Blog Entry 5




Klosterman's essay is discussing his theory on how the Celtics-Lakers rivalry can seem to represent all aspects of our lives, including racial, political and ideological disputes. He realizes how ridiculous this idea sounds, but he insists that it is not just a fabrication of his own imagination, but rather that the primarily white Celtics teams led by Larry Bird and the dominant black Lakers teams led by the iconic Magic Johnson relate to all of society's issues and differences. He mentions how race plays such a key role in our minds, and in our lifestyles, as well as in our decisions on who to follow. He compares the Celtics to Republicans, stating that white people looked to the team in hopes of having  a sport's team of mostly white athletes, and that the players seemed to have the power. The Lakers, on the other hand, seemed to represent Democrats, with a powerful figurehead leading the way. He claims that the fans of each team are set in a certain mindset, or lifestyle and that their choices must all be similar. The poem by Jones relays an image of a team ending practice with sprints, in which the winner of each sprint gets to leave victorious, and the rest stay for more. He makes note of the way in which some boys hold off until they feel they can beat the other exhausted players, and also of the different ways each of the players runs. He discusses the desire to stop, the way in which it affects each person who fails to win the race. He longs to win, but falls hopelessly short each time. He compares it to a battle, as his coach would tell them to "battle" on.

Both Klosterman and Jones seem to unveil how sports and our community or our lifestyle can join to form a culture. Klosterman's depiction of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry and how it can relate to every aspect of life conveys his ideas that sports may not be something created by the community, but rather something that defines our lives. Perhaps he means to bring up the idea that sports are not just recreation, but maybe they are used to show our deeply-rooted feelings about society and about each other. Elements of race, politics, and social ideas are present in sports, and Klosterman brings this to light. He states that maybe it isn't something we accept, but instead something that we don't realize. Fans did not understand, and still may not, why they felt an affiliation to a particular team, or what social pressures influenced their decisions. Jones looks at how children go through grueling practices, putting much effort in for only a moment of glory and satisfaction, which brings one to question our motives. He mentions monks in Asia burning alive just for peace, which I believe he mentions to bring up the fact that sports are a part of our culture, our history, something that we have always done because we feel the need to "battle" and reign supreme over others. We have a desire to win and feel victorious, and we pit ourselves against each other in competition for this result. Maybe it is innate in human nature, and as we age this desire for victory lessens, or maybe it is present throughout our whole life and simply manifests itself in different ways. Perhaps sports can relate to every aspect of life, and perhaps they are not just an addition to our community and our lifestyle, but an essential part of defining ourselves. We feel the need to compete, and affiliate with a group or team, and such decisions affect how our lives unfold.