventy-five percent of my relationship with my dad comes through the locus of sports. No small percentage of my first friendships. Of the metaphor of sport and life.
Not to wax too poetic or pretentious, but as an American male, "Sports" is probably the most accessible metaphor for life there is. (Keep in mind, saying this in a bar will get you punched in the nose.) In addition for the baseline love of the game simply for what it is, I think that’s where the passion really comes from.
Note the key word above: accessible.
When I was in high school and college, I took writing classes, in which my teachers sought to instruct me in the arts of rhetoric. In knowing my audience, and tailing my writing to better communicate ideas and achieve whatever purpose I had for writing in the first place. But those were lessons I'd encountered from "The Baseball Bunch", listening to Rick Dempsey and Tommy Lasorda describe studying pitchers, hitters, and situations to know when to call for the curveball. Accessible metaphor for life.
And long before I'd thought with any serious about "heroism" or about what "love was supposed to be about" - I'd seen the 1982 NCAA championship game, with it's tale of two freshmen. Michael Jordan hitting the clutch game winning shot for UNC, which would come to define his career. But that’s not what I’ll always remember. What I remember is Georgetown Coach John Thompson holding a crying Fred Brown after his errant pass sealed his own team's defeat. I was six. And for every success or failure, in sport or in life, those scenes are somewhere in the back of my head.
Among other things, Sport has provided me a chance to meet and interact with people I never would have, and a common language I otherwise might not have. As a resident of the DC area, with all of the cultural and economic divides, being a Redskin fan conveys a certain sense of community. And while, I don't think people become fans to join fandom, I think it certainly makes the experience of being a fan much more enriching and meaningful.
And I have more examples of the above than I can list here. Can you guess that my dad was the neighborhood little league coach? But here again, the game takes on such significance for me, because my investment is about so much more than just the game.
There are any number of TV Show moments that meant for other people, what that moment meant for me. I like playing basketball. I like the feeling I get when I hit a really nice shot, or when my team has success. I like the challenge, and the exertion, and the test of will and skill. The mental and strategic exercise of breaking down the game in order to maximize success. And those moments of triumph and loss that make the games mean so much. All of that draws me in. That’s where it comes from.
More to follow, later this week, and maybe later this year. Depends how long or how often I get snowed or iced in.
Those who follow my journal are quite aware that I'm a huge sports fan. Obviously, not everybody cares about sports, and many care far more about sports than they probably should. Athletes probably get paid far more than they should, and it strikes me as a bit silly that when the Redskins rehired Joe Gibbs, it got more coverage in the Washington Post than the capture of Saddam Hussein did.
“Sport” has become pervasive in American culture, and sometimes it crowds out other, worthier things. Some people see the business of sports as offensive, or object to the "jock-ocracy". But it's a part of modern life, and sometimes surprisingly relevant and valuable.
So here, I'm going to go and make a little statement about why I care about sports, and why I think some other folks care about sports as well. Why "Sports" and "Sports Coverage" has social value. I'm not going to tell folks who don't care about sports that they should, but I do hope to spread a bit of understanding so that those of you who don't care can understand why some of us do - and why sports is often so important to so many.
I'm going to go ahead and not actually define sports, athletics or competition, although I probably should. Just bear with me.
Side Note - There's not much eye candy for me in sports, but that's pretty much the only reason anyone watches Anna Kournikova play tennis.
At the purest and most basic level, I enjoy the athletic contest for the performance alone. Stronger, swifter, higher, and so on. I like the aspect of competition. As a competitor and a spectator, I like the matched tests of skill and will, the opportunity to measure my prowess against an opponent and myself. I like having a scoreboard. The sense of accomplishment that victory brings. And I like the drama of sports. Watching a game ‘unspoiled' and without foreknowledge of the outcome. It’s fun to predict and project what might happen, to study the players and the game, and theorize. But there are also great plays or horrible blunders that come out of nowhere. Dramatic comebacks, and horrifying collapses. And I like following the personalities and individual stories.
I like "the game" in and of itself, but that doesn't explain the "passion". Why I (and so many others) care so much.
Revist the reasons I care. On a broader level, these are often why we read mythology or watch television shows isn't it? Why we care. By way of example, almost everything I've ever gotten out of watching dramatic TV, I've gotten out of sports too. (except eye candy)
I could talk about Sports all day long. I generally don’t post at length about the subject in my LJ, because it’s the locus of many of my real life conversations. Seventy-five percent of my relationship with my dad comes through the locus of sports. No small percentage of my first friendships. Of the metaphor of sport and life.
Not to wax too poetic or pretentious, but as an American male, "Sports" is probably the most accessible metaphor for life there is. (Keep in mind, saying this in a bar will get you punched in the nose.) In addition for the baseline love of the game simply for what it is, I think that’s where the passion really comes from.
Note the key word above: accessible.
When I was in high school and college, I took writing classes, in which my teachers sought to instruct me in the arts of rhetoric. In knowing my audience, and tailing my writing to better communicate ideas and achieve whatever purpose I had for writing in the first place. But those were lessons I'd encountered from "The Baseball Bunch", listening to Rick Dempsey and Tommy Lasorda describe studying pitchers, hitters, and situations to know when to call for the curveball. Accessible metaphor for life.
And long before I'd thought with any serious about "heroism" or about what "love was supposed to be about" - I'd seen the 1982 NCAA championship game, with it's tale of two freshmen. Michael Jordan hitting the clutch game winning shot for UNC, which would come to define his career. But that’s not what I’ll always remember. What I remember is Georgetown Coach John Thompson holding a crying Fred Brown after his errant pass sealed his own team's defeat. I was six. And for every success or failure, in sport or in life, those scenes are somewhere in the back of my head.
Among other things, Sport has provided me a chance to meet and interact with people I never would have, and a common language I otherwise might not have. As a resident of the DC area, with all of the cultural and economic divides, being a Redskin fan conveys a certain sense of community. And while, I don't think people become fans to join fandom, I think it certainly makes the experience of being a fan much more enriching and meaningful.
And I have more examples of the above than I can list here. Can you guess that my dad was the neighborhood little league coach? But here again, the game takes on such significance for me, because my investment is about so much more than just the game.
There are any number of TV Show moments that meant for other people, what that moment meant for me. I like playing basketball. I like the feeling I get when I hit a really nice shot, or when my team has success. I like the challenge, and the exertion, and the test of will and skill. The mental and strategic exercise of breaking down the game in order to maximize success. And those moments of triumph and loss that make the games mean so much. All of that draws me in. That’s where it comes from.
More to follow, later this week, and maybe later this year. Depends how long or how often I get snowed or iced in.
no subject
Much like you, something I get out of sports (besides the eye candy) is the sense of community. I'm a Patriots fan. I talk to every single person who enters my tiny retail store wearing any article of clothing bearing a Patriots logo, and every single one of them talks back. We laugh, we smile, we trade memories and play "where were you when?".
This is especially meaningful to me because the Patriots play up the concept of team and it seems to extend into their fans. We're a team; we're part of their team. Win or lose, we're all in this together.
Something else important is not only have I met fans in my area, I've met so many of you here on LJ. Without my cute, funny, I don't take it seriously icon I may not have met any of you, so I can thank Drew and Tom for that.
Here's my one big I'll-never-forget-it sports moment: 1984. Dad and I are in the living room. I'm almost sixteen, and, as is usual for teenagers, I'm not getting along with my parents. He's in the recliner and I'm on the couch. The seconds tick off the clock and we're on the edge of our seats, our team is down. Then, the ball is in the air and we're screaming, yelling, jumping to our feet, slapping each other on the back. Flutie to Phelan, and BC wins! We have never forgotten where we were that day, and we never will.
no subject
DC had this with the Redskins in the Gibbs era, and so I'm told under George Allen as well.
I used to recruit for the football team in college, and I knew a lot of the players. The racial/economic/cultural gaps among players was and still is huge. But to see these guys play as teammates - and to see a community rally around it - it can be very uplifting. (Or in the case of Raider Fans, kind of scary.)
Funny story. I watched the Flutie hail mary. But what I remember most was the Saturday Night live sketch where Eddie Murphy (as Archbishop Desmond Tutu) breaks Flutie's Heisman trophy when they guest on the same talk show. And the host keeps trying to distract Flutie by showing the highligh over and over again - while Tutu tries to sodder the trophy back together.
no subject
Flutie is the reason I watch football today. I was your typical Massachusetts high school girl with stars in my eyes over BC's cute quarterback. But in order to watch him play, I learned about the game and I learned I like it, even without a pretty face around.
Another moment--season, really--I'll always remember, is Drew Bledsoe during the Patriots SB36 season. I have tremendous respect for that man, for the character and dignity he exhibited during what had to have been a difficult time for him. And I'll never forget him in the AFC Championship game vs. the Steelers when he got up from taking his first hit since he'd been injured and grinned like a little boy.