Not Just A Game - Preview - Available on DVD

[berniewentboom]

As usual, Dave Zirin nails it with this important and passionate look at the controversial intersection of sports and politics. It is resistance journalism at its best. Like the epic Howard Zinn, Zirin tells the story from the POV of the people, and sometimes the victims, and not from the POV of power, money, and wealth.

[ostifari]

Great film - saw it on RT USA in the middle of the night a few months back - finally found out what it was. I WANT TO SEE IT AGAIN.

[kissfan7]

5:59

Gaa!

No disrespect to the man, but Jack Johnson looks like he ain't well in the head in that clip.

[Tralman1965]

Boo

[Oyin26]

this looks like a good film, i hope black women are included though. sometimes people forget that black women face racism AND sexism in sports as well as being marginalized from feminist movement and the black power movement.

[MindofaJedi]

It is disappointing how few athletes have a backbone . Isn't it amazing there are NO gays in the NFL , NHL , NBA etc . What are the statistical odds of this ? The Phoenix Suns took a stand on Arizona's racist immigration law , which was a step in the right direction . Could a collective of athletes and stars have helped keep us out of Iraq ? Who knows , but it wouldn't have hurt them to try .

[biegner]

He also does mention Scott Fujita, linebacker and Super Bowl champ of the New Orleans Saints, and how he is pretty open and active in the fight for gay rights. There are not many professional athletes willing to speak their mind on anything, especially if it is against the perceived norm (which is an absurd standard of masculinity based on the idea that men are superior physically, thus socially). The basic argument though is that sports and politics have NEVER been separated.

[biegner]

He obviously is a liberal. It stands out particularly in the militarization segment. But are you really going to argue that there is no more sexism in sports? Racism is not an issue in this country anymore? Homophobia and an absurd standard of masculinity is not dominant and endorsed by modern sports? I find it hard to believe that equality is a "liberal" cause.

[welsherbry]

Hell yes!!!

[nubbs]

gesture by enlisting in the marines. the fact he later question the war is besides the point.

and zirin is wrong to say sports is all about violence. there's hardly any real violence in baseball or basketball, and the NFL is really cracking down on the excessive hits. the NHL, well that's a complete lost cause - it's the most violent, racist, sexist, homophobic sport in NA.

i'm waiting for an actual playing athlete to come out against homophobia in sports. not one male athlete is out.

[nubbs]

and most fans want escapism, which after working 40 or more hours a week they are entitled to.

but steve nash protested the iraq war... in dallas. carlos delgado refused to stand for the seventh inning stretch "god bless america". players are always talking about the lack of minorities in positions of actual power within sports franchises, let alone GMs and managers. baseball players have talked openly about boycotting the allstar game in arizona. and pat tillman basically made a political

[nubbs]

seems zirin doesn't want athletes to be political. he wants them to be liberals. it's a white guy telling black athletes they should take a stand on the issues he thinks they should take a stand on. ironically, that is itself racist. zirin needs to go back and read all the things jackie robinson said concerning his views and how they often contrasted with what he was expected as a black man to believe.

lets face it - most professional athletes are children playing a child's game

[DeeDemonwitch]

@nubbs he doesn't want them to be political, he wants them to be liberal? Oh, because being liberal is not political? !!! Nearly everything is political: from the price of bread to war.

[nubbs]

@DeeDemonwitch

no, being liberal is one way of being political. there are other ways of being political. conservatives are political. just not the political zirin wants athletes to be. there is this assumption that all so called issues of social justice are inherent goods. well, not always. these are contestable concepts. ask athletes like charles barkley and jackie robinson.

[DeeDemonwitch]

@nubbs My misunderstanding. I read your comment: 'doesn't want athletes to be political. he wants them to be liberals.' to mean that you thought being a liberal was not being political.

I'm afraid there is absolutely no point in mentioning the names of any athlete/sports player to me. I couldn't even name one's from my own country, let alone anyone else's. It's just not a subject I take interest in. In fact this is the most interesting thing I've ever seen involving sports.