NPR: Sports as Politics

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Sports as Politics

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Sports seems to come up all the time in news coverage... even when they're (we're) not talking about ball games. Don Imus targeted a basketball team, doping investigations lead back to baseball, cycling, and other sports, Pat Tillman was a pro football player before joining the military. In his new book, Dave Zirin writes that he's fed up with a lot of what he sees in sports these days...

"Sometimes sports mirrors politics with such morbid accuracy you don't know whether to laugh, cry or hide in the basement" -- from Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports

We'll talk with Dave Zirin today, about sports, politics, racism, responsibility, and what he means by "terrordome." And it's not all doom and gloom, there is that "promise" in the subtitle, and we'll get into that, too. Questions or comments for Dave, leave them here.

Scott Cameron

1:00 PM ET | 07-17-2007 | permalink

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What disappoints me most about "terrordomes" is the fact that it's money that literally purchases the name of the arena. It's AT&T dome or the Xcel Center or whatever. There are very few Wrigley Fields, Yankee Stadiums, etc left. What happened to the importance of history of the time and city verses what company has the most money to purchase the naming rights to a new stadium. I hate the fact that there are more and more arenas and stadiums named after companies verses something much more meaningful.

Sent by Nancy Wittsruck | 3:24 PM ET | 07-17-2007

Sports and Politics are one in the same. They both have tremendous affect on society and on history. The basketball and hip-hop culture fusion of the past 23+ years that is now being called The "Dunkadlic-Era" In America, 1984-Present has been a strong influence on America's youth and young adults for 2 1/2 generations, and soon will becoming a major part of modern American history. When The "Dunkadelic-Era" celebrates it's 25th Anniversary in 2009 it will be a time to reflect the impact of this cultural evolution just as the "Depression-Era" and "Civil-Right's Era" did before it. This will be the 1st and only defined sport and music time-period in American History. That alone makes it political.

Sent by Derrick E. Vaughan | 3:44 AM ET | 07-20-2007

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