MLB and Instant Replay

The commentary on last night's Detroit Tiger game--the perfect game that wasn't--has been terrific, including comments by fans made on the CNN site ("Selig to Examine Umpiring, Replay After 'Perfect' Error"). In response to one fan's argument that "IF Selig overrules the call – the batter is out, he loses his 'hit' and the perfect game is intact. The batter that followed him then gets his at bat (and out) taken off the books as the game was already over," a fan identified as Mutt2000 writes in response:

"I disagree. You don't fix a mistake by pretending it didn't happen (just doing it again). You fix a mistake by doing something proactive to right the wrong that was done. Sports are important because they teach life lessons on how to function as a society. If we introduce the life lesson of 'that one didn't count', , , , then we lower the standards by which we perceive truth and fairness. June 3, 2010 at 2:31 pm"

Love this debate . . . what do baseball fans have to say about expanding the role of instant replay to overturn umpires' calls in baseball?

Soccer and Philosophy, part 1

Ted Richards, editor of Soccer and Philosophy: Beautiful Thoughts on the Beautiful Game, wanted to pass along the following via this blog:

Hello All,

In February, 2009 I posted a CFA for Soccer(Football) & Philosophy. The response and support for the project was overwhelming. The book, Soccer and Philosophy: Beautiful Thoughts on the Beautiful Game, is now widely available, and the pre-release response has been extremely favorable.

I want to publicly thank all those who submitted abstracts, suggested authors to contact, passed on the CFA, and supported this project in all the various ways throughout the process. Without your help, the book would be much poorer.

Thank you!

From Mike Austin: I'll be posting a review of the book in the next month or so. From what I've seen so far, it looks to be of interest to fans of the game and those with interest in the philosophical aspects of sport.

What is a sport philosopher?

The New York Times started a column titled, "The Stone," a "forum for contemporary philosophers on issues both timely and timeless." In the opening column, Simon Critchley asks: what is a philosopher? Critchley writes that, in part, "The freedom of the philosopher consists in either moving freely from topic to topic or simply spending years returning to the same topic out of perplexity, fascination and curiosity." On the other hand, philosophers may, at times, "fall into wells and appear silly." What is a sport philosopher then? Or should we ask, what is a philosopher of sport? How do terms explain our discipline, especially to those non-philosophers around us?

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/what-is-a-philosopher/?ref=opinion

"Sportsmanship"?

Anyone have thoughts on the DQ of this pole vaulter, detailed here?

Sport and Social Progress

This is a nice column by Howard Bryant on ESPN.com, dealing with attitudes towards women and the recent episodes involving Tiger Woods and Ben Roethlisberger. It is hopeful that some progress has been made here with respect to attitudes towards women, but as Bryant points out, we've got a ways to go.

Philosopher's Football Match

A re-enactment of the Monty Python's football match between the Germans and the Greeks is taking place on Sunday May 9th in North London. It is the idea of the Philosophy Shop which brings philosophy to primary school children; its purpose is to highlight the importance of developing philosophical and critical thinking.

Many notable philosophers, comedians, ex-sports players and journalists will be taking part, including AC Grayling (German manager), Graham Taylor (Greek manager), Julian Baggini, Tony Hawks, and Nigel Warburton (referee). From the philosophy of sport, Jim Parry and Stephen Mumford will be playing, as well as myself.

It should be a great day out and for those of you unable to come, some commentary will be available on BBC Radio5live sports extra.

For tickets, more information, and the original Monty Python sketch visit: http://www.philosophersfootball.com/home

Ethics and the Ancient Olympics

 Philosophy of Sport contributor Jesus Ilundain will give a presentation entitled "The Ancient Olympic Games: Ethics and the Clash at Thermopylea," with the Institute for Philosophy in Public Life.
The presentation can be watched online and viewers can chat at
http://www.philosophyinpubliclife.org/

Wednesday April 14
6:00 pm