Lecture #12 – The Rise of Organized Sport
1. Pre-modern versus Modern Sport (six differences)
: level of organization, extent of rules, scope of competition, role
differentiation, access to public information, and amount of statistical
information (see other overhead).
: accounting for these changes – (1) the rise of industrial capitalism
created a middle-class hungry willing to spend excess income on
leisure activities and entertainment; sport was no longer just a hobby
anymore, but big business; also created a working-class looking for
an escape from the drudgery of wage work; (2) urbanization brought
more people together, thus increasing the scope of sporting events
and allowing for the formation of national markets; markets became
bigger and more diverse as a result; and (3) technological
advancements such as telegraph, telephone, radio, trains, cars, etc
helped destroy local markets and replace them with national and
international markets; the mass media had a huge role to play in the
rise of organized sport.
2. The Modernization of Boxing
: pre-1870s – very little organization; contests held locally in
saloons; rules varied from region to region (Broughton rules vs.
London Prize Ring rules vs. Marquis of Queensbury rules); very brutal
sport; appealed to lower-classes.
: post-1870s – rise of governing bodies; formal sports venues replace
saloon as dominant locale; Marquis of Queensbury rules universally
adopted; individual weight classes adopted; contenders are now
formally ranked; increased press coverage (National Police Gazette);
emergence of superstars (i.e. John L. Sullivan and Gentleman Jim
Corbett); organizers minimize more brutal elements to attract fans
from the upper classes.
3. Militarism, Nationalism, and Manly Vigor
: sport as preparation for total war and instrument of imperialism;
football, in particular, was seen as an excellent way to instill militaristic
values into young men.
: sport and fears of effeminacy amongst men; was seen as the best
way to re-assert their declining masculinity; middle-class used it to
counter the emasculation they faced from their cushy jobs and overly
regimented way of life; working-class used it to compensate for their
inability to live up to middle-class familial ideals—their masculinity
may be in question at home, but not in the boxing ring.
4. Women in Sport
: upper-class women started it all; basketball was the most popular
female team sport in the late 1800s; tennis, golf, and archery were
also popular because they emphasized ‘womanly’ traits such as grace
rather than power.
: fears of masculinizing women; especially Babe Didrikson—her
athletic feats were almost always overshadowed by her somewhat unfeminine appearance; reflects the lingering presence of True
Womanhood as an ideal within American society.
: cult of true womanhood defied (but not really…); participation in
sports was a huge step forward, but women always had to make sure
that they presented themselves in a feminine manner; the New
Woman was emerging, albeit in a rather hesitant manner.
: changes in women’s fashion—the need for appropriate athletic
apparel undermined the restrictive Victorian fashions of previous
generations (i.e. the corset).
5. Race, Democracy, and Pro Sports
: Jack Johnson – 1st black heavyweight champ; outspoken and
antagonistic; white Americans hated him; was a perfect example of
the New Negro; fought Jim Jeffries on July 4th, 1910; seen as a contest
for racial supremacy; post-fight fears of disorder and race-based
violence.
: Joe Louis – was loved by white and black Americans; had a modest
and soft-spoken public persona; was a perfect example of the Good
Negro; comparing Johnson and Louis was like comparing Malcolm X
and Martin Luther King.
: Jackie Robinson – first African-American to play in Major League
Baseball in 1947; due to (1) World War Two and the discrediting of
Hitler’s racial theories; (2) the emergence of a black middle-class that
demanded increased rights; (3) the prominence of African-American
culture; and (4) Branch Rickey and the death of Kennesaw Mountain
Landis.
: had a huge economic impact on the game through increased
attendance; also changed baseball in a spatial sense by providing a
common space for blacks and whites to mingle, as well as a common
cultural point of reference; can be considered an important precursor
of the desegregation efforts of the 1950s and 1960s.