The Other Side of Sports

Are sports simply a form of entertainment or is there some deeper meaning off the field we are not seeing? From ancient Greece to modern times, sports have always been a big attraction. But in the cable and digital age it is bigger and more lucrative than ever. Sports encompass the world. From soccer in Latin America to cricket in India to hockey in Canada, millions of people are energized by and care about their teams and players. Heroes rise and fall. Tiger Woods, Brett Favre, Lance Armstrong. There are sex scandals, doping, and murder trials. And it’s not just compromised athletes but the owners too. Witness the racist comments by Donald Sterling, the disgraced owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers. Media coverage once again demonstrated how sports intersect with critical societal issues.

This event was presented by the Lannan Foundation.

Featured guest/speaker:

Dave Zirin is sports editor for The Nation magazine and host of Edge of Sports Radio.  He is the author of many books including The John Carlos Story, What’s My Name, Fool?, A People’s History of Sports in the United States, Game Over: How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down and Brazil’s Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, the Olympics and the Future of Democracy.


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