Is sport worth dying for?

See the article at Religion Dispatches for a discussion of this question. It seems to me that in one sense, sport is not worth dying for, given that it is a form of play, albeit serious play. As the author of the piece points out, the real question is whether or not sport is worth the risk of death, which is present in many sports. I would answer that yes, at least some sports are worth the risk of death, because for some they are near-necessary elements of a flourishing human life. I'm not arguing that we should not seek to make sports as safe as possible--so the changes to the Olympic luge run might be justified, as are whatever can be done in the NFL to prevent brain damage from head trauma--but I do believe that we should not go to the other extreme and make physical safety the primary concern that trumps all others. When I ride my bicycle on the country roads of Madison County, it is generally pretty safe. However, in some sense I'm risking my life, as all it takes is one distracted or drunk driver to end my existence, or just one mistake by me on the bike sending me hurtling into concrete, asphalt, or barbed wire. Of course, we all risk our lives when we go to the grocery store, cross the street, go to work, and so on. I won't be hang gliding or sky diving any time soon, but as soon as the snow and ice go away and the temperature climbs back above freezing, I'll be back on my bike, riding carefully.

HT: Rob Sica

Gender testing in sport... again...

Ian O'Reilly gives an informative and interesting commentary on developments following a symposium in Miami last month whereby it was suggested that those with 'gender ambiguities' undergo surgery if they are to continue to participate in female sporting competitions.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/8511176.stm

Hitchens on Fool's Gold

Apparently, Christopher Hitchens believes that it is not only religion that poisons everything, but sports as well.
There is a considerable body of  philosophical literature on whether sport is fascistoid, as well as other aspects of the dark side of sports. And while Hitchens tells many stories in support of  his thesis that sports breed conflict and bring out the worst in human nature, there are many stories one could tell of how sports bring out the best in human nature that deserve to be told.

One of the beautiful aspects of the Olympic Games is that we'll witness examples of perseverance, courage, humility, and hope. Sure, there will be stories of cheaters, people with athletic skill but little moral excellence, and so on, but in this way sport is like the rest of human life. My own hope is that we'll attend more to the good stories, not only of the culmination of years of training as medals are won, but as we see actual lives reflecting the Olympic words "It's not the triumph, but the struggle."

Support TEAM USA

OK - so you are a big fan of MMA and maybe of other combat sports, but the 2010 Winter Olympics are upon us and our Nation has some amazing athletes representing us this year. Please consider supporting them , at least in spirit. Who knows? Maybe for 2014, they will have a modified Biathlon in which they replace rifle shooting with defending against submission attempts and punching people in the face. I'd definitely tune in.

Team USA's dreams are on the line! We're in the final countdown to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games! With just weeks to go before our athletes take the world's stage in Vancouver, your support of Team USA right now makes a difference.

Each Team USA athlete and hopeful has been training hard and dreaming big, waiting to realize their long-held ambition of Olympic and Paralympic competition. There are so many ways to help them get there! Make a donation, become a member the Sixth Ring, or cheer on Team USA in person in Vancouver.
Go Team USA!

Follow Team USA here and get insider info from your favorite athletes and sports.

Keep up to date with the latest news about Team USA and the 2010 Olympic
Winter Games.

Religion and Football

As masses of people in the United States and elsewhere huddle around food, drink, and the altar of their HD television sets this Sunday for the Super Bowl, some of the old questions about the relationship between football and religion are on  the radar again. For example, Shirl James Hoffman, author of Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports, will appear on the American television show "Fox and Friends" this Sunday--Super Bowl Sunday--to discuss the question "Do faith and football mix?" Here's the publisher's blurb for the book (NFI, by the way):

In recent years the United States has seen an influx of Christian athletes and coaches into big-time sports, as well as a heightened importance placed on sports in church programs and at Christian schools and colleges. However, as Shirl Hoffman critiques, a Christian vision of sport remains merely superficial—replete with prayers before free throws and praises after touchdowns but offering little, if any, alternative vision from the secular sports culture. Good Game retells numerous fascinating stories from the world of ancient and contemporary sports and draws on the history of the Christian tradition to answer “What would it really mean to think Christianly about sport?”

Recently, Books and Culture, a book review magazine published by Christianity Today, reviewed two books in the article "And God Created Football." The End of Autumn: Reflections on My Life in Football (again, NFI), and Football and Philosophy: Going Deep (small FI) each contain material relevant to the connections between football and religion as well as the issue of whether football in some sense constitutes a religion. Whatever one ultimately thinks about these issues, it does seem that sport, including American football, offers moments of transcendence for athletes, coaches, and fans.

Are we too professional?

In one of Ed Smith's usual thought-provoking articles he ponders the question whether we are mistaken in our belief that professionalism underpins excellence:

"Professionalism was continually invoked as the primary means of improvement, whereas amateurishness was mocked as a laughable relic. But it was often unclear to me what the word professionalism meant. “What we really need,” people would say, is “a good, solid professional win.” How does that differ, I always wanted to ask, from a normal kind of win? In fact, professionalism wasn’t so much a real process as a form of self-definition. We had to become ever-more professional, because that was the lens through which we interpreted progress and success."

The concept of professionalism (often of a MacIntyreian kind) has been considered (and generally celebrated) by a range of authors in the philosophy of sport (for examples below) but perhaps it's time, as Smith says, to realise that unrealistic expectations of professionalism can end up acting as a straight-jacket.

Further Reading:

Howe, P.D. (2004) Sport, Professionalism and Pain: ethnographies of injuries and risk. London: Routledge.

McNamee, M.J., Sheridan, H. and Buswell, J. (2000) 'Paternalism, professionalism and public sector leisure provision; the boundaries of a leisure profession'. Leisure Studies 19 pp199-209.

McNamee, M.J. (2008) Sports, Virtues and Vices. London: Routledge.

Zeilgler, E.F. (1977) Problems in the History and the Philosophy of Physical Education and Sport. Prentice Hall Foundations of Physical Education Series.

Steroids and Forgiveness

Steroids are again in the news, with the formal admission by Mark McGwire that he used steroids during his career, including the season in which he broke the HR record. Much has already been said about this, but I think an interesting philosophical point here has to do with the nature of and justifications for forgiveness.

Some, like Jack Clark, are too angry and upset to consider forgiving McGwire, at least at present.

Others, like Joe Posnanski and Albert Pujols, are more open to it. Former Cardinal Andy Van Slyke is not happy with the nature of McGwire`s confession.

Should "we" forgive McGwire for his transgressions? In a world of earthquakes and grinding poverty, this can seem of little consequence. But forgiveness is a key component of flourishing human relationships, and so I am wondering if anything can be learned from McGwire`s situation?