This week’s readings were “While the World Watched” and “Sparring in The White House”. On the surface, it was hard to draw a connection between these two readings other than the fact that they both just touched on how sports can bring as much darkness as they can light. The main theme both these articles shared were they associations and meanings people attribute with sport and how these can actually cause long term stains for certain groups. “Sparring in the White House” discussed how boxing grew to be idolized in 19th and 20th century America as a way to harden its citizens and temper their increasingly civilized and to some “soft” lifestyle. This was the case until African American boxer Jack Johnson became the first Black heavy weight champion. Once this happened cultural attitudes shifted towards demonizing the sport as too brutish and savage for civilized people, in “While the World Watched” the experiences of many different people during the 1978 World Cup in Argentina are examined. During this time the government was controlled by a vicious dictatorship torturing and imprisoning large numbers of Argentinian citizens who spoke against it. The suffering experienced by these people have tainted the sport to this day for them some claiming they can’t bring themselves to watch world cup to this day as it brings back to much pain. I found it interesting that while these two pieces detail drastically different events, sports, and consequences, they seem to share a common effect on their sport, a negative shift in cultural perspective. This demonstrates just how powerful collective experiences are on a national scale as well as how easily the positivity and passion that many associate with sport can be turned into hate and division. The take aways from these stories although seemingly bleak and depressing I believe are overall valuable to our understanding of sport and how it impacts our lives.
