2/27/12 - Not Just a Game

Right off the bat watching this documentary I looked for the position the speaker was going to take and what his credibility was. Although the "thesis" of the film is a little broad, it seems to generally be questioning the idea of politics and its [negative] influence on sports. The speaker seemed credible as well; he played sports as a child and has a passion for all types of sport. Being older as well lends to his credibility in that he has the experience of being immersed in sports for a longer while.
Two primary points stuck out to me while watching this documentary: the militarization of sports and equality in the arena (vs. white supremacy). One of the more interesting value claims was that of the "sports and politics don't mix" message. I had never heard of that before, and when I did I thought it was an absurd statement; that is exactly what the speaker is trying to argue in Not Just a Game: his point is that politics are so immersed in sports that they have become invisible to most of society. He argues that a simple look into sports uncovers a large political involvement. The military being a prominent figure in sports is an example of this. I don't even know how one could see the military at a sports game and not realize the involvement of politics. Another fascinating facet of politics in sports is the equality in the arena. This argument is a little dated, being that women and African-Americans are now almost becoming the majority of sports players. Anyway, the film notes the view that white men had on women in sports and then the view of African-Americans in sports. Both were obvious "threats" to the masculine and whites-only competition of games. That is a value claim that has since then been demolished to be replaced by the implicit value claim that everyone has a right to play sports (if they're good enough, which another value claim yet to be refuted).