Sport and Social Progress

This is a nice column by Howard Bryant on ESPN.com, dealing with attitudes towards women and the recent episodes involving Tiger Woods and Ben Roethlisberger. It is hopeful that some progress has been made here with respect to attitudes towards women, but as Bryant points out, we've got a ways to go.

Philosopher's Football Match

A re-enactment of the Monty Python's football match between the Germans and the Greeks is taking place on Sunday May 9th in North London. It is the idea of the Philosophy Shop which brings philosophy to primary school children; its purpose is to highlight the importance of developing philosophical and critical thinking.

Many notable philosophers, comedians, ex-sports players and journalists will be taking part, including AC Grayling (German manager), Graham Taylor (Greek manager), Julian Baggini, Tony Hawks, and Nigel Warburton (referee). From the philosophy of sport, Jim Parry and Stephen Mumford will be playing, as well as myself.

It should be a great day out and for those of you unable to come, some commentary will be available on BBC Radio5live sports extra.

For tickets, more information, and the original Monty Python sketch visit: http://www.philosophersfootball.com/home

Ethics and the Ancient Olympics

 Philosophy of Sport contributor Jesus Ilundain will give a presentation entitled "The Ancient Olympic Games: Ethics and the Clash at Thermopylea," with the Institute for Philosophy in Public Life.
The presentation can be watched online and viewers can chat at
http://www.philosophyinpubliclife.org/

Wednesday April 14
6:00 pm

Coubertin Olympic Awards Essay Contest

 Interested students should check this out:
http://www.coubertin-awards.org.uk/

IAPS Newsletter

The March 2010 newsletter for the International Association for the Philosophy of Sport is available at this link.

Call for Papers

International Association for the Philosophy of Sport in conjunction with the APA Eastern Division Meeting December 27-30, 2010, at the Boston Marriott Copley Place.

The International Association for the Philosophy of Sport invites the submission of papers to be considered for presentation at the 2010 APA Eastern Division Meeting. Papers are welcome on any area of philosophy of sport from any theoretical approach. Presenters must be members of both APA and IAPS and pay regular conference registration fees. For more information on IAPS, go to http://www.iaps.net/.

Papers should be no more than 10 pages in length, 20 minutes reading time. Only 300-500 word abstracts are required for consideration. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is May 15, 2010. Abstracts should be submitted as attachments by e-mail [.doc, .docx, .rtf, or .pdf format] to joan.g.forry@vanderbilt.edu. Only those contributors who do not have access to e-mail should send a hard copy to Joan Grassbaugh Forry at the address below.
Submitting authors will be notified of the acceptance or rejection of their papers by May 30, 2010.


Dr. Joan Grassbaugh Forry
Vanderbilt University
111 Furman Hall
Nashville, TN 37240

NASCAR encouraging crashes?

The following pieces on Sports Illustrated.com about NASCAR's new "have at it" philosophy of allowing drivers more discretion for aggressive moves.

Danger very much alive in NASCAR after weak slap at Carl Edwards

NASCAR stands by greater driver leeway in Edwards-Keselowski crash

From the first article by Lars Anderson:

In the end, NASCAR got exactly what it wanted: The re-injection of danger -- and the specter of death -- into its sport.

Let's review. This past offseason, NASCAR announced it would no longer vigorously police the on-track behavior of drivers. If one had a beef with another, well, NASCAR said it would essentially turn a blind eye to whatever a driver did to achieve retribution. As Robin Pemberton, the vice president of competition, said this winter, "We will put it back in the hands of drivers, and we will say, 'Boys, have at it.'"

This brings us to Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Early in the event, Carl Edwards, a four-time winner in Atlanta, was bumped from behind by Brad Keselowski, which sent Edwards into the wall, wiping out any chance Edwards had of taking the checkers.

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/lars_anderson/03/09/edwards.keselowski.crash/index.html?xid=cnnbin&hpt=Sbin#ixzz0hm0GEL7B

Here a governing body is adopting a stance that many fear will lead to increased injuries or death for drivers and even spectators, all in the name of heightening interest in the sport. The "have at it" philosophy appears to be achieving that goal.

The drivers themselves seem upset that NASCAR is seemingly encouraging risky driving. But I am wondering about a NASCAR fan at trackside who is injured or killed by a crash. Would that dead spectator have fulfilled the conditions of informed consent by choosing to sit in such a risky spot given the danger?