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HOW SPORTS HAS IMPACTED AMERICAN LIFE AND LITERATURE
Sports in Literature
SPORTS AND SOCIETY
“I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people's accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man's failures.” Supreme Court Chief
Justice Earl Warren “Sports is human life
in microcosm.” Howard Cosell
WHY SPORTS IN LITERATURE?
Great literature requires both human exultation and tragedy, small melodrama and a strong emotional pull; it ultimately must make us feel like we want to be part the story.
Sports, in-and-of-itself, meets those requirements. All it takes is a good author and a great sport’s story to put us on the court , ice, or field of play.
ANCIENT GREECE 750 BC (THE ARCHAIC PERIOD) TO 146 BC (THE ROMAN CONQUEST)
Much is written about sports in ancient Greek literature.
The ideal Greek was considered courageous and athletic.
The Greek festivals were rife with athletic contests that were engaged in as a tribute to their pantheon of gods.
ANCIENT GREECE
At the various “crown festivals”, or Olympiads, the winners received a wreath that symbolized victory and the favor of the gods.
At Panathenaic games winners received the equivalent of cash prizes. They received items like
olive oil in black-figured amphoras. The distinctive container always bore the inscription that it was won in Athens.
ANCIENT GREECE
The extent to which Ancient Greece was enamored with sport is seen in the architecture. In many cases the sports arenas were in the center of the city.
In most ancient civilizations the city’s center was reserved for the most important or most “holy” buildings.
This makes sense since the Greeks viewed sports as a way to honor their gods.
ANCIENT GREECE
Greek mythology has many references to athletic prowess engaged in by many of the gods and demi-gods.
Apollo and Artemis were archers, Heracles wrestled, Polydeuces was a boxer, Achilles (demi-god) was athletically skilled in many ways.
Two mortals of mythological fame were Paris and Hector. Paris was a great archer and Hector a skilled fighter in general.
GREECE TO ROME
Rome essentially adopted much of Greek culture, from gods to sports and all points in between.
Chariot racing was of particular significance to the Romans. Four different parties or factions: the
red, the green, the white, and the blue.
Successful drivers were like the superstars of today.
Rome then influenced western culture and the affinity for sports continued.
SOCCER
Known in Europe as football. It is believed to have originated in
Asia around 1000 B.C. It finally made its way to England
around the A.D. 1300s where it suffered through various bans by monarchs. People were literally arrested for playing
the game because various monarchs viewed it as a “frivolous” waste of time.
In the mid-1600s, during the reign of the Puritans, soccer played on Sunday was banned because it was believed to “disturb the peace on the Lord’s day.”
SOCCER
Soccer would eventually gain mainstream acceptance to the point it became a part of public school curriculum.
Another sport that gained popularity in England and was translated to America was cricket; which had an impact in the invention of baseball.
SPORTS AND AMERICANS
In Britain sports was considered “low” culture so their great authors did not spend a lot of time writing about it. This did not mean that great, British writers like
Sir Conan Doyle did not enjoy sports, they did. It was just not considered expedient for them to write about it.
In America, the line between “high” and “low” culture was more blurred and great American authors like Hemingway, Runyon, Lardner, Mailer, Simon, Plimpton, and Kerouac could all be sports journalists if they so desired. Once Hemingway received $30,000.00 for an article
on bull fighting from Sports Illustrated. Sports is very much a part of the American
culture.
SPORTS AND AMERICANS
The great American playwright Neil Simon skillfully used sports as a backdrop in his play The Odd Couple by making one of the main characters, Oscar Madison, a sports writer.
F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby has his main character (Jay Gatsby) tied into the gamblers that helped fix the 1919 World Series.
In America, sports is the ever-present backlighting to life.
SPORTS AND AMERICANS
It was sports that helped bring to light racial injustices in America. Jesse Owens winning 4
gold medals during the 1936 Olympics that were being held in Berlin in Nazi Germany.
Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in, what was then, the most popular sport in America baseball.
SPORTS AND AMERICANS
On February 25, 1964, a young man by the name of Cassius Clay won the heavy weight title from Sonny Listen in what was considered a huge upset. That was the sports impact.
The social impact was to be felt the next day as the new young champ said he was changing his name to Cassius X because he was now a member of the Nation of Islam and that Clay was a slave name. A week later he would permanently
change it to Muhammad Ali.
SPORTS AND AMERICANS
It was once again sports that played a role in the civil rights fight in 1968.
Two U.S. Olympic runners, Tommy Smith who had won the gold and John Carlos who had won the bronze, protested by raising black-gloved fists to symbolize Black Power during the national anthem.
The Australian silver medal winner (Peter Norman) wore a “civil rights” badge to show support for them. If you want to get the attention of
Americans do something during a sports program. You are certain to get a reaction.
The two American runners were stripped of their medals.
SPORTS AND AMERICANS
In the very same year the Heidi Game occurred.
This was an AFL game between the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders.
With 65 seconds left in the game, for Eastern and Central time zones, NBC cut-away from the game to go to a made for TV movie of the classic story Heidi.
At that time the Jets were winning 32-29. After NBC left the game the Raiders scored 14 unanswered points to win the game 43-32. The phone lines of NBC affiliates in Eastern and
Central time zones lit up. After that networks changed their policy and after that all programming is bumped back until the game is over.
This is ranked by a 2010 issue of TV Guide as one of the top 5 blunders in television history.
SPORTS AND AMERICANS
The Cold War, international relations, and sports were to make for some dramatic Olympic moments.
1972-Men’s Basketball
1972-Massacre 1980-Men’s
Hockey
THE COLD WAR 1945-1991
It was essentially a geopolitical battle between the democratic, capitalist United States and the Marxist, socialist Soviet Union or USSR. It was a military standoff in the sense both
powers had the ability to annihilate each other with nuclear weapons.
It was a political standoff in the sense each tried to undermine the other through political manipulations of the others allies and friends.
For 46 years the political, and sometimes, military, confrontation of the two superpowers had an emotional and physical effect on events such as the International Olympic Games. The war was played out in a dramatic fashion on that particular stage.
1972-MEN’S BASKETBALLINJUSTICE IN MUNICH
Up to the 1972 Olympics the United States men’s basketball team was 63-0. They had won every gold medal ever given for men’s basketball in Olympic competition. As you can see they not only won
every gold medal they had never lost a game!
In 1972 that all came to a crashing, highly controversial halt.
1972-MEN’S BASKETBALL
With 10 seconds left and the U. S. team down 49-48 Doug Collins drives to the bucket and is intentionally fouled to set up two foul shots with 3 seconds left.
Collins makes both shots giving the U.S. their first lead in the game.
According to international rules you cannot call a timeout after a foul shot. You must first inbound the ball and then the coach can push a red button and arrange for the timeout.
1972-MEN’S BASKETBALL
The Soviets inbound play went into chaos and they could not , and did not, get the ball inbounded before the clock ran out.
As the U.S. was celebrating yet another gold the Soviets rushed to the scorer’s table to protest and say they did call a time out before Collins’ second free throw.
1 second was put on the clock and the Soviets were allowed to inbound the ball again.
1972-MEN’S BASKETBALL
Time was stopped because the Bulgarian referee said fans were on the court. They were not.
Then the buzzer to end the game sounds again but that was overruled from the stands by R. William Jones of Great Britain, the secretary general of the International Amateur Basketball Federation (FIBA), who had no jurisdiction in the Olympic games.
Yet, based on the decision of this man with no authority the Soviets are given the ball and 3 seconds to inbound.
1972-MEN’S BASKETBALL
The Brazilian official told America’s Nate McMillen to back off of the Soviet in bounder so he could have some space to inbound the ball. If he did not he was going to hit him with a technical.
There is no such rule. So McMillen backs off to the 15 foot line! The Soviet in bounder throws a perfect pass
to Aleksander Belov who makes the winning basket.
A U.S. protest was voted down along ideological lines by the panel empowered to review such things; 3 communist countries voted against the U.S. and 2 western democracies voted for the U.S.
Soviets gained their ill-gotten gold. This event would ratchet up tensions between
the two superpowers.
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, a Palestinian terrorist group by the name of Black September kidnapped members of the Israeli Olympic team.
When it was all over they killed eleven Israeli athletes and coaches during the rescue attempt by Israeli forces. Sports was once again viewed
as a forum for change.
1980-MEN’S HOCKEYMIRACLE ON ICE
By 1980, the American economy was in the tank, American hostages were being held by Iran, and it felt like, to the American people, we were on the verge of losing the Cold War.
Then comes the shot in the arm only a heroic sports story can bring.
1980-MEN’S HOCKEY
Prior to the 1980 Winter Olympics America had been moderately successful in Olympic hockey.
They had won one gold medal (1960), four silver medals (1924, 1952, 1956 & 1972), and one bronze (1936).
The Soviets, on the other hand, had won gold every Olympics except 1960 to that point.
1980-MEN’S HOCKEY
Another backdrop to this was that amateurs were the only ones that could compete in the Olympics at this time. Essentially professionals were not
allowed. The U.S., Canada, Britain, and
other democratic nations had to use players who were not being paid for their sport currently.
They had to use college level players; kids between the ages of 18 and 22.
1980-MEN’S HOCKEY
The Soviets and other communist nations used the equivalent of professionals but claimed they were only amateurs because they were technically not paid to play the sport.
They received a government stipend to live on like every other citizen in their country and merely played their sport as a duty to their country.
In 1975-76 the Russian national team played a series of games against NHL teams and won a majority of the games.
One big exception was when they played the Philadelphia Flyers who were the Stanley Cup Champions and known as the Broad Street Bullies.
They Flyers won 4-1. At one point, the Soviet coach pulled his team off the ice saying the Flyers were playing too rough.
1980-MEN’S HOCKEY
The gist of the matter is this; in 1980 the U.S. Hockey team got on an incredible roll to the point they were to play the Soviets in the semi-final game to see who would play Finland for the gold.
Prior to the Olympics that year, on February 9, 1980 the Soviets had crushed the Americans 10–3.
1980-MEN’S HOCKEY
The Soviets kept taking 1 goal leads but the Americans kept responding. 1-0, 2-1, 3-2
At the end of the first period the U.S. tied it up 2-2 and the Soviet coach, Viktor Tikhonov, pulled their goal tender, Vladislav Tretiak, who was considered one of the best goal tenders in the world.
The Russians had a 3-2 lead by the end of the second period but a power play at the 6:47 mark of the 3rd period would tie the score 3-3.
1980-MEN’S HOCKEY
The unimaginable; Mike Eruzione of the U.S. scored the go ahead goal at the 10 minute mark to give the U.S. their first lead 4-3.
The Russians tried furiously to tie the game but to no avail.
U.S. goal tender Jim Craig was up to the task and turned away the Soviet onslaught.
1980-MEN’S HOCKEY
“Eleven seconds, you've got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles?...YES!”
Al Michaels’ call at the end of the game
Anchor man Jim McKay compared the U.S. victory to a group of Canadian college football players beating the Pittsburgh Steelers.
1980-MEN’S HOCKEY
The U.S. would go on to win against Finland 4-2.
This game was not without drama though.
They were down to Finland 2-1 by the end of the second period.
Their coach Herb Brooks told them "If you lose this game, you'll take it to your graves.“
They scored three unanswered goals to secure victory and the gold.
1980-MEN’S HOCKEY
Outside of sports what impact did this game have?
It boosted American confidence in themselves.
It felt like we had just won the Cold War.
It was a testament to what hard work, perseverance, and faith in your own ability could do.
It was the content of what great literature is all about.
SPORTS AND AMERICANS
“What interests me is the human dimension of this story -how the spirit of countless people is subverted by wealthy owners who skip town to become even wealthier, and how the mere threat of franchise removal continues to bring great cities to their knees as they scramble to mollify owners with new stadiums and other expensive perquisites and maintain their big-league image. In almost every case, it’s the fans who get ripped off. Either they lose their home team to another city, or they end up paying additional taxes that keep an owner in limousines and Acapulco vacations.”
Howard Cosell from I Never Played the Game on sports franchise movement.
SPORTS AND AMERICANS
Franchise movement has become a municipal nightmare for many city politicians around the United States and Canada.
Taxpayers are more involved than ever in paying for new facilities for owners who can well afford to pay for these things themselves.
Howard Cosell wrote that piece in 1986. Things have not changed.
Cosell also pointed out in his book that teams were never really losing money. Some owners were not making as much as other owners and wanted more; it is simply greed that drove them and still drives them to move franchises today.
SPORTS AND LITERATURE
Why sports and literature? Because American culture is as
tied into sports as any civilization has been since the city-states of Greece.
Even the American author Herman Melville back in 1851 wrote of a fisherman trying to get even with a whale.
Take sports out of American literature and there is not much left to write about. Or at least, large holes will be found in what is written without it.
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