4 ms·

Good riddance! I got tired of opening the sports section to find another story about how violent athletes are to their spouses, or how unfair high schools are

Good riddance! I got tired of opening the sports section to find another story about how violent athletes are to their spouses, or how unfair high schools are to transgender women. It seemed like the writers were more concerned about signaling their virtuous views of social issues, laundering their own privileged backgrounds by pretending to care. Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues. It is about contention, about struggle. As George Orwell put it, "Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words it is war minus the shooting."

singleshot_ 3y ago
Sports writing is, in fact, about whatever the writer wants it to be about. I’m not sure Orwell is the authority on sports writing that you think he is, but on the other hand, now we know what you think about sports. My only question is why you’d have a relevant opinion on an institution you hate but on the other hand, everyone is entitled to an opinion. Why not skip reading the sports section? (Is your complaint more about the cultural influence than the act of reading it?)
dangus 3y ago
> Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues. Yeah, you’re just factually wrong. Figures like Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, all the way up to Kolin Kaepernick and Brittney Griner[1] are wrapped up in human rights and social issues. There isn’t some kind of magical barrier between sports and real life. It’s a social activity that takes place within wider society. To millions of fans, players are influential voices. You can be as sports-macho and anti-woke as you want but that won’t bring you closer to truth and understanding. [1] who was definitely not jailed in Russia for drugs, let’s be real: she’s an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state.
- boeingUH60 3y ago
  > Who was definitely not jailed in Russia for drugs, let’s be real: she’s an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state. She was jailed for being a high-profile American, perfect bait to trade for a notorious weapons smuggler imprisoned in the US...she had played in Russia since 2014, so if anti-LGBT was the motivation, they could have grabbed her since.
  - tivert 3y ago
    >> Who was definitely not jailed in Russia for drugs, let’s be real: she’s an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state. > She was jailed for being a high-profile American, perfect bait to trade for a notorious weapons smuggler imprisoned in the US...she had played in Russia since 2014, so if anti-LGBT was the motivation, they could have grabbed her since. Yeah, the theory that she was arrested because "an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state," doesn't even pass the smell test. The theory says a lot more about the person who proposed it than any kind of external reality.
    - dangus 3y ago
      Well, you can argue about that detail all you want but the situation still shows you that sports players are important national figures that relate to politics, social issues, and global events. They don’t live in a vacuum where we only talk X’s and O’s because they are real human beings.
- LargeTomato 3y ago
  I think the majority of sports watchers don't care about politics. >> Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues. > Yeah, you’re just factually wrong. Well, that's a very strong statement but I think you're correct. I'd rephrase the original comment as *Most* Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues.
  - stcroixx 3y ago
    Agreed, and also I think most people interested in reading about sports have not been going to the NYT for that particularly because they only use it as a backdrop for their stories, which are primarily about some other topic.
    - tivert 3y ago
      > Agreed, and also I think most people interested in reading about sports have not been going to the NYT for that particularly because they only use it as a backdrop for their stories, which are primarily about some other topic. Are there better outlets for New York sports fans to read? I'm not from there, but I've gotten the impression that the New York Post might be better than the New York Times.
  - dangus 3y ago
    > I think the majority of sports watchers don't care about politics. 75% of Americans are sports fans and 48% of Americans say they follow government and public affairs most of the time. Only 10% of Americans are politically disengaged. Over 60% of Americans voted in the 2020 election, a record high. It's not out of the realm of possibility that over 50% of all Americans both watch sports and care at least somewhat about politics. https://www.statista.com/statistics/300148/interest-nfl-football-age-canada/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/300148/interest-nfl-foot... https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/07/07/1-in-10-americans-dont-give-a-hoot-about-politics/ https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/07/07/1-in-10-a... https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/record-high-turnout-in-2020-general-election.html https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/record-high-t...
gaws 3y ago
> I got tired of opening the sports section to find another story about how violent athletes are to their spouses, or how unfair high schools are to transgender women. It seemed like the writers were more concerned about signaling their virtuous views of social issues, laundering their own privileged backgrounds by pretending to care. ... Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues. It is about contention, about struggle. As George Orwell put it, Don't worry. That kind of coverage in sports will still happen: > A group on the business desk will cover money and power in sports, while new beats covering sports will be added to other sections. The moves are expected to be completed by the fall.

singleshot_ 3y ago

Sports writing is, in fact, about whatever the writer wants it to be about. I’m not sure Orwell is the authority on sports writing that you think he is, but on the other hand, now we know what you think about sports. My only question is why you’d have a relevant opinion on an institution you hate but on the other hand, everyone is entitled to an opinion. Why not skip reading the sports section? (Is your complaint more about the cultural influence than the act of reading it?)

dangus 3y ago

> Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues. Yeah, you’re just factually wrong. Figures like Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, all the way up to Kolin Kaepernick and Brittney Griner[1] are wrapped up in human rights and social issues. There isn’t some kind of magical barrier between sports and real life. It’s a social activity that takes place within wider society. To millions of fans, players are influential voices. You can be as sports-macho and anti-woke as you want but that won’t bring you closer to truth and understanding. [1] who was definitely not jailed in Russia for drugs, let’s be real: she’s an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state.

boeingUH60 3y ago
> Who was definitely not jailed in Russia for drugs, let’s be real: she’s an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state. She was jailed for being a high-profile American, perfect bait to trade for a notorious weapons smuggler imprisoned in the US...she had played in Russia since 2014, so if anti-LGBT was the motivation, they could have grabbed her since.
- tivert 3y ago
  >> Who was definitely not jailed in Russia for drugs, let’s be real: she’s an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state. > She was jailed for being a high-profile American, perfect bait to trade for a notorious weapons smuggler imprisoned in the US...she had played in Russia since 2014, so if anti-LGBT was the motivation, they could have grabbed her since. Yeah, the theory that she was arrested because "an LGBT person and advocate, and Russia is an anti-LGBT mafia state," doesn't even pass the smell test. The theory says a lot more about the person who proposed it than any kind of external reality.
  - dangus 3y ago
    Well, you can argue about that detail all you want but the situation still shows you that sports players are important national figures that relate to politics, social issues, and global events. They don’t live in a vacuum where we only talk X’s and O’s because they are real human beings.
LargeTomato 3y ago
I think the majority of sports watchers don't care about politics. >> Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues. > Yeah, you’re just factually wrong. Well, that's a very strong statement but I think you're correct. I'd rephrase the original comment as *Most* Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues.
- stcroixx 3y ago
  Agreed, and also I think most people interested in reading about sports have not been going to the NYT for that particularly because they only use it as a backdrop for their stories, which are primarily about some other topic.
  - tivert 3y ago
    > Agreed, and also I think most people interested in reading about sports have not been going to the NYT for that particularly because they only use it as a backdrop for their stories, which are primarily about some other topic. Are there better outlets for New York sports fans to read? I'm not from there, but I've gotten the impression that the New York Post might be better than the New York Times.
- dangus 3y ago
  > I think the majority of sports watchers don't care about politics. 75% of Americans are sports fans and 48% of Americans say they follow government and public affairs most of the time. Only 10% of Americans are politically disengaged. Over 60% of Americans voted in the 2020 election, a record high. It's not out of the realm of possibility that over 50% of all Americans both watch sports and care at least somewhat about politics. https://www.statista.com/statistics/300148/interest-nfl-football-age-canada/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/300148/interest-nfl-foot... https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/07/07/1-in-10-americans-dont-give-a-hoot-about-politics/ https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/07/07/1-in-10-a... https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/record-high-turnout-in-2020-general-election.html https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/record-high-t...

gaws 3y ago

> I got tired of opening the sports section to find another story about how violent athletes are to their spouses, or how unfair high schools are to transgender women. It seemed like the writers were more concerned about signaling their virtuous views of social issues, laundering their own privileged backgrounds by pretending to care. ... Sports writing isn't about human rights or social issues. It is about contention, about struggle. As George Orwell put it, Don't worry. That kind of coverage in sports will still happen: > A group on the business desk will cover money and power in sports, while new beats covering sports will be added to other sections. The moves are expected to be completed by the fall.