Thursday, April 17, 2008

Why sports matters ...

I'm not a Sonics fan, don't know this writer, and am frequently annoyed by ESPN.

But this is brilliant.

10 comments:

Dann Cutter said...

You know... I don't understand why more municipalities don't buy team franchises. If Seattle actually felt it offered that substantial of an impact, then buy the damned team and sell shares.

Therein lies the problem though... Professional Sports is about making money. Shares imply a corporation. And a corporation, as $20k in business classes have taught me, has the number one responsibility of increasing stakeholder value. So, if move to Timbuktu would increase the stock price, that is what they should do...

Fans are a side thought of this effort.

That is why of the few sports I watch, I prefer college. Mistake prone, politic, and unscrupulous as it is, the University of Whatever isn't going anywhere. So their business model means keeping me as a fan.

So few pro teams even care if I care... and they tend to lose.

SF said...

I have to admit that I find the idea of pulling not for your home team but for the team you hold shares in very intriguing. You know, they used to be your home team, back when you bought a stake in them, but then it was more efficient to move elsewhere. They're still your team, in a very real sense...

Anonymous said...

Hey Mr. Moran,

This is your old email pal Prosecutor Joe up in Washington State... by the way do I still owe you a 6-pack?

Sad times here. AND SHAME on the NBA for approving the moving of a team that has been in the same city for 41 years, has supported the team through good and bad times, and was one of the cornerstone teams in the tough times of the league in the early years. It is going to be real hard for me to give a rip about what happens in the NBA after that move. I suspect that the 14th largest media market is going to be all football and baseball now. Also, lets see how the league feels after Oklahoma loses for 3 or 4 years and has no support after the novelty wears off!

Joe
joefredwheels@yahoo.com

jenni-lynn said...

Hello Daniel from Coos Bay Oregon. Jenni-Lynn

Pagan Topologist said...

OK, Dan. I have come to respect your views over the last three years from reading here and over on DarKush. But I just don't get it. Is spectator sport a religion for those who cannot handle Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Wicca, Druidism, Zoroastrianism, or whatever? If not, I just cannot conceive why anyone would care one iota about sports, except maybe as a participant for fun.

David Bellamy

Anonymous said...

Pagan --

I find it pleasing on multiple levels to watch human beings performing various activities at high levels of excellence. Excellence rocks. Watching people do difficult things is enjoyable.

Sports is one such activity.

What's so hard to understand?

Pagan Topologist said...

OK, I admit that I enjoy spending maybe fifteen minutes a year watching good golfers putt on TV. The skill required is fascinating. But I cannot imagine caring who wins what golf tournament.

Anonymous said...

I piss excellence.

Daniel Keys Moran said...

All,

Sorry about the delay responding -- I started a new job 2 Mondays back, and it's been overwhelming. Good, but very very busy -- a major internet company you would all recognize, doing some very cool stuff.

Dann, SF,

Sure, the idea of a municipality owning its team seems like a good one to me. It's hard for me to get too self-righteous about this -- we lost the Rams in '79, which hurt; then the Anaheim Rams and Los Angeles Raiders left together back around '94, which hurt some people but not me. But L.A.'s stolen most of its teams -- stole the Rams originally, stole the Raiders, stole the Lakers, stole the Clippers (well, found them on our doorstep and didn't have the heart to throw them in the river) ... most of this happened before I was born, but still, that's the legacy.

Prosecutor Joe ... good to hear from you. Sorry about the circumstances.

Sad times here. AND SHAME on the NBA for approving the moving of a team that has been in the same city for 41 years, has supported the team through good and bad times, and was one of the cornerstone teams in the tough times of the league in the early years.

Couldn't have put it better. A cold, classless move on all sides.

Jenni-Lynn,

Hi, sweetie. :-) I sent you email at your gmail account.

David Bellamy,

It's art. It's live, real-time, unscripted art. It makes sense to you that people wait breathlessly for years for the next Star Wars installment? This is the same thing. You make friends with people who share your obsessions, you bond, you live and die with your team, you appreciate the beauty of a well run pick and roll, the astonishing artistry of a Magic or Bird or Michael or Kobe ... it's art, the same as dancing or a play or a movie or a book. Art.

I don't see why people should be apologetic for the kind of art they like. I'm not. Maybe my art if low-brow (or middle-brow -- the only time anyone ever said that to me was over John D. Freaking MacDonald, of all people...)

I don't care. Watching Kobe impose his will on a game is art. Watching Magic do the same (by passing the ball at the right moment, to the right person, in the right way) ... same deal. You're seeing something that no other human being on the planet (at that given moment) could do ... it's enough justification.

Anonymous,

As long as you're excellent with the doors closed, it's all good.

Pagan Topologist said...

Thanks, Dan. That makes more sense than anything I have ever read about sports. I regard the mathematics I do as both science and art, and I love many forms or art, from theatre to literature to filk music to high quality knives.