I will continue from my “Intro to Me” project and write
about my identity as an avid sports fan. I will make connections based on
several of Arendt’s famous quotes to analyze what her viewpoint would be on
watching sports.
“Not man but men inhabit this planet. Plurality is
the law of the earth.”
-Connection
to sports: This would show that Arendt would approve of the mentality of team
sports. She seems to somewhat confirm the popular notion that there is “no ‘I’
in ‘team.’” Players often humbly preach after a big win on a big stage that
they could not have accomplished what they did without their teammates; this
develops a strong message of the importance of “plurality” of people. Arendt
may view a team as not being about a single, individual “I,” but rather a multiplication
of perspectives where various different “I’s” come together to form a more
powerful team. She says power is about people coming to action between speech
and lens. Successful sports teams are a gathering of people (teammates) and they
participate in their perspective sports in efforts to win, defeating the other
team.
“Action alone is the exclusive prerogative of man;
neither a beast nor a god is capable of it, and only action is entirely
dependent upon the constant presence of others.”
-Connection
to sports: Arendt claims there is not fate or luck when one performs an action.
People are responsible for their own actions, and each person’s actions can
only be credited to them as well as the “constant presence of others,” not a
divine intervention. The constant presence of others directly correlates to
teammates in sports. Athletes perform to the best of their ability in efforts
to win at all costs; it comes down to their “actions” or play making abilities as
well as the assistance of their teammates in the end. There is no external,
greater force that impacts the outcome of a game. The only real factor lies
within those who are playing.
“Who somebody is or was we can know
only by knowing the story of which he is himself the hero - his biography, in
other words; everything else we know of him, including the work he may have
produced and left behind, tells us only what he is or was.”
-Connection
to Sports: We only know our favorite athletes based on what they do on the field
or court. We don’t really know who they are as people; we just see their
actions at game time. We identify with and admire these athletes almost
entirely based on their raw talent and what cities they play for, but we often do
not know them for the individual characteristics they hold. Although, some
players are seen taking part in charitable causes off the field or court, they
are still generally liked or disliked solely based on their abilities and team
that they happen to play for. Some exceptionally famous athletes even have
specific narratives that go along with their perspective careers; these players
are often viewed as our heroes and/or villains. LeBron James is a paradigm of
this, as his story of leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers (his hometown team) to go
play for the Miami Heat in 2010 made him arguably the most hated figure in
sports. When he returned in 2014, he was once again beloved by the majority of
fans around the league. Without any knowledge of LeBron’s morals, personal
interactions with others around him, or any true information about his
character, his status of being hated or loved changed exponentially based on
the city he chose to play for at a given time.
These
connections between Hannah Arendt and my identity as an avid sports fan are quite
interesting. While her statements have far more meaning and purpose in the real
world, they can in fact be applied to sports. I think the sports fan identity
is an important one because it goes beyond the billion dollar industries and
beyond the game itself. Watching sports is quite possibly the most popular form
of entertainment in the world and it has the potential to bring forth a sense
of camaraderie amongst two strangers who are merely wearing the same logo on
their shirts. Perhaps in modern times Arendt would be a sports fan too!
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