The Power of Sports

Korea used sport to hurt, as well.

It is often claimed that sport is one of those few areas of human activity that can, and should, transcend politics. In 1988 the North’s boycott of the Seoul Olympics followed lengthy negotiations between the South, the North and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over the North’s desire to co-host the games, which was eventually refused. Unwilling to co-host the limited number of events offered to them by the South and the IOC, the North reverted to Cold War tactics, abandoning its plans to attend the Games. Politics trumps sport.

http://koreanunification.net/2007/11/27/sports-and-korean-reunification/

Reverend Sunmyung Moon uses Soccer and Martial Arts to promote peace.

http://www.reverendsunmyungmoon.org/works_sports.html

In, 2005 the U.N. used sports to call attention to some of the nagging needs — like poverty,
hunger, the spread of HIV-AIDS. 

http://www.kennesaw.edu/sport2005/pdf/si_article.pdf

Gunmen Opened Fire on Sri Lanka Cricket Team in Pakistan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7920260.stm

http://www.dnaindia.com/speakup/report_attack-on-the-spirit-of-sports_1235974

Sports as a unifying force.

http://olympicparalympicsport.suite101.com/article.cfm/sport-as-a-unifying-force

Because of its position in the public eye, sport allows itself to question world affairs; to align itself with political causes; to show support for movements taking place worldwide

Adolf Hitler used “his” Olympics in 1936 to spread the message of his manifesto, which was subsequently made a mockery of when Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals, blowing Hitler’s message of “the master race;”

In 1968, the movement for increased independence of black Americans was offered a spotlight through the Olympic games with the show of solidarity shown by Tommy Smith and John Carlos raising a single fist to the national anthem, during their medal ceremony

in 1998 Iran met the U.S.A. in the football World Cup, a match which Iran won, and thus, for 90 minutes at least, could claim victory over an old enemy in a real sense

UN envoy stresses role of sports as unifying force among nations, peoples

Sport and politics have always been closely linked, ever since politicians realised they could use sport for their own gain

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=27198&Cr=sport&Cr1

“Sport is a universal language that unites people and breaks down barriers, whether they are ethical, religious, economic or social,” Wilfried Lemke

3 years ago  /  0 notes

television spots

Okay - so the league itself makes commercials, then the teams have commercials, then the teams have annual “theme songs.” So, these guys use a shitton of television.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoal-lCpWnU&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2SECf02h4A&feature=related (the guy hosting toward the end is Shah Ruhk Kahn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m5Rz7fHHGU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9Oz5diXNXU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPK6h_TEUPo&NR=1&feature=fvwp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTHOTVs2mPA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBBIrcKBMWk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBBIrcKBMWk&feature=PlayList&p=225B4D0F63986D47&index=0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaswpMvUR4M&feature=PlayList&p=225B4D0F63986D47&index=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPmc1RqGT00&feature=PlayList&p=225B4D0F63986D47&index=2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6rv9_NUQH0&feature=PlayList&p=225B4D0F63986D47&index=4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S21W42s4nTw&feature=PlayList&p=225B4D0F63986D47&index=5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sXBTP4PjCI&feature=PlayList&p=225B4D0F63986D47&index=6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EGBMegdyHo&feature=PlayList&p=225B4D0F63986D47&index=7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qh9r3kuNVE&feature=PlayList&p=225B4D0F63986D47&index=8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXUG7hSuDys&feature=PlayList&p=225B4D0F63986D47&index=9

3 years ago  /  0 notes

The movie Invictus is about how rugby affected South Africa in 1994-5.

http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/artsandbooks/artsandbooks/view/20100215-253216/In-Invictus-sports—unifies-a-divided-nation

“But Mandela, bent on reconciliation, apparently forgot his nearly three decades of incarceration and actively supported the event, even going so far as to reinstate the then lousy South African Springboks, colors, symbols and all, as the young nation’s official rugby union representatives.

All goes well in the end, with the underdog Springboks defying colossal odds to beat their traditional rivals, the haka-performing New Zealand All-Blacks, in the final.”

3 years ago  /  0 notes

Will’s thoughts about Cricket in the 21st Century

So, I’m piecing this together by interpreting the following articles. Here they are, for reference:

http://www.southafrica.info/about/sport/cricket.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/mihirbose/2008/12/conlicting_views_on_state_of_c.html

Cricket has historically been reserved for middle-class players. For the majority of the 20th century, the poorest and smallest practitioners of the sport (India, Pakistan, New Zealand) were relegated to B-level status. Classism and racism prevented England from touring India, Australia from touring New Zealand, and South Africa from playing India. When these First-class teams finally decided to play their ugly little cousins, they weren’t just surprised - they were beaten. Badly, in some cases.

Since then, times have changed in a very serious way. India is now the world power in when it comes to cricket. Not just because India produces the best players (that’s probably still the UK and Australia), but because of the IPL. The IPL is clearly one of the world’s most innovative sports franchises.

I think Alec’s point today about similarities between NASCAR and IPL are well founded. It takes a stroke of genius to modify a game so that it can be enjoyed by all. And while IPL has modified the rules of the televised game to enable cable deals and player contracts, there is one thing they can do better - helping lower-income players gain access to the game.

I propose we that the IPL creates branded equipment for street cricket so that the sport can be transported to the city blocks and slums where the future of India’s cricket is. The more affordable we can make this for poor kids, the better it is. 

Also, we will be beating Nike and Reedbok to market - both companies have a limited product range and it is out of the price range of the poorest players (people in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and mid-continent Africa).

I think we could run a test market in any one of these places and try to use it to show how cricket can spread world-wide (China and the Americas) in the next 10 to 20 years.

3 years ago  /  0 notes