I've been reading an interesting book. Michael Mandelbaum's The Meaning of Sports. The author theorizes that baseball is a reflection of America's pre-industrial existence. Football reflects both the Industrial Revolution and the military, and basketball embodies the post-industrial era. (Most of the country won't notice that he overlooks hockey, but this is Hockeytown.)
It's a fun read. Mandelbaum is definitely aiming at a popular rather than a scholarly audience, and he provides a lot of really interesting background on the history of the sports.
And I was pleased to rediscover one of my favorite quotations--one that I hadn't thought about in years.
"Football combines two of the worst things in American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings."
--George F. Will
It's a fun read. Mandelbaum is definitely aiming at a popular rather than a scholarly audience, and he provides a lot of really interesting background on the history of the sports.
And I was pleased to rediscover one of my favorite quotations--one that I hadn't thought about in years.
"Football combines two of the worst things in American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings."
--George F. Will
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