The Glory and Perversity of Sports
Ancient men used to mark the time by the changing of the seasons, winter to spring and summer to fall. So does modern man - football season to basketball season to baseball season.
America embraces sport like no other nation. Except for a few dedicated soccer types, no young man dreams of putting on the uniform of a sports team based outside of a league anchored in the United States. When it comes to sports, America is the magnet.
For us, sport mirrors what we want in a society. Everyone plays according to one's ability; there is no affirmative action. And, thanks to guys like Jackie Robinson, there are no barriers either. You can either play or you can't.
When the President uses phrases like "playing by the rules" and "fairness," it speaks to our sporting nature. Yet no one gets a "waiver" from the rules in our games (in fact, the waiver in sports usually means an unwanted change in employment.) Here we believe in the meritocracy. No "participation trophies" for us - just showing up is not enough.
Even the unions are different. No one fights for the slacker or the unproductive to keep his job.
If there is a true liberal sports organization in America it is the NCAA. Title IX has wreaked havoc on universities' sports budgets. Some major colleges have eliminated vast swaths of men's sports to comply with it. And the NCAA ties coverage of women's sports to the television contracts of the men.
As an economic exercise, the level or the gender of the participants in front of the cameras has nothing to do with the cost of televising the event. There are no discounts from vendors or crews because the players are also women.
But the results are hardly the same. CBS garnered a 12.3 rating off of Monday's men's college basketball title game between UK and Kansas. Over on the other side of the coin, ESPN managed to post a 2.6 for the women's title tilt between Baylor and Notre Dame.
You can lead to the horse to the television set, but you can't make it watch.
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Comments:
May '11
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
I have always heard horses were not very smart. My dog watches television and barks at every commercial that has an animal in it. He is the only dog I have had that did this.
It is not surprising that the NCAA takes liberal political correctness to the extreme. They are an organization of universities after all. I think I saw somewhere here that the opposite of diversity is university.
Jan '11
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
I'm not a huge fan of ESPN any more. I got tired of headline readers who would precede the highlights with introductions that tried to capture the "meaning of it all." I don't want to watch baseball to shed some light on our society ... I watch baseball to get away from all that.
I don't want everything to be political. I don't have anything against women's sports, and since sports can be such a powerful teacher of good values, I certainly want women to enjoy those benefits as well. That's an attitude you pick up when you have sons and daughters - I want all of them to enjoy the full benefits of life.
But when I have a beer in one hand and a pretzel in the other, I just want to enjoy a good game. Sports can teach players, but for the rest of us it's just entertainment. Let it be entertainment, and don't try to make it anything more.
Dec '10
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
Help me out EJ. I won't deny that the NCAA is a lib organization, but I wasn't able to make the leap with you between the NCAA and Title IX. Title IX is federal legislation, not NCAA rules.
May '10
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
True enough. The old guard may have resisted it 40 years ago but the NCAA has long since totally embraced it. They saw it as a way to increase their power and scope. Before 1981 women's sports were under the auspices of the AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women).*
The NCAA acts as the government's enforcement arm on Title IX and does so happily.
In the early days of Title IX it wasn't even seen as something that pertained to sports. John Tower, the then-Senator from Texas, was the first to see it and tried to exempt sports from its effects.
*Edited to correct the abbreviation
Edited on April 4, 2012 at 8:18pmDec '10
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
EJHill
True enough. The old guard may have resisted it 40 years ago but the NCAA has long since totally embraced it. They saw it as a way to increase their power and scope. Before 1981 women's sports were under the auspices of the AIAA (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women).
The NCAA acts as the government's enforcement arm on Title IX and does so happily.
In the early days of Title IX it wasn't even seen as something that pertained to sports. John Tower, the then-Senator from Texas, was the first to see it and tried to exempt sports from its effects. · 24 minutes ago
Good to know. Thanx.
May '10
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
I don't follow sports anymore. If I do want to know what's going on in the sports world, I just look at the police blotter.
Aug '10
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
The only sports I watch are professional poker and wheelchair rugby.
Edited on April 4, 2012 at 8:18pmMay '10
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
Then you will love the San Diego Union-Tribune's searchable and sortable database of arrests in the NFL.
Edited on April 4, 2012 at 8:22pmApr '11
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
Sports for boys, girls, women, and men are wonderful and I encourage everyone to play.
However let's be honest, womens sports don't succeed financially the way mens sports do is because women don't support womens sports. I'm guessing women are still about 51% of the population, right?
Dec '11
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
If half the population watched the games they would be money makers. If I miss my guess half the population is female so bias and bigoted females are killing woman's sports. Has there been any studies of the gender of the fans?
EJHill
You can lead a mare to the television set, but you can't make it stop watching soaps.
Dec '11
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
Give Me Liberty
You are a genius and your post beat me by a minute.
May '10
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
Excuse me, sir, but your age is showing. Not even women watch soaps anymore. There were once 19 soap operas on TV (1969-70) and now they are down to four.
SoapNet, Disney's cable net, has slowly been transitioning to Disney Junior, a channel dedicated to preschoolers. Although it is still seen in some markets, SoapNet will fold sometime this year.
Edited on April 4, 2012 at 8:47pmMay '10
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
EJHill
Then you will love the San Diego Union-Tribune's searchable and sortable database of arrests in the NFL. · 26 minutes ago
Edited 25 minutes ago
Thanks, der Bingle. I'll take a look at it right after I finish the OED.
Apr '11
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
EJHill
Excuse me, sir, but your age is showing. Not even women watch soaps anymore. There were once 19 soap operas on TV (1969-70) and now they are down to four.
SoapNet, Disney's cable net, has slowly been transitioning to Disney Junior, a channel dedicated to preschoolers. Although it is still seen in some markets, SoapNetwill fold sometime this year. · 1 minute ago
Edited 0 minutes ago
I wonder why. You would think that with the demand for programming they would be more popular than ever.
Jul '11
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
Funny how political correctness just cannot change human nature.
EJ Hill. My boy quit baseball to be a soccer goalie but I fooled everyone and he has two goalie shirts. A Celtics jersey and my favorite, a Tim Thomas Boston Bruins jersey. I'm classing up the sport but cannot wait for the competitive basketball to start in the fall.
Apr '11
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
10 cents: Give Me Liberty
You are a genius and your post beat me by a minute. · 35 minutes ago
Great minds...
Dec '11
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
EJHill
Excuse me, sir, but your age is showing. Not even women watch soaps anymore. There were once 19 soap operas on TV (1969-70) and now they are down to four.
SoapNet, Disney's cable net, has slowly been transitioning to Disney Junior, a channel dedicated to preschoolers. Although it is still seen in some markets, SoapNetwill fold sometime this year. · 1 minute ago
Edited 0 minutes ago
I count the nighttime fare as soaps, such as Desperate Housewives, Melrose Place, Jersey Shores, etc.
Oct '10
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
I really hate to be that guy, but I just don't think this statement is true. If you meant "no young man in the U.S. dreams of putting on the uniform" of a foreign team, that's certainly correct. But most young men in the world dream of playing in Europe or the UK -- for Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Manchester United.
But that's a good thing, because it means that other countries -- despite all their braying about social justice and the community method -- really love capitalism and democracy. Many of the best soccer players in the world claw themselves out of economic hellholes solely by way of their athletic genius. And the socialists in Europe love them for it, and pay good money to see them.
Oct '10
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
Oops. Double post. My bad.
Edited on April 4, 2012 at 9:45pmMay '11
Re: The Glory and Perversity of Sports
I have to agree with Blake above even though he stutters. European football is growing rapidly among sports fans in the US. Women's sports, not so much. I say this as I take a break between matches at the Family Circle tennis tournament.