UNIT 7: SPORTS
My name‿ is Hank. Football‿ in my country is less‿ a spor(t) than‿ an‿ inherited‿ identity,│ an(d) the term following misdescribes‿ it,│ a following being something one may revise.
The tribal dimension‿ is simultaneously the attraction‿ an(d) the difficulty. My son supports‿ our rivals,│ which‿ is‿ a joke‿ at home‿ and‿ a genuine‿ inconvenience‿ at school,│ an(d) that loyalty survives‿ every rational consideration one might‿ advance. Meanwhile the professional game has been comprehensively commodified:│ broadcas(t) revenue an(d) sponsorship have converted the leading clubs‿ into global brands,│ an(d) ticket prices‿ at those clubs now exclude the very people│ who generated the atmosphere. The commodity has been detached from the community that produced‿ it,│ an(d) nobody involved‿ appears‿ embarrassed by the separation.
What sustains my interest‿ is‿ everything beneath the elite level. There‿ is‿ an‿ amateur league in my cityci-dy comprising 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‿ or convey. Were‿ I compelled to choose,│ I should retain the twelve‿ amateur teams‿ an(d) surrender the broadcast‿ entirely,│ a position that nobody│ who has‿ ever signed‿ a sponsorship contrac(t) could reasonably be expected to share.