04/24/24
December 08, 2006
ESPN Writer Re: ESPN Show "Ali Rap": Thankfully the writer is Chuck Klosterman, who doesn't take his relationship with ESPN too seriously (and manages to reference DFW on tennis). Does the amount of money available in sports today bleach athletes' opinions (especially political ones) away or are we all that shallow now?
I read this the other day, and dammit if Klosterman isn't a fun guy to read. Did Ali invent rap? No. I can't see how that one works. Did he invent, or at least provide the blueprints for, the modern athlete? Yep. Seems to make sense. I read "Hip: the History" last year - and I'd recommend it.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:06 AM on December 08, 2006
I think Zirin got it right. Athletes don't want to risk their privilege by taking a stand on anything unpopular. Ali was willing to do that, but obviously he was in the minority. The athletes now went through nothing even remotely like the civil rights movement where there were leaders helping to galvanize people into action. Most folks are more concerned about taking care of themselves and their families instead of trying to solve the world's problems.
posted by bperk at 09:53 AM on December 08, 2006
i saw a rough cut of the "ali rap" show over the summer. very, very cool.
posted by goddam at 09:53 AM on December 08, 2006
How'd you manage to see that?
posted by yerfatma at 11:47 AM on December 08, 2006
my brother's friend produced part of it.
posted by goddam at 11:56 AM on December 08, 2006
Great link, yerfatma. I'll second that! Whenever I hear Muhammad Ali speak, it gives me chills! Hearing others repeat his words is just as moving. I know Holyfield tried to claim this as his moniker, but if you ask me ... Ali is "the real deal" ... through and through! Now, I better read that piece in ESPN ... my mag just came in the mail yesterday!
posted by Spitztengle at 11:58 AM on December 08, 2006
Very interesting article. No, Ali didn't invent rap, but he made poetry cool for lots of young men who eventually made, produced, and purchased rap, so he surely influenced it. Every single time I listen to old Johnny Cash I can't shake the feeling that he was one of the first rappers, or at least a rap stylist before his time. Simple chords, fluid rhymes, raps about shooting guns and cocaine and women and cars and the man keeping him down. If you want to hear what I'm talking about listen to "Wanted Man", "Oney, "One Piece at a Time", and of course "Cocaine Blues". Thanks for the link.
posted by vito90 at 11:53 AM on December 09, 2006
It was a great hour. Some of the celebs chosen to repeat Ali's words were slightly bizarre (Bill Maher?) but the piece captured the way he defined the modern 'sports personality' and yet transcends it with his eloquent outspokenness. It was Howard Cosell who said that 'Jockocracy' rule number one was that professional sports and politics don't mix, and yet Cosell was so often Ali's sparring partner. It reminded me of the time some years back when he came to Oxford, and I waited an hour with a fairly large group of people for him to arrive. When he stepped out of the car, everyone spontaneously started applauding, then shouting 'Ali! Ali!' Even muted with Parkinson's, I have never been quite so affected by the sheer presence of another human being. I think it's interesting now to see someone like Charles Barkley abandoning the complacent Republicanism of his playing days. But he's a rarity, and he's also a rich man with plenty of time on his hands. Money is a great way to keep athletes quiet; a set of leagues that slaps down off-message opinion is another. Still, there are some athletes who do speak out: Zirin's piece on Etan Thomas is well worth a read. But there's also a journalistic taboo, which is fascinating. Matt Taibbi wrote a while back that sports journalism in the US is pointed and persistent while political journalism is too often deferential: if politicians had to face the public and press scrutiny of a major league coaches and players, they wouldn't last a week. But if sport serves as a surrogate for politics, it also seems to mean that politics that isn't 'the politics of sports' is verboten. I also wonder whether race plays its part: the upper echelon at ESPN and other sporting media is mainly white, while the most outspoken athletes are black. Race is simultaneously an issue and not an issue: discussion of the NBA dress code brushed close to whether it targeted black players, but was obviously uncomfortable in doing so. The ESPN team covering the return of the Saints to the Superdome talked a lot about Katrina and the boost of having the team back, but it took Dan Patrick on ESPN Radio the next day to talk about how the camera crew struggled to find non-white faces in the crowd. It takes outspoken athletes to raise these issues, and keep raising them, so that journalists no longer feel uncomfortable doing so.
posted by etagloh at 10:03 AM on December 10, 2006
Great link, yerfatma. King Kaufman's take on the show and Ali contrasted with modern athletes (you'll have to watch an ad). Dave Zirin on today's "Jocks for Justice"