“In our dissociated culture—despite whatever grace,
glory and beauty they evoke in the best teams and players—contact sports serve
two functions: They allay boredom, divert people from thinking about the
dreariness of their lives; and they help people channel their rage. You can go
to a revival in Selma on Friday or you can scream your lungs out in
Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. The bottom line at both is
transference of a lot of anger into a socially acceptable outlet….As coach Karl
Marx once said, football is the opiate of the people.” —Novelist-screenwriter Richard
Price, “Bear Bryant’s Miracles,” originally published in Playboy,
October 1979, reprinted in Football: Great Writing About the National Sport, edited by John Schulian (2014)
This post is dedicated to two especially enthusiastic Crimson
Tide fans: my friend Bridget and her husband Jim—both of whom, I am sure,
disagree vehemently with Mr. Price’s contention in this quote.
The image accompanying this post, of University of
Alabama football fans wearing crimson and white with the name of the football
team on their garments (at the annual spring practice scrimmage game called “A-Day”),
was taken on Apr. 17, 2010, by Carol M. Highsmith.
No comments:
Post a Comment