Rachel argues that outside the relationship between
economics of sport and religiosity, sport in a sense, serves to recreate “religious
experiences” and teaches “religious values”. The economics of sport in a sense
taints the positive benefits that sport can offer to the player and to the
greater community. I agree that sport can function to teach children and youth
basic ‘life’ skills and that sport has positive benefits with regards to
teaching religious values and recreating religious experiences. I am also a
strong supporter of sport and the benefits it has not only in helping children
around the world but also in helping the community that supports a particular
team.
You mentioned the economics in professional sport, but there
are also other examples of the economic impact in other areas of sport. Not
only have the economics of sport infiltrated the professional realm, but also
over the years, it has increasingly crept into the realm of amateur sport,
specifically the NCAA. The beauty of amateur sport is that it celebrates the
purity of sport – sport without a price tag or a salary. It is the celebration
of athletic talent and of athletic quality. There are have been numerous cases
of professional teams bribing college players and universities bribing high
school students with monetary and other incentives for recruiting purposes. The
notion of the “commodification of sport amateurism” is an interesting topic
that is currently being discussed and debated.
That being said, I would like to play devil’s advocate, and
say that despite its positive benefits, the tendency for fans and players to
regard sport, as religion, is a cause for increased violence, both on and off
the field of play. For Canadians, hockey is ‘our game’, ‘a way of life’, and a
‘religion’. For Europeans, the same can be said for soccer. However, are fans
taking the game too seriously? I mean, it is just a game, right? I feel that
sometimes fans and players lose sight of the fact that sport is ‘just a game’.
We see evidence of fans taking the game too seriously in Canada, for example,
with the notorious Vancouver riot - estimated damages were roughly 4.2 million
dollars. Riots, brutality, and even death, are a common occurrence in Europe
and in parts of South America after soccer matches. The show “Football
Factories” strictly deals with a host and his cameraman as they travel and
document soccer violence in some of the most hostile stadiums in the world. Why
so much violence? Soccer fans consider their team and the sport of soccer to be
religion/having religious qualities, which allow them to engage in and feel ‘religious’
emotions.
Pay close attention to the reactions of the fans as well as the commentators:
The Setting
Age 14… playing for the Meadowvale Mohawks
Single ‘A’ Hockey Team… facing the Applewood Cree in a regular season game… down
4-0…
The Situation
A player on the
opposing team is unhappy with one of my hits from the previous period and
decides he wants to drop the gloves.
Note: Fighting at his
age is prohibited. Also note that we are wearing full metal cages.
This opposing player
drops his stick and takes his gloves while proceeding to skate towards me. I
see him coming. Part of me laughs – size and strength are not in his favour –
and he is attempting to strike my metal cage with his bare hands (definitely
not a good move). Another part of me thinks, “we’re down 4-0, what have I got
to lose?” – nothing ...
And so he swings
wildly and misses. I drop my stick but keep my gloves on, knowing full well the
pain of hitting his metal cage with my bare hand… I counter with a straight
right-hand that makes a flush contact with the middle of his cage, putting him
flat on his back and in tears…
The Consequence
I am immediately
ejected from the game and spend the rest of the third period in the change
room, waiting for my teammates and my coaches to arrive. It was the longest
10 minutes of my life as I questioned my actions and subsequently the
repercussions. What will the players think? What will the coaches do? Am I off
the team? What will my dad say to me? To my amazement, I am praised by my
coaches for “sticking up for the team”. The players give me “high-fives” and
laugh about the incident.
Now watch this youtube clip (interesting to note that it has
over 5 million views):
Part of me finds it amusing – there is obviously a dialogue
between the two players – an expression of displeasure regarding the hit and an
attempt to provoke the ‘dropping of the gloves’. The speed at which the young
lad drops his stick and removes his gloves is almost identical to that of an
NHL player. Obviously, the other player is reluctant to do the same, but like
me, he too decides to keep his gloves on (smart move). The youtube video
identifies the two players to be 6 years old - this is the part I find somewhat
shocking in light of last week’s lecture regarding the normalization of
violence in sport, specifically hockey.
Players, at a very raw and early age, are beginning to adopt
aspects of the ‘culture’ of hockey that is violence and fighting. One of the
interesting points I took from lecture was the fact that the ‘theologizing’ of
sport ultimately results in the normalization or valorization of pain and
self-inflicting violence. The mixing of moral value with the commodification of
professional sports can lead into dangerous territory as recently witnessed
with the increase of violence in sport today. In a book written by Kevin Young
and Philip White (2007) entitled Sport
and Gender in Canada, a claim is made that Western Canada is currently
suffering from a ‘crisis of masculinity’ stemming from “the disparity between
the masculine traits they [men] are expected and encouraged to uphold …and the
social realities of their everyday lives” (p.219). Moreover, decisions are made
with a profit-driven intention of “giving the audiences what they want by providing
the most appealing coverage…integrally related to the promotion of masculinist,
as well as nationalistic, discourses” (p.214). Young and White believe that current
players are adopting what they call ‘dangerous masculinities’ that result from
learned behaviours and involve risk-taking, neglect for one’s health, and
aggressive practices. Given the big business of sport, it is important to
consider that these ‘masculinities’ are socially constructed as forms of
entertainment to sell a particular product. As evidenced from Young and White,
men are more susceptible to sports injury than women, have increased spinal
injuries, and outnumber injured girls/women at all age levels. Failure of athletes to uphold these masculine hegemonic values results in social stigma, or the process of negative labelling - players are branded as being "soft"
So do we need fighting/violence in hockey? If fans truly love the sport, then the elimination of something that causes so much damage should not be a problem, right? Now ask that same question to the owners of NHL teams or to the top executives of the league. Somewhere in their answer you might find the phrase "but it serves as a selling point for our business... fans pay money to see violent behaviours on the ice". Why is there no fighting or hitting in the NHL All-Star Game that attracts millions of fans worldwide? According to the opinionated and controversial Don Cherry, fighting protects the talented players from getting hurt as evidenced in this youtube video:
Despite the chivalry that is evidenced in this next youtube clip at approximately 0:43 and onward, I feel that there is no need for fighting in hockey.
Link can be found here: http://jesusandpals-smc.blogspot.com/2012/03/faith-is-not-genre.html
In keeping with your hip-hop/rap theme, I would also like to
propose another Christian artist that goes by the name of KJ-52. Originally, I
was going to write a blog on a controversial rapper whose actions and lyrics
were contradictory to his beliefs and religion but I ended up stumbling upon
this man. On his website he states, “Like the society it mirrors, the music industry
is hobbling in the wake of technological flux, economic freefall, and massive
uncertainty”. KJ-52 is a Christian rapper from Tampa, Florida and was most
remembered for his song entitled “Dear Slim” which was dedicated to Eminem
after he wrote the song “Stan”. KJ-52 was often regarded as the ‘Christian
counterpart’ to Eminem but his song “Dear Slim” was rated as number 26 on the
“Top 40 Worst Moments in Hip Hop”.
That all aside, KJ-52’s song is a powerful appeal, wherein
he draws parallels between himself and Eminem. He says, “See I could
relate to you cause son I'm about as old as you see we both know what it's like
just to be growing up to be in a neighborhood when you's the only one and only
kid that's white or to get booed when you on the mic just because your skin is
light”.
Like the music video “Stan”, KJ-52 is also writing a
letter to Eminem but for very different reasons. In reading the lyrics I feel
as if KJ-52 is, in a sense, trying to get Eminem to realize the gravity of his
lyrics and the affects they have on his listeners and fans, some of who are
children. Later on in the song, he questions the sincerity of Eminem’s lyrics
and asks him if his lyrical content is just to generate profit for record
companies: You
ever stop to think about the millions you influence or is it just irrelevant is
it true life you telling it or just the way for some record companies sellin it.
I feel that the fact that KJ-52’s song and this controversy
generated such negative criticism is an example of the power and function that
popular culture has in creating social boundaries (as outlined by Dustin Kidd).
I believe that, in this case, we have one genre but two faiths. One is rejected
and the other is supported. In your blog you mentioned that the “way in which faith
is portrayed with social realities in Hip Hop is far complex and dense”. In
this particular example, I feel that faith is portrayed in a negative light
given such strong negative criticism, as mentioned before. This controversy ultimately highlights the tension as well as the clash of beliefs and values between popular music and 'contemporary christian music'.
Below are the lyrics for “Dear Slim” as well as the music
videos for both KJ-52 and Eminem. I have highlighted in bold some of the lyrics that I find rather interesting.
Dear Slim I never wrote you or been callin
My name ain't Stan son, nah we've never met and
My name's KJ let me begin by introducing now
Myself to you and these very reasons I'll be
writin
Why I took the time, the who what where and why
and
The purpose of my verse, the reasons I'm reciting
What I hope your learnin from the truth I pray
your finding
And every word I'm writin down upon the dotted
lines and
See I heard ya first album, was called Infinite
I shook my head cause nowadays you soundin
different
What drove ya take your whole persona and be
flippin it now
What makes a man totally change see I ain't
getting it
See was you sick of getting booed when you was
rippin it
And sick of never havin dough and you your wanted
to put an end to it
What good's all kinds of dough
Plus all kinds of flow
To gain a world of fans but suffer the loss of
soul
Dear Slim I never wrote you or been calling
This is my 2nd letter cause see son I gots a real
problem
It's that to you that I'm always catching these
comparisons
And after shows I got these people coming up to
me sayin
You sound like Slim Shady son you sound like
Eminem
And I be like now really man, do I gots to go
through this again
See I used to get mad and sick of people saying
that
Till at this one show this one day I met this one
cat
He told me how he used to listen to you but now
he listens to me
Had your LP but threw it out and bought my CD
I'm like for real he's like yeah he said my music
made a difference
It got him away from all your words and images
I gotta mention this, now what about the effects
you have on kids
You ever stop to think about the millions you
influence
Or is it just irrelevant is it true life you
telling it
Or just the way for some record companies sellin
it
The only thing we got in common is our melanin
Or lack of it but anyway now this is what I'm
sayin
It's for you that I'm on my knees now daily
prayin
Prayin that God opens your eyes now to what I'm
relayin
Now I'm praying that it's your heart that will
soon be changing
Prayin one day that you'll be calling upon His
name and
But anyway I'm signin off now don't keep me
waitin
This is KJ another cat just trying to make it
Dear Slim I heard about the stuff you's going
through
See I could relate to you cause son I'm about as
old as you
See we both know what it's like just to be
growing up to be in a neighborhood
When you's the only one and only kid that's white
Or to get booed when you on the mic just because
your skin is light
It ain't right but sometimes you know that's life
But really tell me what you do
You just push on with hopes on that someday
you'll put on your crew
I hope you understand that I ain't even dissin
you
And even though its a song you'll probably never
listen to
See what I send to you is this
Is that a life without Christ is just a life that
is never fixed
Hope you remember this now a few sentences
About a living God who loves you and plus
forgives
And I'll be praying for your ex-wife and plus
your kid
It's hard to live in a world as crazy as this one
is
And even though now it really might sound
redundant
God's got mad love for you up in a mad abundance
You'll sell a couple mill I'll probably sell a
couple hundred
There's more to life then selling records and
just getting blunted
After
having read the two articles involving violence in hockey and the religious
experience of Southern College Football, I felt compelled to offer an
unorthodox version of an ‘academic’ blog. I have decided to combine both
articles and apply them to my personal experiences as a former semi-professional
soccer player in Canada and my experience playing in Europe. Hopefully, this
will be an appropriate segue into the topic of Sports and Muscular Christianity
for our next lecture.
Last
year, after making the decision to end my playing career, I was unexpectedly asked:
What were your earliest childhood
memories? My response was picking as many dandelions as possible during one
of my first ever soccer games to give to my mother. My dream of being the
world’s greatest dandelion-picking soccer player was abruptly ended when I
discovered all 20+ beautifully handpicked dandelions in the garbage two days
later (not sure if I will ever forgive my mother for that).
Now,
where to begin? In retrospect, it could be said that soccer constituted my
life. For 18 years, give or take, my life involved family/friends, church, and
soccer. As a semi-professional player, we were paid $300 for a win, $200 for a
tie, and $50 for a loss. Training was 6-days a week, with pre-season workouts
occurring twice a day. Competition to crack the starting 11 was fierce and
often times violent as the salaries for bench players were drastically reduced
as compared to the aforementioned standard pay. We (myself including) would
undergo extraordinary physical pain and would sacrifice our bodies in order to
achieve success, as in winning. This was our mindset. As Trothen (2009)
describes, from the perspective of the coaching staff, we were regarded as
commodities and our talents were commodified to achieve production. Concussions
from head butts, a kick to the face, or an elbow, were hidden from therapists
and painkillers were routinely used to conceal injuries from broken ribs to
sprained/fractured ankles to missing teeth; all of this done out of fear of
losing our starting spot and, ultimately, to win. As teammates, our actions to
conceal injuries etc. were done out of pressure and as a means to uphold rigid
masculine ideologies that were socially constructed and that dominated the
typical male athlete. Our coaches glorified “self-sacrifice and pain and
suffering” found in traditional atonement theories (Trothen, 2009). This sounds
really similar to hockey right? I know! However, when you’ve sacrificed a great
portion of your personal life to play an elite sport, the end justifies the
means, to some extent.
I
was someone’s teammate, a member of a family! I spent more time with my ‘soccer
family’ than I did with my own ‘real’ family. From 5-hour road trips on buses,
to plane rides, to sharing rooms, we were able to establish an everlasting
bond, a friendship. Unlike the article written by Bain-Selbo (2008) I was able
to establish an ‘emotional bond’ with soccer, not as a fan, but as a player.
Words used in his article such as ‘friendship’, ‘community’, ‘love’, and ‘hope’
are all words that I can appropriate to my experiences with soccer. I have
certainly experienced Bain-Selbo’s outlined emotions (joy, passion, and
intensity) that “arise typically in religious contexts” (2008). As a player in
Northern France, it was mandatory to undergo mental training sessions with a
mental training coach (sports psychologist). We learned how to deal with
setbacks, adversity, and the anger/outrage that builds when an opposing player
or fan makes a racist or rude remark to you or your fellow teammate (these
things do happen). The phrase “fire in your heart…ice in you head’ was
something I will never forget and, for me, is the epitome of mental fortitude. I
believe that my ‘religious experiences’ associated with soccer, thus, came as a
result of my ability to solely immerse myself in the game and not get carried
away or distracted by external events. I was 100% IN the game to the point
where I was able to forget about everything and anything outside of the soccer
pitch, including my own personal life. I experienced, what Csikzentmihalyi (in Bain-Selbo, 2008)
calls ‘flow’. Soccer provided me “with a sense of belonging and an opportunity
to express powerful emotions” (Edwards as cited in Bain-Selbo, 2008, 242).
The first thing I said when I walked into my house after
class today was a simple question directed towards my little 17 year-old
sister: What do you think of Justin
Bieber? In a high-pitched irritating voice, the response was simple…I LOVE HIM! As a 23 year-old, I would
like to state that my interest in Justin Bieber and his music is equivalent to
that of my profound and ardent interest in watching fresh paint dry on a wall
or listening to my grandmother lecture me on why I am not eating her food (even
when I repeatedly tell her that I just ate 3 meals before coming to her house –
it’s a European thing and I love her). I’m more of a mix of Calvin
Harris, Avicii, and Kaskade with Foster the People, the Black Keys, and Mumford
and Sons type of person.
For those who are offended, my apologies – but this IS a
blog
Despite my opinion, Justin Bieber currently has 17,847,094
followers on the social network Twitter (I’m not one of them…but you CAN follow me @DannyyyyG).
His My World album went platinum only
3 months after it was released and in 2011, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga were
rated as the two most charitable celebrities (Beebs came first). He has
dedicated an inordinate amount of time towards supporting charities and
charitable events, including charitable concerts and appearances. His work
should be praised!?
One of the topics for discussion in today’s lecture involved
pop music figures and the difficulty of being able to regard their actions and
words as sincere and authentic. An example regarding this topic of discussion
was mentioned at the end of class involving the Jonas Brothers and their purity
rings – can we really believe that they
will abstain from sexual intercourse before marriage? Then it dawned on me
– what about Tim Tebow’s remarks regarding his virginity. Do we believe/trust Tebow
more than we do the Jonas Brothers? Or Bieber’s/Lady Gaga’s actions as being sincere?
I feel that the reason why society finds it difficult to acknowledge the
sincerity of pop music figures is because there is a fundamental difference
between how we perceive the controversial values inherent in the entertainment
industry and the so-called ‘redeeming’ qualities of the athlete. Documentaries
and interviews on athletes, especially with boxers, often times reveal a
troubled or difficult childhood. The athlete emphasizes and attributes qualities
such as hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and discipline to their ability
succeed in life and in their respective sport. I believe that these ‘life
qualities’ are what society admires and ultimately adopts. The NBA and the NFL
all donate to charities and a majority of players from these respective leagues have their
own charities as well. That being said, let’s not forget about the Tiger Woods
saga or should I say scandal! Maybe society is just inherently cynical and
questions the altruistic actions of all groups. Perhaps this is not specific to
the music industry. Were people cynical when pop culture figures performed
charitable work or donated sums of money 15-20 years ago or is this a recent
trend?
Ps. In the time I took to write this blog, Justin Bieber gained
2,102 more followers on Twitter.
Besides basketball, there are other sports in which athletes
refer to God. As an example, a soccer version of a Jeremy Lin is that of
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, also commonly known as Kaka. A devout Evangelical
Christian, Kaka is considered one of the greatest Brazilian soccer players to
play the beautiful game. What makes him a topic for discussion in this course
you ask? The same reason why Jeremy Lin is being discussed; his public display
of faith to God as well as his role as a ‘Saviour’ for his team. In his speech
after winning the Player of the Year Award in 2007, Kaka quoted
the Bible. After the 2002 World Cup, Kaka removed his
jersey to reveal the words “I Belong To Jesus” inscribed on his t-shirt.
Moreover, after a near-death experience, Kaka
attributed his recovery to God saying, “It was a moment of spiritual growth
with God…I always read the Bible to pass the time…then I began to have
experiences with God myself" (CHAMPIONS Magazine). Given that he has claimed to have had experiences
with God and is of the most humble players in the world, Kaka embodies
Kozlovic’s characteristics of ‘simplicity’ and ‘divinely sourced’ as a
Christ-figure.
But do we need to
“keep religion out” of sport or football? (in the case of the New York
Times blog below) is a question that is debatable. Is there a place for
religion in sport? Should players keep their religious comments/beliefs to
themselves? Why is it that athletes tend to mention God when they win but not when they lose? It’s interesting to note that both Jeremy Lin and Kaka are
Evangelical Christians and are, to some extent, considered ‘Saviours’ for their
respective teams.
Bernard Cornwell, a British author, once said that
television is a young person’s medium. I remember the days of Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Adventures of
Tintin, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Three Stooges, The Magic School Bus,
Popeye the Sailor Man, as well as the original Batman television series starring Adam West and Burt Ward. I grew
up watching these shows religiously and, in a sense, these shows were either a
part of my childhood or early teen years. As a child, for some strange reason I
believed that spinach would give me massive biceps. I related to certain
characters, while trying to imitate others. In a sense, I lived vicariously
through the characters in the shows I followed.
The more I contemplate Cornwell’s aforementioned quote in
light of these shows and others, the more I have come to the obvious
realization that television, apart from serving certain educational purposes,
has introduced me to and has exposed me to society and the world around me.
During Tuesday’s lecture, it was argued that at different times in one’s life
the metaphors that are associated with television, as outlined in article
written by Dettweiler and Taylor, change. I would argue that not only have the
metaphors changed but so too has the content of the shows. In
certain examples, the content not only serves as the antithesis to common ways
of behaving and living but also serves to distort and obscure what is defined and/or
meant by proper conduct.
In lecture we discussed how Christians were being
represented in narrative television and in reality shows, but what about the representation of Christian values? Even if you want to disregard religious values, what about a
basic conduct of living and a sense of morality i.e. respect for yourself and
others as well as right versus wrong? I feel that certain sitcoms and televisions shows are creating a false
sense of living and a misrepresentation of proper/normal behaviours. As an
example, the sitcom Entourage is one
particular television show that was extremely appealing and popular. The notion
that viewers live vicariously through their favourite television actors and, in
turn, adopt their particular traits, becomes troublesome when you look at how
Ari Gold (the main character) treats women, his assistant, and his employees. His behaviour is rude, chauvinistic, and abhorrent but somehow
attractive! Two and a half men is
another example of a sitcom with controversial messages but we all know about
that…
