The Sports Academic

The Other Tour de France: Anti-Bobos Unite!

2009-07-16T23:22:00.003-06:00

A recent article in Le Figaro took stock of a bicycle public transport program in Paris. "Velib" lets users check out a bike in one part of town and return it to another for a minimal fee. The problem is that vandalism rates have been much higher in Paris than in other French cities where they have launched similar programs. Bikes end up in the River, hanging from street signs, painted, trashed, etc. etc. Some have even made it a point to do tricks on the fairly heavy Velib bikes and post it on youtube:

I see this as a way for people to stick it to the state and to the city; to take this imposition of state-sponsored exercise and transportation outside of the box. Are they bending the rules to make art? or just bending the rules? Are they making a political statement about the relative wealth of the high-minded socialists and greens who tend to use Velib? or are they merely putting on a show, organizing a teen-age prank?

Let "Le Soap Opera" Begin: The Tour de France and the Team Astana Rivalry

2009-07-07T22:13:00.003-06:00

If you have been watching the Tour de France this year, you know that the story surrounding the race is as good as the race itself. Lance Armstrong has recently jumped ahead of "team leader" Alberto Contador and now sits less than a second from the yellow jersey. When asked about his situation he said (approximately), "I don't want to get into the controversy about who is the team leader, but... I've won the Tour seven times, I think I deserve some respect." When asked why Contador was not in the front of the peloton when it split (a split that enabled Armstrong to overtake his "team leader") he responded, "Team Columbia was obviously going to try to break the peloton up. It didn't take a genius to figure out that when they went into that turn, they would try and create a split." In other words, Contador is no cycling genius.

I sometimes wonder if one reason doping scandals have not driven more fans away is because they represent just one more iteration of the entertaining dramas that have taken place in the margins of the Tour every year since its inception in 1903? The race is fun; but the speculation, the backstabbing rivalries, the metphoric nails on the road make the Tour one of the most compelling shows in sport.

"Is there a Fish on this court?" Stanley Fish writes on basketball

2009-06-30T21:49:00.005-06:00

Famed literary theorist Stanley Fish appears to now have a gig writing sports opinion columns for the LA Times. Check it out here:

- On the NBA Draft
- On Basketball

The Montreal Expos: Je me souviens…

2009-06-27T23:27:00.004-06:00

As an enthusiast for the French-speaking world and lover of the city of Montreal, with an admittedly romanticized sentimental attachment to the game of baseball, when I found myself in Montreal last week, I simply had to make the trek over to The Big O, the concrete ruin that is Olympic Stadium, where the Montreal Expos both lived and died. Growing up, I had an affinity for the team with the tricolored caps and the highlights with announcers that called games in a language I didn’t know. Passing beneath the imposing observation tower of the Parc Olympique, nestled in the seedy, working-class district of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve in north-east Montreal, looking down on the chipped cement below and to the botanical garden ahead, I pondered the fate of this unfortunate québécoise franchise—one that could have seemingly been avoided in so many ways.

Borrowing the motto of the province of Quebec, I realize this post might read a bit like a memoir. I’m okay with that. I will, however, provide some historical justification for this post. In my lifetime (and near the end of the life of the Expos), three major events in the team’s final decade might beg to question if there is something to the fatalism--at least where baseball is concerned--adopted by the city since the failed separatist referendum of 1995. 1) The 1994 season: with a 6-game lead on Atlanta and on pace to win 105 games, the MLBPA called a strike in mid-August that would cancel the World Series and eliminate the Expos only viable chance at a title. 2) Following the 1994 heartbreak, team president Claude Brochu (an avid supporter of the team who gave 2 million of his own dollars to keep them in Montreal in 1991) inexplicably advised a “fire sale” and sold nearly all the talent behind the team’s recent success: Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom, John Wetteland, etc. (also getting rid of Moises Alou, Mel Rojas, and Pedro Martinez in subsequent seasons). And, 3) Lucien Bouchard, Premier of Quebec and voice of the separatist movement, with the opportunity to save a floundering team, refused to act on proposals to build Labatt Field in downtown Montreal, moving the team from the decrepit dome in shady northeast Montreal to an open air haven not far from the Bell (then Molson) Centre where the Habs play. A potential stab at “the Anglos” whose Non! vote had prevailed in the 1995 referendum, Bouchard’s refusal to act on the plan, in the eyes the of many Montrealers, essentially doomed the team. Unable to fill the massive eyesore that was Big O, the team lost its morale, fans stopped coming, home games were relocated to Puerto Rico, and, ultimately, the franchise moved to Washington D.C., where the Nationals’ bland mediocrity does no justice to the former uniqueness of the Expos

The “Bouchard Theory” is but one conspiracy as to why the team failed. True to French-Canadian form, most still point to fatalism. Could baseball, an American game ever hope to exist—really exist—in a Canadian city, of which 75% of the population speaks French? In an excellent and engaging novel treating the uneasiness in Montreal following the 1995 fracas, Last Days of Montreal, John Brooke dedicates one chapter to a discussion between estranged former broadcasters for the Expos, where one character Harve Doody describes the game as “a Protestant pursuit […] the American Dream,” describing Montreal as a “purgatory of a Catholic city where baseball shouldn’t be at all.” Maybe he’s right. History and the fate of the Expos would suggest as much. Still, the Expos live on in memory; and, I fondly reflect on them each time I don my three-paneled—blue, white, and red—cap with the Montreal “M” that also contains the “E” and “B” for Expos Baseball. While one can no longer chant “Les expos sont là,” nothing precludes idealistic baseball history buffs from nostalgically uttering “Il était une fois...”

"Surprise" Anti-Doping Test During Tour de France

2009-06-24T07:50:00.003-06:00

Le Monde reports that a "surprise" test will go into effect on samples collected during this year's Tour de France. The test, still being developed, will test for a drug that riders currently believe to be "undetectable." The announcement was made by Pierre Bordry (pictured), the head of the French anti-doping agency. Irony of ironies, he is standing in front of a graphic that depicts cyclists climbing a hill so steep it could only possibly be climbed with the aid of whatever new drug he is planning to test for... The photo encapsulates the paradox of the Tour: superhuman exploits are required of mere humans who need performance enhancing drugs to complete (let alone compete in) the humanly impossible Tour.

Gymnast Euthanized

2009-06-17T21:54:00.001-06:00

From the Onion:

Gymnast Shawn Johnson Put To Sleep After Breaking Leg

Next Year the Tour Will be Clean

2009-06-08T04:32:00.001-06:00

The Tour de France and cycling have suffered a lot of negative press of late because of the numerous doping scandals. Each year, it seems, several riders (usually high-profile) test positive for blood doping, CERA, steroids, amphetamines, etc., etc. And each year we hear that given this new test or this new rule, "next year the Tour will be clean." In fact, last year the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo ran a cartoon mocking that oft repeated hope. It reads: "This year the Tour will be clean," and crossing the finish line is a bike tire with no rider. (See the cartoon here).

In reading Gaboriau's chapter (cited in my last post), I was reminded that people have been saying "Next year the Tour will be clean" since the very beginning of the Tour. Gaboriau notes that in 1904 the top four riders were disqualified for cheating (for getting rides in cars or strewing nails on the road behind them). One journalist, Jacques Miral, lauded the Tour organizers for disqualifying the cheaters and concluded, "Next year [1905] we may have honest riders" (66). In Louis Malle's 1962 film Vive le Tour (thanks for loaning it to me Scott), riders claim that "Some people dope when they play cards," implying that many cyclists were using then. After Tom Simpson's death and the introduction of testing in the pro peleton, many thought "Next year, we will have a clean Tour" (even though Anquetil called testing "idiotic"). After the Festina affair in 1998 and the numerous pledges from the cycling community to clean up its act, many then thought, "Next year, we will have a clean Tour."

With the Tour fast approaching once again, let me be the first to say that with the new biological passport, this year we will finally have a clean Tour.

Hooligans and the Tour de France in 1904

2009-06-03T10:37:00.005-06:00

In a chapter written for Dauncey and Hare's The Tour de France: A Century of Sporting Structures, Meanings and Values, Philippe Gaboriau notes that hooliganism was a frequent problem of the early Tour. As an example, he describes an incident from the 1904 Tour that took place near Saint-Etienne.

According to the riders' own statements, it was 3 am and the night was dark, and, "Suddenly, towards the summit of the climb, Faure accelerates briskly and takes a lead of two or three lengths. We look up and notice about 50m in front a group of about 100 people making a tunnel on either side of the road. They're armed with cudgels and stones. Faure bravely went forwards and passed through, and then the cudgels came down on those following." Several riders were inured, some seriously, and faced with repeated violent incidents, the much worried competitors "promise to ride equipped with revolvers." (65-66)

We have discussed in previous posts the link between soccer hooligans and regional identity and have theorized that their hooliganism may be a form of resistance to globalization. It appears that this same mentality was shared by early hooligans in the Tour de France who let their local hero (Faure) pass through before beating up the other riders. Instead of resisting globalization, however, these hooligans were attempting to assure that their region's rider was at the top of the standings, and they perhaps on some level feared losing their regional autonomy and being assimilated into the French Republic. After all, the Tour de France always ends in Paris and reinforces the dominance of the capital and the Republic on all of France. Best then to have someone from Saint-Etienne win and show Parisians that inhabitants of le Dauphiné are still autonomous and deserve respect.

Fortunately for today's riders, the regional hooligans have largely been replaced by regional flags along the route of the Tour.

Beyond Baseball?

2009-05-26T09:41:00.004-06:00

Major league baseball has launched a new ad campaign featuring Tim Lincecum and Ryan Howard that begins with images of them when they were young and transitions to them playing in the majors. It concludes with the tagline: "This is beyond inspiration/dedication; This is beyond baseball." Here's the Lincecum spot:

Besides the fact that every player in the majors trained hard to get there, the message "beyond baseball" confirms that major league execs feel the game itself is bankrupt, that fans won't come just to watch a game. The rally monkey, loud music between innings, slides in the bleachers, etc. all underscore this philosophy. But MLB can only continue to sell baseball if the game itself is at the center of their marketing strategy. Light shows and mascot races are short sighted. To be successful long term, MLB should not draw attention to what is "beyond baseball," it should focus on, well, "baseball."

More Biking Magic

2009-05-25T13:21:00.003-06:00

Unbelievable stuff, again sent to me by Scott.

If you liked that, look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7anDq7jK_Wg
(volume down if kids around)--gets amazing at about 2:40 in, and the last rider is astounding.

If you look at the venue of the rides in the link, you'll notice the "sport" has already been coopted by corporate interests. Maybe I should allow this blog be coopted by corporate interests....

The Cycling Priest

2009-05-19T22:55:00.004-06:00

This cycling jersey, for sale at BikeRadar.com, is supposed to be "the Swedish national champion jersey but with a change of colour." What? It looks to me like a cycling jersey for priests. I know that some consider cycling a religious experience... but isn't this taking that idea a step too far?

Would using Holy Water before a big mountain stage be considered doping, or merely a way to reach new spiritual heights?

Biking Across Town (literally, across it)

2009-05-18T10:44:00.002-06:00

Here is a video of Danny MacAskill doing things that one should not be able to humanly do on a bike. Crazy and beautiful.

Thanks to Scott for sending the link.

Violence and Sports

2009-05-14T16:26:00.002-06:00

I recently reread the introduction of Quest for Excitement by Norbert Elias (pictured) and Eric Dunning. In this introduction Elias theorizes (among other things) that sports grow out of regulated societies where violence is reduced to a minimum because disagreements are resolved politically. Sports function, in these societies, as a "relief-institution," a "mimetic battle" that allows people to achieve fulfillment and catharsis without "acts of violence . . . the infliction of physical injuries or of death upon other human beings."

Since sports are close to violence, however, it is also in the context of sporting events that violence tends to manifest itself first when society (because of unemployment, poverty, discrimination, etc.) begins to break down. Hooliganism is one example Elias gives of this phenomenon.

Of course, when social structures break down even further, sporting events sometimes cease all together. But sporting sites continue to be associated with violence. Soccer stadiums were used for public executions by the Taliban in Afghanistan (Khaled Hosseini describes the stoning to death of an adulterous couple at halftime of a soccer match in his novel The Kite Runner). The French used a velodrome as a rounding up spot for Jews being deported to concentration camps during World War II. Frank Foer, in his book How Soccer Explains the World, details how the fans of Red Star Belgrade became "Milosevic's shock troops, the most active agents of ethnic cleansing, highly effectient practitioners of genocide." Perhaps you can think of other examples.

The point is that sports, consciously or not, stand at the limit of socially acceptable violence. And when that limit shifts in society, the shift may first be manifest in sports or at sporting locales.

... worth a thousand words.

2009-05-12T20:19:00.008-06:00

Actual photo from a press conference last week at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills where Jose Canseco addressed ~~a group~~ some dude about Manny and steroids (and he, a journalist from CNBC, was forced to be there). No one from the LA Times, the LA Daily News, LA Weekly …not even La Opinión. Final count: one attendee, four cameramen, Canseco and his lawyer. So, tell me again--just how much do we care about steroids? Scott’s right: the only one making a fuss is the self-righteous zealot pounding hot-dogs in right field.

On Baseball's Latest Witch Hunt: Shame of the Game

2009-05-10T17:42:00.013-06:00

Usually, I look forward to reading the weekend papers, catching up on how the Lakers, Dodgers, Galaxy, and Bruins did, while trying to find time to squeeze in a few columns. Today was an exception. The latest installment of baseball’s witch hunt, which has affixed a scarlet letter (*) to my favorite player, sickens me. Now that it has hit home, I feel the need to respond to a sampling of today’s columns:

Yesterday, Bill Plaschke of the LA Times virulently banished Manny from Dodgertown adopting the voice of the Pied Piper of Hamlin and, when, the Dodger’s faithful still showed their support of Manny, he turned his vituperation on them. Plaschke, who is generally-speaking a respectable journalist, sunk as low as to compare us to SF Giants fans for their continued support of Bonds. A low blow though it was, I’ll take it for reasons to be explained below. Kurt Streeter of the Times was dismayed by the lack of outrage on the part of Dodger’s fans. What he doesn’t get is WE GET IT. Jack Curry of the NY TIMES wants to ban him from the HOF—as absurd an idea as banning Pete Rose or Barry Bonds. (By the way, how can we even argue for Jim Rice while Charlie Hustle is still on the outs???) And, Jayson Stark of ESPN brazenly, and prematurely, declared the end of Mannywood, suggesting we “forget, not forgive”!

What we get and self-proclaimed baseball purists don’t is that baseball is a game, entertainment, a diversion. It is a game of heroes and all of Western culture—from Homer to Rabelais to Hemingway—has shown us that our gods are more effective when they are flawed—or in other terms, when they are human . We prefer a demi-god to an unknowable almighty. Baseball is a game of heroes… and a game of scandals. In fact, baseball’s biggest stars are often it’s most scandalous: Babe Ruth, Shoeless Joe, Ty Cobb, Hank Greenberg, Daryl Strawberry, etc.—and we rally around them.

In past posts, I’ve compared this witch hunt to Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter; however, in the Steroid Era, I think that maybe a classic film is just as befitting: Henri-Georges Clouzot’s post-Vichy era (France’s equivalent of McCarthyism) “Le Corbeau” (The Raven). As a series of poison-pen letters violently divide a small French community, casting doubt on everyone, the most likeable character of the film reveals to the central protagonist that he shoots up (“Je me drogue. Je me pique.”) At the same time of his confession, he demonstrates that life is not as Manichean as many would like—that light and dark are more variable than they seem. [SPOILER ALERT] Even when he proves to be the Raven (the letter writer), we still are affected by his sociological experiment of what happens to a society when it tries to pit the morality of individuals against the community. Where is light? Where is truth? How does knowing truth effect us?

Maybe San Franciscans are right: live and let live. Get behind your heroes when they’re down. (Even as a Dodgers fan, I still admitted Barry was one of the greatest ever.) Mannywood is on hold for 48 more games; but, I will be there, arms wide open, to greet my—now more human—hero when Manny jogs out to left on July 3^rd!

Tyler Hamilton, Doping, and Depression

2009-05-05T07:46:00.007-06:00

Tyler Hamilton tested positive for a steroid a few weeks ago and has since announced his retirement from cycling. He maintains the steroid was in a supplement he was taking to help him in his fight against depression and was not taken to help improve performance. The media coverage of the event, as Ophir pointed out to me, tends to fall into two categories: 1) he has always been a cheat, should have sought more responsible help for his depression, and deserves to be out--good riddance; 2) he has suffered seriously from mental illness, it should be taken into account when judging him, and his case should bring more attention to the problem.

Ophir, who rode professionally in Europe for a time, wrote me the following: "High profile athletes are often the most vulnerable to not getting proper diagnosis or help precisely because their job description demands they project an image of invincibility. Additionally, one could argue they have less opportunities for mental health care or for a mental illness diagnosis as 'team' doctor's are not expected nor encouraged to look for signs of an athletes deteriorating mental state. Athletes don't want to rock the boat or be seen as a liability to the team."

I have a lot of sympathy for Hamilton and have rooted for him over the years. I watched him in the Tour of Utah last summer and was happy when he won the U.S. road title. Whether he was taking steroids to enhance his performance or not, it's clear that since cyclists are in such a loose organization (compared with the Major League Baseball Players' Association, for example) there probably is no counseling service at all to help them cope not only with depression, but with anything else... There is precious little protection for cyclists and they likely feel they are always hanging by a thread with no safety net.

Should race organizers, teams, sporsors, even fans be held partly responsible for the situation? Do we unfairly expect athletes to be invincible? Or should Hamilton be dismissed as a cheat?

Are European Cycling Fans Anti Globalization?

2009-04-28T01:50:00.000-06:00

When you watch cycling, notice the flags fans fly along the route. There are occasional flags of Britain, Germany, or France, but it is by far more common to see a regional flag. The flags of Brittany, Flanders, Basque country, etc. dominate.

Why is this? Is it simply a matter of cheering for the home-town cyclists, or does it do the reasons run deeper than this? Cyclists do not perform in big stadiums (where fans are obligated to go worship their heroes), they instead travel to the fans and thereby valorize them and their regions. Is this why regional flags are so prominent? Or is it because cycling fans tend to be rural and their identity is more tied to the land and less to their nation and its capital? Can cycling (and their fans) be seen as expressing resistance to globalization in the same way as soccer hooligans?

Thoughts?

Photo from the NFL Draft

2009-04-26T20:12:00.005-06:00

Commissioner Goodell announces a first-round pick on Saturday afternoon in New York.

image: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/servitude_slavery/ss_slavery.cfm

King of Baseball Statistics: RBI or OBP?

2009-04-21T12:41:00.005-06:00

Last week, Corry and I had a little debate over which is the more important of baseball’s offensive stats: RBI (runs batted in) or OBP (on-base percentage)? While Corry contends that the out is baseball’s scarcest commodity and, therefore, a batter’s primary objective should be to avoid getting out, I argue that it does not matter how many players a team puts (and leaves) on base if a clutch hitter is not bringing them home. Sure, outs are a prized commodity; but, the team with the most runs scored wins the game.

As baseball fans are prone to do, I went to the record books to support my claim. To my surprise, the list of top-ten RBI men and top-ten OBP players is quite similar. The most formulaic of baseball card stats, OBP (=H+BB+HBP/ AB+BB+HBP+SF) claims the likes of Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Barry Bonds and Ty Cobb, all of which, with the exception of Williams (replaced by Hank Aaron in the top spot), are in the top-ten for RBIs as well. What is astonishing is that these four players (Ruth, Gehrig, Bonds and Cobb) would find themselves on both lists. We could continue to argue ad infinitum which is more important, fewest outs or most runs, but I think this comparison of greatest players says a lot for these players, who did both. (*Steroids had little to do with Bonds OBP—unless you argue that his fly balls sailed ten feet farther. Even as a Dodgers fan, I accept that Bonds was an all-time great.)

This also raises the question as to baseball’s glory stats: batting average (Williams) and home runs (Aaron). Of course, it’s impressive to see a player knock the ball 450 feet and it puts fans in the stands; however, the home run is overrated. The same is true for pitching, where a strike-out pitcher is preferred over a ground-ball pitcher. Again, the name of the game is scoring more runs than one’s opponent; thus, ERA is much more important. As fans, we like the grandeur and intimidation of larger-than-life players (remember, athletes are gods). Still, as far as efficiency is concerned, the acronym stats—RBI, OBP and ERA—are far-and-away the most important.

To answer the question posed in this post’s title, I stick with one of baseball’s most underrated superstars and most clutch players, Hank Greenberg (the Manny Ramirez of his day; above), who lived for RBI and told teammates: “Just get on base and I’ll do the rest.”

On Armstrong's Latest Kerfuffle

2009-04-21T03:41:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Ross who sends me this link to a report about Armstrong's latest problem with anti-doping officials (http://sport.france2.fr/stade2/, then click on "Armstrong au coeur d'une nouvelle affaire").

What interests me in this report is that they note Armstrong has been tested 24 times out of competition this year. Journalists interview other professional cyclist and ask them how often they have been tested: "Three times;" "None outside of competition;" "Three or four." It is clear to me that during the EPO era, Armstrong was, well... with his time. But testing a guy on average once a week? At his home, in restaurants, at a hotel... It makes me almost hope that the guys who are on the juice will get away with it and stick it to The Man.

Armstrong and EPO: The Good News

2009-04-20T03:31:00.002-06:00

In an interview in NY Velocity, Michael Ashenden (who studied Armstrong's positive EPO tests from the 99 Tour de France) offers compelling evidence that Amstrong's samples from the 99 Tour were clearly positive for EPO. Ashenden also takes on Edward Coyle's bogus research (that reputable journalists continue to cite) justifying how the 7-time champ improved without EPO. Ashenden's testimony is damning stuff for the man who "never tested positive."

But the good news is that of all the samples tested from the '99 Tour (a time when an EPO test did not yet exist), only 8% were positive, meaning that the use of EPO in the peloton was relatively limited (some of those 8% positives could have been from the same rider). EPO is expensive, to be sure, limiting access to it, but this number still suggests that many riders make a choice to stay off the juice.

But cyclists remain guilty until proven innocent....

Joe Parkin: A Dog in a Hat

2009-04-15T05:58:00.002-06:00

Without doing a full review, I want to recommend Joe Parkin's 2008 memoir A Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium.

It is an honest description by Parkin of his life as a domestique in the professional peloton in Europe in the 80s and 90s. It mentions everything from the deathly serious (one of his teammates died suddenly in his sleep) to the utterly ridiculous (a teammate, seeking drugs to help him in a race was given valium by another rider--after struggling through the race, the rider still came up and asked for more of the special drug before the next race). Parkin traces his own struggles to make a place for himself, his love of the Belgian culture, his hatred for certain directeurs sportifs, his admiration for certain riders, etc., etc.

Simply put, it is a fun read that I highly recommend.

Apprentices as Hooligans

2009-04-13T05:41:00.001-06:00

A few months ago I read Graham Robb's The Discovery of France, a geographic history of France as it changed into a modern state with special attention given to the many practices that made up popular culture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

One such practice Robb describes is the "Tour de France," a pilgrimage of four or five years made by young apprentices (bakers, tinkers, stonemasons, etc.), who set out across the country to learn their trade and offer their services in some 150 towns. Robb notes that "Members of the different orders would try to beat each other senseless when they met on the road" (159). He continues:

The long walk . . . was an apprenticeship in itself: learning to walk on wet and blistered feet and to keep up with the older migrants, learning to stomach mouldy food when the body was exhausted and above all to defend the honor of the pays. As they set off from villages at daybreak, the migrants sang and yelped as though they were at a barn dance. It was their way of keeping their spirits up and warning off the natives. (160-61)

The actions of these apprentices are very much like the practices of modern soccer fans who travel, sing, and fight to uphold the honor of their home region (their pays). In the nineteenth century, the yelling and violence was a means to defend regional identity against the French state's efforts to create a common French identity. Today, violence and hooliganism serve to reinforce regional identity in defiance of globalization's sameness.

World Baseball Classic: Go World!

2009-04-07T19:07:00.006-06:00

Since the conclusion of the World Baseball Classic, I have read articles lamenting the poor performance of the U.S. team (eliminated in the semis) and suggesting ways America can take its proper place in upcoming WBC editions.

Oh the shame!

These authors are writing as if baseball were still America's game. It's not. It was. It's not anymore. Football, for better or for worse, is now America's pastime. Baseball, in America, is now a sport that primarily generates enthusiasm among nostalgia seekers and the not-from-here crowd. I like baseball, largely, because I like history; and baseball, more than perhaps any other American sport is dominated by history (the debates over "sacred" records is proof of this). I suspect that people who have grown up on X-boxes and Red Bull find the game tedious, atavistic, and far too rural for modern consumers. In fact, baseball was popularized as a means for urban laborers to remember an idealized rural life. It was a vector for nostalgic longing from the beginning. But over a century later, the nostalgia card is losing appeal.

In Asia and Latin America, however, baseball is seen as a modern game that allows the colonized (colonized either by the military, or by American corporations) to compete with the hegemonic power (the U.S.) on equal footing. It is, for these countries, a forward looking sport that speaks to their potential.

So I for one am not at all concerned that the U.S. has not won the WBC. It makes the WBC more suspenseful and gives it the cachet of being a true world series.

On Schilling and Shane McConkey

2009-04-03T13:53:00.003-06:00

A couple of interesting stories were passed along to me in the past week or so. First, this column in TNR comparing Curt Schilling to Ron Burgundy (Anchorman) is pretty amusing.

Next, the sad news that Shane McConkey died while filming ski-base-jumping. We have done some blogging about extremely extreme sports like this one, and it is worth passing the news of McConkey's death on.

Personally, I enjoy some sports because they make me confront my mortality and the limits of what my physical body can do. These guys take it right up to the limit... and beyond.