The Guardian (October 8)
“Sport and politics often mix. But authoritarian regimes are clearly laundering their reputations through control of global games.” On one hand, “the ruthless advance of commercial interests” may seem “like progress,” but “realpolitik can’t be overlooked. Respecting different cultures does not mean abuse is condoned. The lure of the arena ought not excuse a lack of moral responsibility.”
Tags: Abuse, Authoritarian regimes, Commercial interests, Control, Cultures, Global games, Laundering, Politics, Progress, Realpolitik, Reputations, Respect, Ruthless, Sport
USA Today (February 21)
“They have come to an end, the strangest, most controversial, most unwelcoming Olympic Games of our lifetime…. This wasn’t a joyous festival of sport; this was a forbidding fortress of separation.” Furthermore, “the issues emanating from Beijing’s Olympics were far more serious, making the Tokyo Olympics look almost normal by comparison.”
Tags: Beijing, Controversial, End, Festival, Forbidding, Fortress, Joyous, Olympic Games, Separation, Serious, Sport, Strangest, Unwelcoming
New York Times (May 12)
“Pressing ahead with the Olympics risks drinking poison to quench our thirst for sport. The possibility of a superspreader catastrophe is not worth it for an optional sporting spectacle. It’s time to cancel the Tokyo Olympics.”
Tags: Cancel, Catastrophe, Olympics, Optional, Poison, Risks, Spectacle, Sport, Superspreader
Boston Globe (July 24)
Baseball’s return “resonates so strongly in this time of pandemic, one that channels the basic gratitude we feel for the one sport that has always made summer feel like summer.” But bringing it back isn’t easy. It’s a fragile achievement that raises competing priorities. “It’s good to have baseball back, but it’s complicated too.”
Tags: Baseball, Complicated, Fragile, Gratitude, Pandemic, Priorities, Resonates, Sport, Summer
Reuters (October 17)
“Financial markets have some things in common with professional sport. Investors and fans are both desperate for winners and despondent about losing. They are passionate about little ups and downs, while outsiders often find the rules arcane and the enthusiasm weird. And for both, all the jumping and screaming has little effect on the rest of the economy.”
The Economist (January 31)
America’s “favourite entertainment faces many charges. One of them will finish it.” Despite soaring popularity, the Economist believes football is due for a fall now that the “maiming of so many of football’s professional players” is no longer a secret. Roughly one third of ex-pros go onto suffer from brain injuries and this ugly fact will cause the sport’s popularity to wane. Though it seems unthinkable, “football will go the same way” as boxing and westerns, which once also enjoyed broad appeal.
The Economist (June 14)
In China, golf is “a barometer of change.” Banned under Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping allowed a few golf courses for foreign investors. Then, with rising affluence, “more locals wanted to try the sport. Suddenly more golf courses were being built in China than anywhere else, despite the fact that their construction was technically illegal.”
Tags: Affluence, Barometer, Change, China, Construction, Deng Xiaoping, Golf, Golf courses, Illegal, Investors, Mao Zedong, Sport
USA Today (January 15, 2014)
Alex Rodriguez, the current home-run king and highest paid baseball player of all time, “has now made history of another sort as the recipient of the longest suspension ever for a doping violation.” If the arbitrator’s decision proves binding, he’ll be out a full season (162 games). “It’s clear that baseball’s steroid era isn’t over. But with a tough investigation and tough penalties, the sport appears finally to be turning the corner.”
Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Arbitrator, Baseball, Doping, History, Home runs, Investigation, Penalties, Season, Sport, Steroids, Suspension, Violation