I was pointed to this video last weekend, where “[a]cclaimed Sports Illustrated and The Nation sportswriter,” Dave Zirin, was in Vancouver “speak[ing] about activism, sports and the Olympics as part of a series entitled ‘Politics in the Ring‘;”
“Zirin talked about the idea of activist athletes, what they’ve fought for, and what they’ve opposed. From feminist uprisings against wearing corsets in tennis, to Muhammad Ali’s activist conversion after his Olympic win, Zirin showed that sports has the power to extend beyond just spectacle. […]Â Versed in the history of sports, Zirin was critical of the hypocritical stance the International Olympic Committee has taken on several issues over the past century…”
Speaking as an individual who spent most of his childhood attention following and playing various “organized” — even playing hockey with a bunch of idiots in the street involves a little organization — sport, and being thoroughly uninterested in the whole idea of professional incarnations of sport, for going on 20 years, I found this “talk” quite interesting. Even refreshing.
Check it out…