Sports and Liberal Politics.

Citizen Mane · March 2nd, 2006, 11:33 PM

A neat quote from an interview with Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Blink) by Bill Simmons:

Quote:

But wait: what are the lessons of the contract year? A big part of talent is effort. Maybe this kid is plenty smart enough, and he's just not trying. More to the point, how can we say he isn't smart. If talent doesn't really mean that much in the case of Dampier -- if basketball ability is incredibly variable -- why don't we think of ability in the case of this kid as being incredibly variable? And finally, what does the kid need? In the NBA, we'd say he needed Phil Jackson or Hubie Brown or maybe just a short-term contract. We'd think that we could play a really important role in getting Dampier to play harder. So why don't we think that in the case of the kid? I realize I'm being a bit of a sloppy liberal here. But one of the fascinating things about sports, it seems to me, is that when it comes the way we think about professional athletes, we're all liberals (without meaning to be, of course). We give people lots of chances. (Think Jeff George). We go to extraordinary lengths to help players reach their potential. We're forgiving of mistakes. When the big man needs help with his footwork, we ship him off to Pete Newell for the summer. We hold players accountable for their actions. But we also believe, as a matter of principle, that players need supportive environments in order to flourish. It would be nice if we were as generous and as patient with the rest of society's underachievers.

I don't disagree at all with the analysis or his conclusion, but I do have to say that I never thought of it this way. The whole interview (this is only part I, part II comes out next week) is worth reading, IMO. Simmons and Gladwell are two of my favorite writers.

Citizen Mane · March 3rd, 2006, 06:26 PM

Part II actually was posted today. Good times!

semo · March 3rd, 2006, 07:03 PM

Don't really understand the guy's point, but if he's saying that 'in sports everybody's a liberal', I think he's forgetting many of the conservative viewpoints held by many fans and sportsmen. To name a few: coaches who teach old-fashioned tactics (like basketball coaches who teach a slow tempo game); the tradition (now fading) of amateur athleticism, fans who resist the increasing commercialization of sports, etc. Sports is full of people who are resistant to change in sports and sports institutions (i.e. they are conservative).

Citizen Mane · March 3rd, 2006, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by semo

Don't really understand the guy's point, but if he's saying that 'in sports everybody's a liberal', I think he's forgetting many of the conservative viewpoints held by many fans and sportsmen: to name a few: coaches who teach old-fashioned tactics (like basketball coaches who teach a slow tempo game); the tradition (now fading) of amateur athleticism, fans who resist the increasing commercialization of sports, etc. Sports is full of people who are resistant to change in sports and sports institutions (i.e. they are conservative).

I think it's pretty clear that he's not actually saying that it's necessarily political conservatism or traditionalism in teaching/running major sports, so much as how a lot of organizations and fans treat and think about their players and how they progress mirrors a lot of the things that political liberals have been advocating as far as social behaviors and progressive programs. I think he's pretty clear that he's not talking about the institution of sports but only how we treat athletes.

The Anatolian · March 3rd, 2006, 07:35 PM

I kinda disagree with his point. Take Jeff George (please!

). Sure, the dude had a lot of chances, but that's in part because a lot of teams gave up on him. Now, there was often times a new one that was willing to give him a chance, but I don't think you can look at the NFL as a whole and say "it's very forgiving, it keeps giving this guy chances". Instead, one team gives up on a guy and another decides to take a chance. It's more "the grass is always greener on the other side" syndrome for the individual teams than any concerted effort on the part a league to be supportive or to give second chances.

And secondly, it's only like this for guys who the teams think have some promise. There's tons of guys who don't last a whole season in a league (whether its the NBA, NFL, or MBL). If you're a second round draft pick in the NBA, the only thing being an underachiever is going to get you is cut during training camp.