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“Dave Zirin is the best young sportswriter in America.”—Robert Lipsyte
This much-anticipated sequel to What’s My Name, Fool? by acclaimed commentator Dave Zirin breaks new ground in sports writing, looking at the controversies and trends now shaping sports in the United States—and abroad. Features chapters such as “Barry Bonds is Gonna Git Your Mama: The Last Word on Steroids,” “Pro Basketball and the Two Souls of Hip-Hop,” “An Icon’s Redemption: The Great Roberto Clemente,” and “Beisbol: How the Major Leagues Eat Their Young.”
Zirin’s commentary is always insightful, never predictable.
Dave Zirin is the author of the widely acclaimed book What’s My Name, Fool? (Haymarket Books) and writes the weekly column “Edge of Sports” (edgeofsports.com). He writes a regular column for The Nation and Slam magazine and has appeared as a sports commentator on ESPN TV and radio, CBNC, WNBC, Democracy Now!, Air America, Radio Nation, and Pacifica.
Chuck D redefined rap music and hip-hop culture as leader and co-founder of the legendary rap group Public Enemy. Spike Lee calls him “one of the most politically and socially conscious artists of any generation.” He co-hosts a weekly radio show on Air America.
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Popular sportswriter and commentator Dave Zirin is editor of The Prince George's Post (Maryland) and writes the weekly column "Edge of Sports" (edgeofsports.com). He is a senior writer at basketball.com. Zirin's writing has also appeared in The Source, Common Dreams, College Sporting News, CounterPunch, Alternet, International Socialist Review, Black Sports Network, War Times, San Francisco Bay View and Z Magazine. Chuck D redefined rap music and hip-hop culture as leader and co-founder of the legendary rap group Public Enemy. Spike Lee calls him "one of the most politically and socially conscious artists of any generation." He co-hosts a weekly radio show on Air America.
Product Details
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Haymarket Books; First Printing edition (June 1, 2007)
Dave Zirin was named one of the "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World" by Utne Magazine. He writes about the politics of sports for the Nation magazine, and is their first sports writer in 150 years of existence. Zirin is also the host of Sirius XM satellite's popular weekly show, "Edge of Sports Radio," as well as a columnist for SLAM Magazine, the Progressive, and a regular op-ed writer for the Los Angeles Times. Zirin's previous books are What's My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States; Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports; The Muhammad Ali Handbook; and A People's History of Sports in the United States.
If you're tired of reading the same type of takes on sports - the rambles full of pop culture references that pretend to stand for real commentary, the reactionary critiques of the sports villain of the week, read Welcome to the Terrordome. You'll most likely spend half your time laughing and the other half amazed that Mr. Zirin has been reading your mind.
It doesn't take much experience reading sports columnists, or listening to them talk on TV, to come away with a pretty grim view of the sports world. The profession seems to attract a sort of bitter, fatalist heckler who wants to forget that it's not just a game. Well, it isn't just a game - it's an industry, one that sometimes gets to write its own rules but more often has to live in the same world we all do - the one with pain, politics and promise.
Dave Zirin has the perspective and vision to put these pieces together, to see how the sports world meshes and collides with the real world. And when he heckles - which he does often, and with panache - it's cutting but not cruel.
There's a strong current of humanity in Dave's writing. This isn't a lunkhead screaming from the cheap seats, it's someone who wants to see excellence and fairness at all levels of sport - the field, the office, the media. With all the time and money we spend on it, that's the least we can ask.
If you've ever asked the question "what's the point of sports?" aside from gladiatorial competition meant to pacify and distract from the monotonous struggle that occupies the time of most people, Dave Zirin provides the answer.
Zirin does for sports what Howard Zinn does for history by placing it in the real world context in which it belongs, instead of the corporate smoke and mirrors that simultaneously make sports larger than life while divorcing it of social relevancy.
As a political hip hop artist I can appreciate Dave's work, not only because Chuck D of Public Enemy, the original political hip hop group, wrote the intro - which never hurts when you use their album title for your book - but because he stands in that independent socially conscious tradition. He's Public Enemy and Democracy Now! not Young Jeezy and CNN.
Here is nuance and complexity, sophistication and depth captured in magnificent similes and metaphors that will knock your socks off! Dave Zirin writes with a passion and reverence for sport and for athletes brave enough to speak out against political injustice and to incur the wrath of a coliseum culture. He invites the whole world into the sports world. Bravo to his heroes, and bravo to Dave Zirin!
Why are athletes repeatedly told, through radio shows like Mike and Mike and various other venues, to "just shut up!" about issues that directly affect themselves, their community, and country?
Sports, unfortunately, are too often cast as apolitical cultural wallpaper. Latrell Sprewell's 68-game suspension nearly a decade ago was a consequence of his uncontrollable demeanor--period. Barry Bonds (steroids or not) is just an irascible baby--period. The NBA instituted a minimum age because David Stern and company care about their players' education and maturity--period.
You can believe the press conference sound bites if you like, but there is a lot more historical and political weight surrounding these issues than the popular press often admits or cares to discuss. What would happen if the NHL or WTA implemented age minimums? Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it.
Though the media is saturated with discussions on all facets of sports, it is still not totally OK to talk in a pointed or more than passing (and often seemingly obligatory) manner about how sports reflect, reinforce, and have the ability to challenge discourses surrounding race, gender, sexuality, class, age, nationhood, etc. Indeed, doing so publicly is likely to get a "just shut up!" response. It's as if Jackie Robinson solved racism and Billie Jean King conquered gender inequities--their contributions are unyieldingly praised without a commitment to continuing their larger political projects.
For those of us who do not unquestioningly take what information we are given by the mainstream sports media industry, it's nice to know that someone like Dave Zirin is out there providing an alternative--and extremely important--perspective.... Zirin's new book, Welcome to the Terrordome, which takes its title from a Public Enemy song (and which includes and introduction by Chuck D), extends and enriches several of the discussions he has been writing about for years on his well-regarded website, [...], through his 2005 book What's My Name Fool?, and in various other venues. Zirin's insightful, clear, and often humorous essays, like Chuck D's brutally honest lyrics, "rope a dope the evil with righteous," welcoming readers to the "terrordome" that is the contemporary American political landscape and clearly showing sports' various roles in these circumstances--covering topics ranging from Barry Bonds to the NBA's anxiety over Hip Hop.
However, it is also important to note Zirin's subtitle: "The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports." Zirin sincerely believes in sports and their ability to challenge political circumstances. For instance, the Superdome, featured on Welcome to the Terrordome's cover and slyly referenced by its title, illustrates this pain, politics, and promise. It's publicly-funded sporting structure that, during Katrina, served as a harbor/tomb for many people who could never afford to enter the building under different circumstances. The Superdome's role in Katrina, along with countless other examples (for instance the controversy surrounding Muhammad Ali's name change discussed in Zirin's What's My Name Fool? and Muhammad Ali Handbook), shows how sports can both entertain and serve as a site from which to intervene and effect change. The great value of Zirin's writing is that it continually makes these layers of meaning, along with their implications and stakes, explicit.
While Zirin certainly loves and enjoys sports, he does not love how they are often used to veil the political and social issues in which they are so intimately embroiled. Welcome to the Terrordome, like all his work, challenges readers to refuse to take their sports at face-value and to "just speak up" about its contemporary uses and misuses. It's an essential read whether you are a student of sports, casually interested in sports history, or just like to check scores periodically.Read more ›
Amongst sports writers David Zirin is a man among boys. He hasn't just mastered a single aspect of the genre; he has reinvented it with the complete package, which is showcased in Welcome to the Terrordome. Zirin combines acerbic wit, original insights (which is rare in sports journalism), a higher understanding of 20th century social history and an infallible drive to deliver "untouched" goods (partly allowed I suspect by the nature of the non-profit publishing company of the book). It's a breath of fresh air as his motives are only to inform and influence and not to sell anything or apologize for anyone.
The best part of Zirin of course is his ability to recognize and extrapolate on sports as a microcosm for important societal issues such as race, social and economic inequality. While I don't necessarily agree with all of Zirin's opinions, I found myself often putting the book down just to logically think through his positions and how they refute or support my own beliefs. I consider myself well versed in both sports history and social history yet I constantly was introduced to new events, people and history within the varied topics Zirin covers (Bonds, Olympics, Ali, Cycling, Clemente, etc.). To top it off Zirin has a great sense of sarcasm and I laughed out loud numerous times throughout.
This book is important because it has a potential to reach an audience not normally associated with higher-level intellectualism; namely sports fanatics. This is part of Zirin's overall argument in the sense that he criticizes modern sports athletes for not using their leverage to tackle social issues but are instead highly paid slaves of the corporate world....
Bottom Line: Full of energy and insight and should be read by anyone (including non-sports fan) who are interested in how the sports world is interconnected and related to various aspects of social justice. Genre defining.Read more ›
