America’s Soul Lives on at the Ball Game
The Americanisation of sport might be a global contagion, but patient zero is doing just fine…
This is the introduction to January’s edition of the Off-Field newsletter, curating monthly tales from the fringes of sport and society. Read it here.
There’s a big reason the world might be feeling down on the USA these days. It’s one that’s loud, rude, and orange.
For the next four years, you might be hard-pressed to read anything positive about our Transatlantic cousins.
But there is hope in its sporting institutions. They’ve proven before that they are robust enough to stem the oncoming tide of bile heading its way. Donald Trump has a history of feuding with the NFL and the NBA. Which suggests they’re on the right side of history.
It’s easy to see why the president is irked by these powerful sporting bodies. They’re members of the world’s wealthiest sports leagues, yet their outlook is uniquely egalitarian. Universal squad salary caps mean no black gold can elevate one team over another. Draft systems see those finishing bottom of the pile get the pick of the best new talent next time around.
Grubby connections and brazen sycophancy offer no help here. Raw talent is the only currency of value. It means that diversity and inclusion aren’t viewed with a roll of the eyes, but with a roll of the dice. Everyone gets a fair shot. Everyone.
American sport has fairness running through it. And fair is a terrifying word to people like Trump. Those who’ve always looked down from the top floor don’t like it when you tell them the guys in the basement can get in the elevator.
US sport divides opinion in Britain, where it’s an easy target for a scoff and a sneer. It’s too polished. It’s too commercial. It’s too cheesy. But as football drip feeds its soul to oligarchs, cricket hands out the begging bowl to private equity, and rugby suffers death by a thousand cuts, British sport isn’t really in a place to judge.
Say what you like about the Yanks, but their sports have stayed true to their roots. The bravado. The brashness. The stat-happy broadcasters in power suits. The goddam whoopin’ and a hollerin’. It’s all been there since day one. It’s not their fault others are trying to copy the formula.
The Americanisation of sport might be a global contagion, but patient zero is doing just fine. In a few days, the Super Bowl will stop the country in its tracks. More than 125 million Americans will tune in. Less than a fifth of that watched the Presidential inauguration this month.
Donald Trump will disagree, but the search for America’s soul begins at the ball game.
In this month’s newsletter, we’re extending a hand across the pond to bring you fascinating people and brilliant stories that really do make America great. Enjoy the selection.
This is an excerpt from the Off-Field newsletter. Subscribe, for free, here
