Reading Responses Weeks 1 and 2

Sports Writing in America: Myths, Memories, Heroes, and Villains

Week 1

The readings for this first week were really interesting. They explored a theme of sports that I had experienced, but truly sat down and analyzed before: sports as a religion. All of the readings were unique and interesting in their own ways; however, McKinley’s article and Serazio’s piece stood out to me the most.

Part One

Both McKinley and Serazio take on a somewhat analytic approach to this notion of participating in sports fandoms as being a religious experience. For example, both authors use scientific studies and pull in external sources to back up their claims — which builds their sense of credibility with their audience and strengthens their arguments. However, the articles vary in tone. For instance, McKinley’s article dives into more of the psychological and scientific reasons as to why humans are drawn to sports and fan culture. While on the other hand, Serazio uses first person and questions to engage the reader and more casually discuss his claim that sports are replacing the traditional institutions of family and religion. Nonetheless, the core messages of both articles seem intertwine similar ideas and claims.

Part Two

Both articles address the idea of sports replacing religion. I agree with that claim; I think that religion is all about hope and community and the intense fan culture of sports seems to directly stem from those themes. We follow certain teams in hopes of them winning and become so invested in being a part of the team that we purchase merchandise, tailgate, and spend hours watching games that we almost feel as though we are part of the team. We feel a connection to the players and others who share our interest in the sport. We feel as though we are part of a community and develop a sense of identification with a group — which is a similar occurrence with those who believe in religions.

Has religion become such an ingrained part of our society that we seek attributes of religion and worship in other parts of our lives? Is this why we have become so invested in sports, music and other forms of entertainment? Or is it just an animalistic need to feel a sense of belonging?

I think this desire to belong to a community, have an identity and a sense of hope is what makes us human. If people are becoming less interested in religion — due to scientific discoveries or whatever the reasons may be — it only makes sense that we would create fandoms, or “churches”, where we discuss/worship our favorite teams or other interests in our lives.

Week 2 — Narrative and Analysis

Part One

There were two readings that stood out to me this week: Grantland Rice’s “Game Called” and Tom Boswell’s “Pain”.

Both articles took a very artistic approach to sports writing. For instance, Rice begins his article about Babe Ruth with a poem honoring the famed baseball player’s life. But as the article continues, Rice uses descriptive language, quotations and humor to honor the real Babe — not the hero the media portrayed. Even though this article includes the cliched sports hero worshipping, Rice uses anecdotes and quotes to share his memories of Babe which humanizes him and makes him more relatable to the audience. The casual tone of the article also adds to its success by making the reader feel as though they have gained access to Babe’s personal life.

On the other hand, Boswell’s article is dark, descriptive and brutally honest. He sets the tone of the article off right away with the iconic line: “Boxing at its best is beastly” (455). Boswell uses poetic language to not only analyze the sport of boxing, but also its fans and the metaphoric value of “Roberto Duran’s public assault on Sugar Ray Leonard” (455). He expands his analysis from the classic underdog narrative to provide the reader with a social commentary about the struggles Panamanians face on a daily basis and their strength. It is this description of larger social issues that Boswell touches on in “Pain” that makes the article more compelling than classic game summaries.

But why do articles that contain deep analysis or mythological aspects appeal to American audiences?

Part Two

Our society craves stories; we want to immerse ourselves into the dramatics and anticipation that go along with storytelling in hopes to briefly escape our reality. We seem to be especially drawn to narratives that we find relatable. Maybe that is why we find stories of the classic underdog rising up to defeat the favored team so intriguing in sports culture and literature, since we have all felt like the underdog at some point or another in our lives.

When it comes to sports there is a vast range of different ways to approach writing about sports — from game summaries to biographies on famous professional athletes, the list is endless — but it is the articles that dive into the personal lives of the athletes or social issues surrounding the sport that transform ordinary sports columns from boring statistics-filled cliches into beautiful narratives and analyses.