Saturday, June 25, 2011

Culture or Sports

I went to a lecture today at the Texas Tech Museum, by Larry Lester, one of the founders of the  the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) http://www.nlbm.com/ in Kansas City, MO. It was presented in conjunction with the exhibit "We Are the Ship" http://www.wearetheship.com/; http://www.depts.ttu.edu/museumttu/exhsch11.html at the Texas Tech Museum.

The speaker commented repeatedly that sports reflect the political, cultural, societal trends of society.  I have had this debate before, and generally the persons with whom I have had this debate are derisive of the influence of sports on culture. These persons express the opinion that sport has nothing to do with culture.

I think sports has everything to do with culture:  I think it reflects the political culture of the times, the class culture, the treatment of the genders, the treatment of classes, religions, ethinic groups, and so on. I think sports is an important indicator of the culture of the times.

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