Summer of our Sporting Discontent

By Dave Zirin
The Nation
September 7, 2010

http://www.thenation.com/blog/154545/summer-our-sporting-discontent?rel=emailNation

By any measure this country is in an ugly mood. Double- digit
unemployment and a growing sense that the environment,
economy, and empire are heading south, has Americans walking
with a stoop and a scowl. We have seen this national agenda
expectorate into the world of sports. The sporting summer of
2010 was supposed to be a joyous festival of the World Cup,
historic baseball pennant races, and the most dynamic NBA
free agent period in sports history. Instead, the nation's
fever dream has become the sports world's nightmare.

First, there was the intrusion on the sports page of
America's favorite doughy mascot of resentment, Glenn Beck.
Beck couldn't let the 2010 World Cup go [1]by without using
it to tap into his gravy train of paranoia: globalization, a
one world government, and our Kenyan President Overlord
Barack Obama. Obama represents "the World Cup of political
thought." Beck stated, "It doesn't matter how you try to sell
it to us.we don't want the World Cup, we don't like the World
Cup, we don't like soccer, we want nothing to do with it..The
rest of the world likes Barack Obama's policies, we do
not...I hate it so much, probably because the rest of the
world likes it so much, and they riot over it, and they
continually try to jam it down our throat." The most popular
sporting celebration on earth, had become just more fodder
for the 21st century neo-confederate culture wars.

We still had the most exciting free agency period in the
history of the National Basketball Association. Two of the
three best players in the sport, Lebron James and Dwyane
Wade, were unfettered to sign with the city and team of their
choice. Wade made the choice to stay with the Miami Heat.
Lebron chose to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers to join him,
creating a duo of dynamic wing players without precedent.
Lebron's decision, however, was handled with the diplomacy of
Dick Cheney. He teased cities around the country to maximum
media effect, and then announced his choice on a stomach-
churning ESPN special, that may have redefined callow
narcissism. Going to Miami, perhaps the worst sports town on
the planet to play with Dwyane Wade and fellow free agent
superstar Chris Bosh, turned the stomachs of NBA fans,
coaches, and the Mt. Rushmore of middle-aged NBA legends,
Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Charles
Barkley. [2]

But if his choice left something to be desired, the backlash
against James in Cleveland spoke to something far more
insidious. The Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert posted a bizarre
screed [3] where he accused James of "cowardly betrayal." The
next day he approached slander, accusing James of effectively
throwing playoff games during his Cavaliers tenure. Cleveland
"fans" took to the streets and burned James' jersey and his
family required a police escort to leave town. The NBA fined
Gilbert $100,000 for his comments and fans offered to pay the
fine.

The awful irony [3] is that Cleveland is the home foreclosure
capital of the United States and Gilbert earned his fortune
earned as CEO of Quicken Loans, offering zero money down
mortgages and reaping he benefits from the misery produced
(2009-20010 were the most profitable years for Quicken Loans
on record.) It's a remarkable sign of our times that a
person, Dan Gilbert, who has been one of the profiteers of
our collective misery becomes a Cleveland folk hero while
Lebron James has to run for his life.

But it's not the only sign of our times. Politics are not
only intruding on the world of sports from the right flank.
Boisterous demonstrations [4]have greeted Major League
Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks whenever they play on the
road. 17 separate cities have become places where protest has
come right to the park. In some cities, the protest hasn't
confined itself to the front gates [5] but made its way onto
the field of play. The uniting theme of these actions has
been to move the 2011 All-Star Game out of Phoenix in protest
of the vile anti-immigrant legislation that now defines the
state. Sometimes you can tell the justness of your cause by
those who stand against you, and it was MLB Commissioner Bud
Selig who has damned protestors for daring to invade his
pristine sport with concerns "best left to politicians." [6]

By extension, Selig was also damning the several dozen
ballplayers have spoken out against Arizona's laws. As St.
Louis Cardinals superstar Albert Pujols said, "I'm opposed to
it. How are you going to tell me that, me being Hispanic, if
you stop me and I don't have my ID, you're going to arrest
me? That can't be." [7]

To have someone of Pujols' stature speak out was a moment of
hope. Then the star slugger decided to join his manager Tony
La Russa at Glenn Beck's 100,000 plus "I have a scheme" rally
at the mall. Sportswriter Buzz Bissinger tweeted that Beck
was a Nazi and excoriated La Russa and Pujols for lending
their legitimacy to the gathering. Word was that more than a
few of Pujols teammates weren't happy to see him do it
either. Then his first eight games after attending this farce
Pujols went 3 of 26, with one RBI, effectively ending his
opportunity to become the first National League player since
"Ducky" Medwick in 1937 to win the Triple Crown, while his
team went into a full-scale-swoon. This time, Bud Selig
couldn't rouse himself to criticize the people involved for
mixing his sacred, virginal-white world of sports with
politics. It was a fitting end to a polarizing, bitter summer
in the sports-lovin' USA... and the NFL season couldn't start
soon enough.

_____________________________________________

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