Not Just a game

Politics have historically been an enormous part of sports. Many of the world’s most famous athletes have used sport as a platform for change as the article Not Just a Game by Dave Zirin states. Zirin believes that sports and politics should always intertwine. He points to the fact that famous athletes such as Muhammad Ali and Bully Jean King used sports to promote social change. He then proclaims that the problem in sports today is that players do not use sport as a political device. I however disagree with Zirin’s views. First, I see sports as a way to escape the reality of everyday life and politics. I believe that this is a positive aspect, not a negative one. Take the example of the New Orleans Saints return to the Super Dome after Hurricane Katrina. People had gone through such hardship and they chose that football game as a way to escape reality, if only for a few hours. The next point of disagreement I have with Zirin is his stance that athletes should stand up for causes, just as Muhammad Ali and Billy Jean King did. My response to that is: What cause? These athletes today are making millions of dollars per year and have money and power to do pretty much anything they wish. No athletes today are being blatantly segregated against in the way that Muhammad Ali and Billy Jean King were. No one today is being drafted to go to war the way Ali was. Times are changing and Zirin’s ideas have not evolved from the 1960’s. It is time to move on and face the new challenges that today brings us.