The Academics of Athletics

On May 17, ESPN’s The Undefeated website launched as “the premier platform for exploring the intersections of sports, race and culture.” Scott Brooks, a sociology professor at Missouri, built his career on studying these themes, and his presentation taught me that I should never watch an athletic event again without considering cultural phenomenons. Brooks explained how sports writers, across the board, use specific terms such as “strong” or “smart” to describe certain athletes based on preconceived notions of race or background, and these assumptions can further promote false storylines. Sports writers have an obligation to tell the right story, but finding the right story can involve thinking about athletics and success in a new, challenging thought-provoking way. “Trailblazers do more work,” Brooks said in response to a question about how to be the sports writer who breaks down barriers and pushes against stereotypes. Brooks gave me a sense of purpose, for everything from my photographs to my writing to my tweets. Understanding sports and writing about sports in a critical, intelligent way involves comprehending the influence of sports history and reading current sports with an open mind. Sociology and cultural studies, such as the article we read about community cultural wealth framework, can help sports writers describe athletes in a more accurate manner, but the main lesson I took away from Brook’s talk was simple: never stop thinking and never stop asking questions. Make no assumptions. -- Shannon Scovel