You're making me want to think about a hierarchy of sports again, investigating the thought about whether some sports either inherently or (temporarily?) culturally outperform others. I (re?)discovered the other day that the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award is to be awarded to the sportsperson "whose actions have most captured the public's imagination", though you have to delve into the Ts and Cs to find this. It's a really nice way of putting it, I reckon. Is someone winning the World Snooker Championship in one year necessarily better than someone winning the World Snooker Championship another year? No. Can a win in one year capture the public's imagination much more than in another year? Very easily. Taking this back to your point, is it easy to have your imagination captured by a sprinter in a way that it isn't for a pole-vaulter or a 400m hurdler? I'd argue so.
The BBC's definition also captures some of the spirit of those who think that the Sports Personality should have a "big personality", by noting that some people only have their imagination captured by a performer if they think they would be fun to have a drink with. This doesn't speak well of them, though, I'd argue.
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Date: 2009-08-19 06:27 pm (UTC)You're making me want to think about a hierarchy of sports again, investigating the thought about whether some sports either inherently or (temporarily?) culturally outperform others. I (re?)discovered the other day that the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award is to be awarded to the sportsperson "whose actions have most captured the public's imagination", though you have to delve into the Ts and Cs to find this. It's a really nice way of putting it, I reckon. Is someone winning the World Snooker Championship in one year necessarily better than someone winning the World Snooker Championship another year? No. Can a win in one year capture the public's imagination much more than in another year? Very easily. Taking this back to your point, is it easy to have your imagination captured by a sprinter in a way that it isn't for a pole-vaulter or a 400m hurdler? I'd argue so.
The BBC's definition also captures some of the spirit of those who think that the Sports Personality should have a "big personality", by noting that some people only have their imagination captured by a performer if they think they would be fun to have a drink with. This doesn't speak well of them, though, I'd argue.