[lbo-talk] lefty on futbol

Alan Rudy alan.rudy at gmail.com
Fri Jul 2 20:15:04 PDT 2010


On Fri, Jul 2, 2010 at 7:36 PM, Miles Jackson <cqmv at pdx.edu> wrote:


> Dennis Perrin wrote:
>
>> I see what you're saying, but corporate sports culture is used as
>> military/nationalist propaganda. It helps condition people to militarism.
>> Ballet and opera don't -- unless you take certain German composers too
>> seriously.
>>
>> Dennis
>>
>
> I'm not following. Connect the dots for me between going to (say) a
> Mariners-Cubs game and ideological devotion to the military industrial
> complex.
> Miles
>
>
Miles, I take it you did not watch the Cardinals-Brewers game on the MLB channel tonight. Heading into the July 4 weekend, every MLB team is going to be wearing special flag-motif hats and the Cardinals broadcast had a direct link up to soldiers watching in Afghanistan who were lobbed questions about pride and making a difference and loving their families (there was a special promotion where families of Missouri National Guard members abroad came to the stadium in special shirts, encouraged to have signs, told to text messages to a number that then ran the messages across the bottom of the screen). They made Lou Brock talk about how patriotic he was and what pride it gave him to hook up with the military, they had Al Hrabosky thank the soldiers for protecting our freedoms nonstop, all broadcast, and then lay out plans where he and Fred Bird were going to visit a number of the soldiers at their places of work after they returned and the broadcast ended with a picture of the sun setting over a cemetary and the announcers extolling the magnificent virtues of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Now, perhaps games in Seattle are different but I have been to games all across the country, from the Majors to Single A and Spring Training - from Boston to Florida to SF/Oakland (I went to a Mariners game in 79 but don't remember much) - and 80% of the time there's a military tie in.

Fans don't have to buy in but you have to fight not to do so. Certainly the NFL/NBA and big conference college sports have the same sorts of things going on and when soccer was small I remember lots of Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines (a part of the Navy, no) stuff when the Cosmos played in Giants Stadium and see a good bit in MLS.

I don't believe you don't see the connection, so it must be that you're saying that some folks make the argument too linear and deterministic... which is surely true, but it doesn't undermine the general point about the militarism of the language, style of regimentation, forms of masculinity and political promotion in major sports (and a raft of minor ones - anybody else pick up on how much military advertising and promotion was evident in the X-Games of late?)



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