Time to Give Sports a Back Seat?

No baller had the body control and sweetness of Connie Hawkins. I was that dude who thought I saw the greatest athlete and hoopster – ever! Along came Julius Erving – the Doctor. Surely, no one would ever play ball with the smoothness and commitment of the Doc. How great that I could see the heights of basketball in my lifetime!

Enter Michael Jordan. It took me a while to admit it, but he was good. Might have been better than Doctor J! I was stunned by his commitment to hoops but, moreso, I was taken by MJ as a pop culture figure. He and Mars Blackmon introduced me to a different world. Despite being a lifelong Knicks fan, I rocked the high-top, leather, black-white-red Jordans with my suit (fifty-dollar sneaker, but I had a job). It had been a long time that I followed an athlete. Jordan’s image gave me a look at beauty, precision, style, and intelligence in a Black athlete. With help from Spike Lee and others, MJ’s image was smooth, cool, and hip, high-class street. I was willing to put up with his imperfections – he gambled, didn’t say profound things, and was amazingly apolitical – and got pulled into the hype. Mike, basketball, and the entire culture connected around MJ connected me with others – I played very little hoop at the time and rarely went to a game, but I wanted to own the Chicago Bulls so I could hang with Mike — sports was an important part of my life.

Now, with a recession in full force, concerns about nuclear destruction, embarrassing world poverty, and global violence, President O and his wife are pulling out the stops on an important national priority – sports. Why do we put such efforts into sports? Is it important? How do we let it get us so hyped? Do sports have the right priority in our collective lives? Multi-million dollar stadiums and athletic scholarships – should we eliminate the tax breaks and find different ways to subsidize expenses for people to go to school?

We will never get rid of play and sport, but should we get rid of their institutions and re-direct the resources that support sport in the society and a seemingly overwhelming sports culture? Let’s talk about it this afternoon at Coffee and Conversation. I’ll bring the cookies and the coffee, you bring your game. See you this afternoon, 3-5 p.m. in the Howard Thurman Center.

Peace.