In many ways, the prominence of sports in society is unmatched.
But the question posed to a standing-room-only crowd of several hundred at the fifth annual Shirley Povich Symposium last night was not whether sports matter, it was if they matter, perhaps, too much.
The event, held in honor of the late Washington Post sportswriter, gathers some of the biggest names in the sports media and debates major contemporary issues in the sports world. Held in the Riggs Alumni Center, the panelists — sports journalists Kevin Blackistone, Christine Brennan, Scott Van Pelt and Tony Kornheiser, and Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder — debated the answers to an array of questions revolving around the changing landscape of the sports industry.
“The sports cycle is just like the news cycle — it never ends,” said Maury Povich, son of the event’s namesake and moderator for the discussion. “The question is, are we putting [sports] on a level it doesn’t deserve to be?”
The first portion of the discussion focused on why society today seems to place so much weight on sports, to the extent that even athletes’ personal lives are open to constant and vigorous scrutiny.
Although nobody had a concrete answer, Blackistone offered a theory.
“It reflects life better than everything else — it’s real-life human drama played out daily,” he said, “and I think that’s what sports is all about.”
With what seems like a growing spotlight on the private lives of athletes — and the relative ease with which such information can be found — the panel also discussed the question of the constant surveillance of athletes, citing several recent examples of off-the-field issues, including the various scandals of Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas, golfer Tiger Woods and Auburn University quarterback Cameron Newton.
“We know what the numbers say,” said ESPN anchor and university alumnus Van Pelt. “And when Brett Favre is on, people watch.”
Other issues the panelists discussed were the high cost of attending sporting events and the perception athletes are so easily pardoned their mistakes.
But perhaps the most contentious — and awkward — moment came during an exchange between Povich and Snyder. Snyder was asked whether he would like to see an 18-game schedule in the NFL as opposed to the usual 16 games, to which he responded he would.
“For the money?” Povich countered, echoing the oft-stated belief that NFL owners care only about profit, and earning the audience’s laughter.
“No,” Snyder answered simply.
But as usual with sports, the end came down to the fans — and plenty of them turned out to get their burning questions answered about their favorite teams and issues. One attendee asked Snyder point-blank if he can bring a championship to Washington, to which the owner responded that though it didn’t look like it Monday night, his team was doing its best.
“It was very interesting how they compared sports to different aspects of life,” said senior supply chain management major Kenny Voshell. “A lot of their perspectives were things I didn’t entirely expect.”
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