Steve: I think I understand Joanna's reference. I haven't read Chomsky's commentary on sports (and there may be more than one), but our college radio station had a double CD by him I used to play. One of the tracks is comprised of, interestingly, a Foucault-like suggestion that sports are a disciplinary training in this society (His argument is vulnerable to objections, IMHO, since the metaphor of team sports can also be appropriated by a politically cooperativist point of view). He points out that it's a matter of taking orders in a hierarchy and not questioning your place (Coach, first string, second string, quarterback-calling-plays,etc.). He suggests that not just those playing but those observing are also valorizing such social relations that the metaphor trains one for. I like Chomsky and I like sports. The culture of sports and its institutions, are certainly vulnerable to critique, as is Chomsky's metaphor (as I indicate above; it's also been said, of course, that sports flou! t the social hierarchy of the wider culture, where the poor kid,etc. may advance and be valued in terms for which cultures outside sports have no appreciation whatsoever). cheers, Jayson Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 12:49:10 -1000 (HST) From: Stephen E Philion Subject: Re: Stupid sports I'm not sure at all who you are responding to here Joanna, but I think they are mistaken about Chomsky saying sports are stupid. I've heard from a number fo sources and recall Chomsky writing positively about working people's excitement about sports and detailed knowledge as evidence that working people possess the capacity to develop sophisticated knowledge of issues with the proper motivation steve On Tue, 16 Oct 2001, joanna bujes wrote: > At 01:18 PM 10/16/2001 -0400, you wrote: > >BTW, Chomsky also thinks that sports are stupid. I listen to sports > >radio all the time and I listened to the baseball playoffs last night, > >but since 9/11 I have to agree with him that sports are stupid. I had to > >accept this shortly after 9/11 when the *host* of a show on ESPN radio > >was calling for Afghanistan to be nuked. They only reinforce patriotism > >and other dysfunctional stuff in society. > > I've never watched sports except for tennis, gymnastics, and diving (more > like art than sport). I couldn't quite see the point of watching something > I'd rather be doing. But my son watches sports and so did my first husband. > > It's not enough to say sports are stupid. What I've noticed is that > watching sports is a virtual social experience. It allows you to share > something (symbolically) with thousands...millions of other people, it > matters who wins and it doesn't matter (cause it's a game), and it's an > escape from an otherwise fairly unbearable reality. It makes social > participation simple (though virtual) and it eliminates the problem of > building social consensus because we all agree on the rules. > > If you want to hang out with other people and share something "positive" -- > sports is one alternative. Is there any other alternative in this our > great, modern, advanced culture? I can't think of any. I mean everything > else, compared, is more like a special interest than a shared activity. I > go out and dance Argentine tango...there's a few hundred such dancers in > the Bay area and there's a place to go and dance every night of the week, > but this is a far cry from the great universal of sports. > > Joanna B _____________________________________________________________ Visit the Fair Trade Federation http://www.fairtradefederation.org Support fair trade with every email. Sign up for your free email account you@gofairtrade.net--> http://www.gofairtrade.net