Ethnic

The bad weather in the northeast should be more of a reason to walk, run, swim, drive, fly or teleport yourself to someone’s place to see tomorrow night’s superfight between Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao. That is, if you aren’t ordering it yourself like this Scribe.

To provide analysis is a fruitless exercise; although Pac-Man is going to win a very tough fight, tougher than what trainer Freddie Roach may believe.

The greatest allure of a boxing match – more than the fight itself, at times – is the ethnic pride that runs deep in its fans. Hoards of people from a common nationality rally behind a fighter, even if the bank accounts differ greatly. Flags that take up three rows and fifteen seats wave ferociously in the cheap seats when those fans see their man has the edge. Rowdy chants that can drown out everything short of an elephant’s bellow give the combatants a charge going into the later rounds.

These displays of ethnic pride in boxing have always fascinated me. For a plethora of reason, you wouldn’t see it so overtly in other sports as you do in the sweet science. Much of this is because boxing seems to be the only sport allowed to even dare use race and country as promotional tools.

Modern day boxing was born from pitting one nationality or ethnicity against another, even if it’s an unintended consequence of many bouts over the years. From the very first right jab Jack Johnson landed on Tommy Burns back in 1908 to tomorrow’s main event, the powers-that-be have come to understand that a fight will gain attention of curious eyes if there’s a glaring difference in skin tones, language and citizenship between the fighters.

(Even the widely-acknowledged Greatest of All Time was bold enough – personal feelings aside about the method – to use these differences in some degree when preparing for Joe Frazier. It’s glossed over and forgotten by many of Ali’s fans, but it worked. Calling anybody an Uncle Tom, let alone a fellow world-class fighter, would do that.)

However, I can’t help but to wonder what others think about this. Does the ethnic card that boxing plays continue to help or hurt the sport’s popularity outside of its hardcore fans? Do you think other sports can actually use ethnic pride as a promotional tool (outside of your Latin Nights and Citi Field)?

Say What?!?!: From Free Darko via The Rumble; Photo credit to MyBoxingFans.com

Impossible?

Globally, this July 20 holds significant meaning in human history as NASA's moon landing told the world that impossible is just a mere formality en route to success.

Today, the fortieth anniversary of this otherworldly achievement is a good day to remind ourselves of what was the proverbial moon landing in sports; an event that was to occur when pigs would fly, when hell freezes over and when Creed got back together.

Wait a minute…

The most celebrated integration efforts in sports history took place when Jackie Robinson suited up for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Yet, it was Jack Johnson who made the world stand up and take notice. As the first black heavyweight champion in boxing history, he was also scientific in the ring as he was brash away from it.

His life was loosely interpreted by a personal favorite film, “The Great White Hope” by the immortal James Earl Jones, but the true story was crystallized in recent years by the excellent documentary and book, “Unforgiveable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson”. In both stories, you’ll see how he was deified and vilified by whites and blacks, fans and media and one future commissioner of baseball, Kennesaw Mountain Landis.

Though becoming the heavyweight champion of the world was built up as inevitable within the press, it was not without some of those pushing the cause continuing their racist condescension towards the Galveston, Texas native.

In the need to keep things rather short today – it is also this writer’s birthday, you know – I’ll leave you to reading all about one of the most important figures in both sports and human history. At a time when society was still in the dark ages of racial progress, to think that a non-white American (an African-American, in fact) could have held the world’s attention for his athletic gifts was unfathomable, let alone remarkable.

Leading

There was a moment last week that older generations never thought they would witness, that younger generations had a hopeful cynicism and that future generations just might take for granted one day. Some of us may recall bussing, hoses on full blast and civil protests turning violent. Some of us recall riots across the country, the tense initial days of affirmative action and Fortune 500 executives having foot-in-mouth disease. Nearly all of us can recall one of the most damning statements ever made against a sitting President by an entertainer not known for tact.

Yet, June 3 will forever be remembered as the day a minority candidate – an African American by the name of Barack Obama – became the presumptive Democratic nominee for the Presidency of the United States.

The day has a tremendous historical and emotional context within nearly every person that has a connection with those very memories mentioned. Folks will remember where they where and what they were doing when Obama secured all of the necessary ‘superdelegates’ over Hillary Clinton, who tried desperately to become the first female candidate. In years to come, they’ll give you the first image or thought or word that came to mind when the news was made.

Yet, at top of mind, this poster came up.


It’s a poster that had been plaster throughout the New York City subways stations and along the sides of buses, promoting the grand opening of the Sports Museum of America (credit to the Gate Worldwide, the Museum’s agency of record). It takes a moment that no one in 1947 ever envisioned seeing in their lives – Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play Major League Baseball, shaking the hand of one of his white teammates, Duke Snider – and reminds a sports-hungry public how painstakingly slow social progress was.

Obama’s nomination reminds us of slow it still has been.

The words of this poster frame more than its left side, but it frames a reality that was also hard to fathom. The idea that a professional athlete – one who made a living playing a game – could make country think more about its fundamental flaws than the leaders they elect was unheard of. Sports for public pleasure are littered throughout recorded history, but in the United States, organized professional sports are just over a century old. The specialized media coupled with the finances they garner gives professional athletes an instant platform for anything – good, bad or in between – they say and do. It’s why despite the unwanted attention that some athletes are currently getting (say, Cedric Benson), you will always remember the names of Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe, Jack Johnson and countless others. You may remember another athlete, such as the one below.


When was the last time you stood up and took notice of a local, state of federal politician while in office?

Regardless of political leanings or ambivalence, we should recognize Obama’s achievement as a long overdue, but significant moment in our nation’s history. However, we should also keep in mind that he nor John McCain, the Republican nominee, have yet to give us that defining moment in action that will reshape our lifestyles. Not to say that it won’t happen, but to watch an ideal come to life is going to take more than nominations and campaigns.

A lot more.

Say What?!?!: Respect due.

1910

Recent events along with the blogs and articles in response to them have inspired what should become a signature piece for Scribe, BlogCritics and beyond. As it is being prepped, this clip from the 2005 PBS-aired Ken Burns documentary should give a glimpse of the topic.

Unfortunately, there has been some issue with creating custom players on YouTube, so please follow the link. It will be added tomorrow.