October 8, 2014
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Author Steve Almond touches on the violent, racist and sexist aspects
o f football during a discussion in Portland about in his controversial
new book Against Football: One Fan’s Reluctant Manifest.
Opposing a Culture
of Glorified Violence
A fan writes
controversial
book on
football
O livia O livia
T he P ortland O bserver
Violence, racism, sexism, and
hom ophobia are em bodied by
Am erica’s favorite past time. The
assessment about football by au
thor Steve Almond was shared with
a Portland audience on Sunday as
he presented his controversial new
book, Against Football: One F a n ’s
Reluctant Manifest.
“We are obsessed with vio
lence,” Almond said. “W e’re talk
ing about a career that offers up to
one-third of its workers brain dam
age, and w e’re removed from the
real consequences of that violence.”
During the presentation, spon
sored by Literary Arts, Almond went
on to talk about the ways in which
injured players are quickly removed
from the view of the audience; and
how rarely we are confronted with
the ongoing physical breakdowns
that are left on these players when
they’re out of the game.
Alm ond also sees the pow erful
lure football has because it offers
young m en in poverty, especially
by
black and Latino boys, the dream
to “escape” from their socioeco
nomic circumstances. He is criti
cal of the process, and offers the
fo llo w in g to a d d re ss th e se
hopes:
“The ultimate message foot
ball sends to young boys, of what
ever color or socioeconomic sta
tus, is that they are valuable not
for the content of their character,
not for the intelligence or creativ
ity, but for how fast they can run
and how well they can throw and
catch and, especially, how hard
they can hit. T hat’s what scouts
and recruiters want. That’s how
you get rescued.”
Alm ond’s book has drawn na
tional attention and has been fea
tured in discussions in The New
Yorker and NPR.
He is hoping for an internal reck
oning about why we love football
and how we can change the cul
ture of glorified violence in a sport.
“Do I think everyone’s going
to stop watching the game? No,”
he said. “Do I think everyone has
an obligation to consider the most
violent aspects of their culture?
Yes. I want that discussion to hap
pen.”
For more on Almond and his
ongoing search for peace within
American football, check out his
webpage, againstfootball.org.
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