At the outset let me make it clear that I am not a sports person and I have hardly any familiarity with sports. When I was a child in a village school, most sports of the present type did not exist, and even to the available sports I had no access. It was an e-mail from achougoo, which prompted me to write this review. If my review turns out to be too cynical and in the category of “fools rushing in where angels fear to tread”, I pass on the blame to him!
Sports in the past
Sport as an activity is probably as old as civilisation itself. In the earlier ages, some sports such as hunting and the earlier avatars of Chess were royal prerogatives to which the commoners had no access. In the not so distant past, history books used to contain interesting accounts of how kingdoms were lost and gained, or countries waged wars for some trivia or other that passed for sports(whereas now such accounts are being replaced by astrology, numerology, palmistry, omens, auspicious times, etc., etc.).
New ones have replaced many of the earlier sports
varieties, and sports such as Cricket(which in some sense was unknown to India, or if known, was known only to parts of it) have gained in popularity and become instruments of counterpoise between hostile countries(the references
should include Shiv Sena’s stand on Cricket between India and Pakistan).
The great transformation
The rise in importance of sports as a global phenomenon is recent. This has much to do with more and more countries becoming sovereign and democratic since World War II; passing off the great traditions, with many rapidly and steadily modernising; increasing industrialisation; spread of education; rise of the middle class; and most important of all, rise of an all pervasive entertainment industry, comparable in many senses to the great consumer industry(in some sense the latter subsumes the former), confounded by the ongoing globalization.
How sports became an important social institution, when; and how the great transformation from the local to the global has taken place, are, among other things, in the realm of sports history which only specialists can explain. However, a layperson’s curiosity should raise several issues.
A social conundrum
In the realm of creativity there has never been anything comparable to poetry, fiction-writing, painting, music, philosophy, and architecture – to cite only a few upper-most on my mind. By their very nature all these, probably with the exception of architecture, were individual-centred. What is notable about most of them is, more often than not, the progenitors worked against all odds, lived and died in penury, whereas their progenies or products gained in popularity, when they were dead and gone, became world renowned, to be sold to the highest bidder at mind-boggling prizes, to adorn palaces, drawing rooms, and coffee-tables of the rich and snobbish.(Remember the life and works of world celebrities like Vincent Van Gogh?)
This is in sharp contrast to the works of the dramatis personae of the present entertainment industry of sports and cinema. This industry has become so integral to the prestige of governments and business houses that overnight an X becomes a Sprint Queen, [expunged] because she can stretch her legs longer and faster, a Y becomes a Grandmaster [expunged] because he is adept in moving Coins, and a Z becomes a demi-god [expunged] because he is adept in batting and/or bowling, or in kicking the innocent ball(yes, the same ball which Bernard Shaw would have liked to give one each to each one of the players instead of all the players chasing the innocent one!).
The politics and economics of sports
Politicians(leave alone the connoisseurs for the time being) may argue, at least for public consumption, that running is good for health(whose?), kicking is good for legs(whose?), and moving Coins(if not minting them!) is good for brain growth(whose?).
While all this is fine prima facie, the rise in importance of the entertainment industry, especially of sports should raise at least seven issues.
The anomalies
One, in the realm of sports(as in cinema), whether the nations have been going for overkill of their democratic pretensions. More so, when in a world population of about 7 billion only microscopic fractions have access to the sports industry.
Two, if the nations are spending heavily on sports industry(apparently the tax payers money!) what are its returns in real diplomatic and monetary(foreign trade and foreign exchange) terms.
Three, whether the matches are sponsored by the nations or their business classes, are not the payments to the players disproportionately too high. More so, when such payments are in addition to all the expenses that go into their training and arrangements for the matches; and the media publicity, which they get itself, and the fan-following which it creates amply and adequately compensate them for their contribution.
Four, if certain individuals have chosen sports as their profession, should they not be paid like any other trained professionals such as doctors, engineers, and journalists, and what is the need for entrenching and enriching them with too many benefits.
Five, in a country like India with an alarming rate of unemployment among even the educated, is it fair for the government to arbitrarily appoint someone as an executive, overlooking all others, merely because that person ran faster.
Six, as the compensation packages for some of the professional tasks are arbitrary, is there no need for regulatory mechanisms in the entertainment industry covering sports, cinema, and even prostitution(to the well being of the prostitutes!), and should the income tax sleuths not ensure that the income accruing to individuals does not result in unhealthy accumulation by taking away the surplus which is a major requirement for creating the much-needed initial equality of circumstances which alone can result in the later development of equality of opportunities(meaning each individual is equally equipped with the skills and have equal chance to participate in society’s opportunity structure).
Seven, as democracy is rhetoric of expectations causing the so-called revolution of rising expectations, will such expectations often not go awry if citizens are treated with invidious and socially outrageous distinctions merely because some professions have mass appeal and fan-following which others do not have.
Eight, when the average citizens have to pass through the rough and tumble of life to make a living, leave alone comfortable living, it is again invidious and socially outrageous that a few, because of government support and fan-following sit on the pile as the world’s parasites and lotus eaters.
[PS. I have not touched upon match fixing as I believe it is inevitable to the larger sports fixation.]