A Bigger Picture

Does sport really control its own destiny? Yes most certainly. Are we as consumers of sport really getting what we truly desire from it? Most Certainly. When we turn on the TV, switch on the laptop, even listen to the radio what are we getting? Exactly what we decide we want as a collective group? These are the sort of questions a liberal pluralist’s naivety would leave us to believe. For example believing we are digesting sport in its natural form, that sport has not changed, or if indeed it has, then all for the better. Even Rupert the Mogul Murdoch himself admits that this is not the case,(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K2pLo8JV5Y)how can it possibly be? Would we really be watching men in “pyjamas” playing a cricket match that doesn’t even last long enough for the quintessential English tea break? Or as the case may be not even watch it because the owners make it so expensive to do so that the average Joe Bloggs can’t even afford the subscription fee.

Not only are the men (and it nearly always is men, sports media being a largely male controlled industry) changing the very game we watch into a packaged commodity, or more perhaps more aptly phrased dramatic entertainment, they also shape our opinions through exploiting both sports and athletes.

The truth of the matter is, even though at times it is hard to recognize, some forms of the media don’t give a true representation of reality. Let’s take Vancouver, is it really that bad? Remember the worse it is constructed to appear the better that London is going to appear in contrast, something all Brits desire so we can avoid comparisons with what was a truly mesmerizing Beijing.

Let’s take the world’s most valuable athlete, even now after fifteen minutes of pure cringe(http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/8525557.stm), Tiger Woods as an example. From hero to villain is something we see all too often, John Terry, Wayne Rooney (does anyone even remember the rumoured forty year old prostitute?!), even, dare to mention his name in a bad light, David Beckham. The difference with the eye of the Tiger Woods though is that he still seems to be in control, bucking the trend, he was definitely in no danger of losing it during his latest press appearance, offering no time for any questions from journalists. Are we supposed to feel sorry for the multibillionaire multi-loving supernaturally gifted sportsman? The truth is in a year’s time and more importantly several golf titles later the boys from the press will probably be running out of superlatives to describe Woody Wood’s comeback. Reputation intact, infidelity forgotten.

With Tiger at the helm of the ship, domineering over the media staff on deck, we see a metaphoric slave like figure in Danny Cipriani, the English rugby player, trapped in the helms below being abused by his superiors in the press. Do they resent his working class upbringing? Is the son of a taxi driving mother not good enough for their elitist game? They do seem pretty unrepentant in their criticism of a perfectly good, young British rugby player.



The truth of the matter is, even though at times it is hard to recognize, some forms of the media don’t give a true representation of reality. Let’s take Vancouver, is it really that bad? Remember the worse it is constructed to appear the better that London is going to appear in contrast, something all Brits desire so we can avoid comparisons with what was a truly mesmerizing Beijing. Im sure Seb Coe won't let us down though will he?