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Being a sports fan is cathartic; you live and die with your team and glory in every victory and despair in every mistake. A sport match is an improvised drama, each beautiful moment unprecendented and irreproducible. Over the course of a match, a storyline emerges* that illustrates a treasured value to the viewer, be it teamwork, perseverence, self-sacrifice or the power of one man** to change the course of events. Character is born through the trial of sport, and as in Sophocles character is fate. There's an instinctive recognition on the part of sport fan of who is a "clutch" player and who is a "choker;" who the Football (or Baseball, Basketball, etc.) gods smile on and who is forever cursed. My beloved Boston Red Sox will never win a championship, yet I root on.
Is sport, therefore, a political arena? I'd have to say yes. The spectacle of sport, moreso when watched via TV w/commentators but also when viewed live (because of the communal experience) illustrates the virtues ( or better, characteristics) of a player, and subjects them to critique. "Is Allen Iverson a ball-hog, or is he simply putting the team on his back and carrying it to glory?" The outcome of the match, depending on Iverson's performance, either reinforces or destroys the myth of great individual achievement.
The great thing about sport is that these virtues and values are in perpetual struggle with each other. The virtue reified in Tuesday night's match can be brought low in Wednesday night. Allen Iverson is a floating signifier.
The other enthralling thing about sport is the physicalness of it. In an increasingly cerebral society, where brainpower is rewarded above brawn or dexterity, the arena of sport reminds us that we are physical bodies, that we can jump, run, cry, hurt, all spontaneously. The only other spectacle that comes close to reminding the citizne of the information age of hir embodiment is porn.
With all of these virtues, sport should be a central part of our civic lives. Unfortunately, the big business boogie man and "jock culture" (worthy of its own examination) has ruined even "amateur" sport. Ideally, sport should be an institution like the theater, combining drama and physicality. Sort of like the movie Rollerball.
* How much of our experience of sport is created by the media?
** International sport is still dominated by men, obviously. Is watching women's sport different in any way from watching men's? |
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