tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171420941776673660.post6479474214404760308..comments2024-03-27T22:42:23.152-07:00Comments on Legal Ruralism: Football: Collective expression of American ideals?Lisa R. Pruitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16469550950363542801noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171420941776673660.post-60809981891616428962017-02-15T21:10:19.546-08:002017-02-15T21:10:19.546-08:00I wonder what this incident, where a liberal, coas...I wonder what this incident, where a liberal, coastal elite (Meryl Streep, no less) denigrates football, has to say about your thesis in this post (which, by the way, is very interesting). <br /><br />https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/opinion/streep-vs-trump-for-america.html?_r=0Lisa R. Pruitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16469550950363542801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171420941776673660.post-25981220619019614242017-02-11T15:36:32.938-08:002017-02-11T15:36:32.938-08:00I found this piece encouraging in two ways: first,...I found this piece encouraging in two ways: first, for the idea that sport may unite communities; second, for lifting up small-team football as an entertaining iteration of the game. But there are also reasons to be skeptical of both concepts.<br /><br />The portrait of group prayer uniting communities across distance and rivalry contrasts with the blood-feud depiction of football towns in "Friday Night Lights" and elsewhere. As the comment above indicates, sports can be very effective for unifying small communities and providing escape -- psychically and even materially (for a select few). But this in-group solidarity may come at the cost of animosity toward outsiders, perhaps even other small communities that face the same challenges.<br /><br />The mention of "six-man" football as a viable form of entertainment is too alluring to resist. I think football is a beautiful sport, but I have boycotted it for the last few years mainly due to the NFL's inadequate response to head injuries. In my heart of hearts, I want full-team flag football to catch on as a national spectacle, but rationally I know that the popularity of football is likely driven by the big hits. Perhaps a version of the sport driven by passing (what fans like anyway) but limited to one-on-one coverage (fewer opportunities for devastating tackles) is a compromise we might embrace.Kylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04042424762212904439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7171420941776673660.post-24360153705594337542017-02-10T16:49:33.656-08:002017-02-10T16:49:33.656-08:00I see the adaptation of football for these rural, ...I see the adaptation of football for these rural, small schools as representing a sort of feel-good, healthy competition, love of the game, sort of story. Basically the opposite of how I view the Superbowl, with the only thing in common being that both sports are being called football. It reminds me of the movie McFarland, USA where a coach gets moved to a rural high school in an agricultural community and starts a cross country team. The sport is the hero of the story. In that movie at least, the rural life is shown as gruesome hard work and is not idealized. That does not mean that Robinson didn't have alternative motives. Again, to me the Superbowl is not exactly the pride and joy of America, or at least I don't think it should be. But that love of the game, passion for sport, community building aspect of sports is something that will drive a small school to find alternative means of coming together.RGLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15559091608769473138noreply@blogger.com