Sports & Privilege

After a difficult and distressing loss (though it's still great to be a Michigan wolverine!), I find myself looking back and reflecting on the role and importance of sports in our culture today. Last night, I watched my team compete for the National Championship in men's basketball along with thousands of other fans. As the final buzzer sounded, announcing Michigan's defeat, every face in the crowd looked incredibly disappointed and morose. Why do sports have this effect on us? Isn't it just a game? And how do they make us feel so united (for instance, when you high-five the people sitting around you, even though you don't know them)? I think these questions would be good starting points for a new project (apart from my genealogy project) that would involve investigating sports and the role they play in our lives and our society.

Another point I want to make about sports and how important they are in our culture is: we are very privileged to be able to watch, play, and care about this popular pastime. As Thylias mentioned during our last class, during which we debated about a hypothetical situation involving actor Ryan Gosling, we are very privileged to be able to have conversations and arguments about hypothetical situations. Similarly, we are privileged to be able to expend so much energy caring about sports. In impoverished nations, most people must focus all their energy on simply surviving. Meanwhile, we are able to have fun and invest much time and energy into what is - really, when it comes down to it - "just a game." Although sports fans cheer on their teams every week, it seems that they rarely pause to consider just how lucky and privileged they are. We are all very privileged to have been able to care so much about last night's game; even though we lost, we should still consider ourselves blessed with this special kind of privilege and opportunity.