Sunday, January 21, 2007
This reading by CLR James looks at the author’s view of sports and how important they are to him. He talks about the presence of sports in ancient Greece and how stadiums would be filled to watch to competitions. However, these times faded as theater also gave the crowds excitement, and, like sports, they could cheer for their favorites to win. After the fall of sports there was a long absence when organized sports did not exist. It was not until the mid 1800’s that associations were founded to bring back the structured competitions. Then he explores the meaning of sports in schools. The specific example is the Rugby school and the play of the schoolboys. The competition, says James, made him the man he is today and gave him all the virtues that make him a good person. Then he compares his experienced with British sports to those he saw in America. He says he was shocked at all the complaining and annoyance that were present in American athletes. He was appalled that some players had actually thrown a game and received a payment for it. He concluded that American and British sports have major differences.
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2 comments:
After a few encounters with American sports playing (and only a few), my impression is that American sports are more "spectactular" and noisy, and that this is part of what would have seemed alien to CLR James, but which is part of the "game" I think here: when you go to a game, you go to do a job, to play a role, just like the athletes do. Do you think American sports stars are more "egocentric" than "team-oriented", as James does, or is it too hard to generalise?
American sports stand out significantly from the rest of the world, as they should. There is so much money in the sports world in America that players get greedy and lose sight of the reason(s) that they play the game. CLR James was not used to this because I dont think there was as much involved in sports in England than there is in America.
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