Blackwell Reference Online

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Recent changes in the character of sport, its reconfigured location in the economy, and its transformed physical presence seem to be drawing the attention of an increasing number of critical scholars. For example, in Rich Media, Poor Democracy, Robert McChesney (1999) highlights sport's high profile and extended role in late-capitalist media expansion. In fact, McChesney contends that sport is “arguably the single most lucrative content area for the global media industry” (p. 95). Relatedly, John Hannigan (1998), author of Fantasy City, identifies tourism, sport, and entertainment as principal forces reshaping the new urban economy. No doubt, sport holds multiple positions in contemporary urban America's infinite growth projects. But, heightened visibility does not necessarily lead to greater academic insights or scholarly tolerance.Indeed, the well-entrenched and popular stereotype of sport as anti-intellectual has been hard for academics to shake. To put it tersely, within a context in which respect is linked to content area, sport has been less than lucrative. Perhaps the reasons behind the skepticism about, even strong opposition to, the study of sport are familiar: the mind/body split, the related denigration of the physical, academic divisions of labor. But how do we explain the line drawn around sporting matters in a field that has otherwise successfully intervened in academe's ... log in or subscribe to read full text