So mostly because I just left a day filled with field hockey tournaments and volleyball, my head is stuck on sports and that will be my blog post topic. There is a high chance most of my remaining blogs will mention sports...and I am shocked I have not actually included a mention in more posts because sports happen to occupy my life.
Anyways....talking about extraordinary versus ordinary news, I was trying to think if those topics would apply to the sporting world, and what they would look like. Is there really news that comes out of the sporting world that propels us to action (or inaction), which was the definition of extraordinary news from the article? There has been the story of Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee runner from South Africa who is attempting to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. There have been deaths, like the one in mid-October at an Indy Car race that killed long-time driver Dan Wheldon. But are any of these propelling us to action?
The sports world, and especially the world of NASCAR, has been propelled by the death of Wheldon. There was a conversation with drivers about safety following the crash, and outcry from fans that the death could have been prevented. But most of the news about the crash has died off, with only the occasional story on the news and ESPN following other races. The whole world has been cheering for Pistorius, and its provided a heart-warming story prior to the Olympics.
The World Cup, as well, unites nations and brings us to reach for a common goal. The Olympics are also a huge example of the power of sports to unite countries and people, and drive support towards our athletes. So is this extraordinary news?
I think in some ways it definitely can be. Sports can be incredibly powerful, especially because of their ability to unite the public. The story of the South African rugby team, whose win at the Rugby World Cup is one of the clearest examples of the power sports can hold. The win by the team helped to unite a country in conflict, following the election of Nelson Mandela. The coverage that came out of that game and the images were not just powerful for South Africa, but also across the world.
South Africa celebrating following the 1995 Championship: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPMGlSMFZ30&t=1m42s
Sports don't drive people to action in the same way as news that comes after a tsunami or a terrible disaster, but it can compel us to action through our images and to unite behind a common goal. Sometimes a win by the home team can do more than anything else to unite a country.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This post made me think of several different development programs I've heard about in the past few months. There is a trend in using sports for development that has these same characteristics that you discussed in your blog such as unity. Sports allow people to find a common ground to learn from each other across cultures. One program I thought of is IREX's Kyrgyzstan Innovations in Coaching Kids, or KICK, which brings in experts in youth, sports and conflict management to teach local coaches new sports and techniques to help raise the level of sports in the community to get kids involved in more sports.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to the description- http://www.irex.org/project/kyrgyzstan-innovations-coaching-kids-kick
Additionally, the State Department uses sports such as soccer and skateboarding for public diplomacy programs. I think there is a lot to be said about the power of sports to unite not just people of one country or fan group, but different cultures as well.