The Great Sports Myth: the widespread assumption that sport is, inherently, a force of good—despite the fact that it can both empower and humiliate, build bonds and destroy them, blur boundaries and marginalize.
Hmmm. A very American perspective.
I read this book a while back, and it basically says that the 19th century British upper classes organised and codified all the major sports (e.g. football, cricket, rugby) to stop young men masturbating.
So take that, sociologists.
posted by owlhouse at 09:06 PM on August 22, 2016
Thanks, rumple, that was a fascinating read.
posted by tahoemoj at 06:32 PM on August 22, 2016