Tuesday, November 8, 2005
Do Your "Sports Self" And "Political Self" Peacefully Co-Exist?
A fascinating topic brought up by Chuck Klosterman, ESPN's resident pop culture vulture...
Klosterman has a bit of trouble reconciling Chuck, the progressive citizen of the world and Chuck, the reactionary sports fan. Take a look:
Within the context of life, I am the centrist pragmatist who doesn't even vote; within the context of sports, I am a potential war criminal. I wish Kenesaw Mountain Landis were still the commissioner of baseball. When John McEnroe insists that men's tennis should allow only wooden rackets, it sounds totally reasonable. Whenever I talk about the Colts, I inevitably refer to them playing in Baltimore, and it always makes me vaguely mad when I realize this is no longer the case (and has not been for 22 years). No matter what he does, I somehow find myself supporting Bob Knight in drunken arguments; Knight could jam the face of a Texas Tech guard into the gears of a John Deere combine for failing to get back on defense, and I would eventually find myself in a bar saying things like, "Well, modern kids do need discipline."
It's a fascinating paradox to be sure, and I must admit my liberal views in the politcal world don't exactly match up with my views on the sports world, which are (on certain points) a mixed bag.
As a "sports progressive", I'm all for instant replay in football and the wild card in baseball. I don't mind end-zone dances in the NFL, and I think it's silly for the NBA to institute a dress code. I also think Bob Knight is a hypocritical, undisciplined scumbag.
On the other hand, the sports traditionalist (conservative???) in me thinks the designated hitter rule descended (or is it rose?) directly from the mouth of Hell, that Penn State's football team still has the greatest uniforms in all of sports, and that fighting is an essential part of hockey.
Oh, and that soccer sucks. There's no debating that one, no matter what your political stripe...
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