Posted by Dave on 09/09/08 at 04:36:06 pm
Categories: Sports Ravings

Last night I got to experience the intersection of two of my passions - sports and progressive politics. Dave Zirin is on a book tour for his new book, A People's History of Sport in the United States, and he was brought to Chicago by The Public Square.

Zirin is a rare individual: he is a sports journalist/writer that writes overtly political, and overtly progressive, material. He is the first, and only, sports writer that The Nation has ever hired. Zirin asserts that it is impossible to separate sports from the political world, as the political world shapes both sports and our understanding them.

He got me thinking about the fact that there are so few people actively writing about the political issues of sports. And so few actively political athletes. But he also challenged the idea that there should be any expectation of politically active athletes. So few people are active politically, so why should be expect anything different from professional athletes?

But it got me thinking about lack of discussion around the intersection of sports and politics. As Chicago attempts to lure the Olympics to the Windy City, professional sports franchise and their billionaire owners continue to rob tax payers to fund new stadiums, and organizations like Jocks for Justice begin to grow and take a stand on political issues (and specifically the death penalty), it is essential that we bring attention to what and how sports impact society, and how they are overtly political in so many different ways.

More to come...

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