The Artist and the Sportsfan

Cafe Society
1

I have always been fascinated by great artists who are passionately into sports. My heart and soul are in the arts and I have never been able to comprehend the sports fan. I’m not putting sports down- it’s just something that I was never into. Most of my friends are drawn to the arts and I can usually relate with artistic people. Sports fans, on the other hand, I just can’t seem to climb into their minds. I don’t get it. The mindsets seem to me to be irreconcilable. However, this is obviously a failure on my part as there are plenty of folks who delight in both worlds and find nothing irreconcilable about them.

Again, I don’t want to sound like I want to divide “my people” from “the others”. This isn’t a highschool “jocks vs. geeks” kind of thing. I reiterate: I am fascinated by the folks whose passions carry them through both worlds. What I’m looking for here is for someone out in Messageboardland who fits this profile to share with me their perspective. Bring sports and art together for me and show me why you can love both.

Woody Allen: Great film artist- passionately into Basketball
Tim Robbins: Excellent Actor/ Filmmaker- big into hockey
Keroac was a football player
Hemmingway, one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century, an aficionado of bullfighting and big game hunting (I don’t think I’ll ever grasp that one!)

2

I would say competition, striving to be the best you can, putting the team ahead of the individual, and witnessing elite players battle it out on a fair playing field are all worthy aspects of sport. (The last, especially, because the coveted “fair playing field” is so rarely seen in real life.)

There is also the element of strategy, trying to outthink your opponent both before the game and during. This would have a similar appeal as, say, chess.

Weren’t the Olympics originated in the very art-centric ancient Greece?

3

The artist and the sports fan should be friends,
Oh, the artist and the sports fan should be friends.
One man likes to see Monet, the other likes a football play,
But that’s no reason why they cain’t be friends.