UNIT 7: SPORTS
My name‿ is Hank. Football‿ in my country is not so much‿ a sport‿ as‿ an‿ inherited‿ identity,│ an(d) the wor(d) following misdescribes‿ it,│ since‿ a following can be revised‿ an(d) this cannot.
The tribal dimension‿ is both the attraction‿ an(d) the problem. My son supports‿ our rivals,│ which‿ is‿ a joke‿ at home‿ and‿ a genuine difficulty at school,│ an(d) the loyalty survives‿ every rational consideration. Meanwhile the professional game has been thoroughly commodified:│ broadcas(t) revenue an(d) sponsorship have transformed the leading clubs‿ into global brands,│ an(d) the ticket prices‿ at those clubs‿ exclude the people│ who generated the atmosphere‿ in the firs(t) place. The commodity has been separated from the community that produced‿ it.
What sustains my interest‿ is‿ everything beneath the elite level. There‿ is‿ an‿ amateur league in my cityci-dy with twelve teams,│ the standard‿ is mediocre,│ an(d) the matches‿ are superb. When my daughterdau-der plays volleyball for her school,│ nobody is selling‿ anything,│ an(d) participation‿ is the one‿ element‿ of spor(t) that no sponsorship can capture. If compelled to choose,│ I would keep the twelve‿ amateur teams‿ an(d) surrender the broadcast‿ entirely,│ which‿ is‿ a position that no one│ who has‿ ever signed‿ a sponsorship contrac(t) could be expected to share.