Playing for What?

Gonna try a Leithartish type post. We'll see.

James K.A. Smith, in his post "Playing for What?", bemoans the impoverished state of sports which true spirit is self-determining and true practice is its own enjoyment. Today though these are steadily being encroached upon by the "athletic-entertainment complex which has instrumentalized sport for all sorts of misbegotten ends". Emblematic of this shift for Smith are the Nike World Cup Soccer commercials, which fetishize by enrapturing the viewer in the meaning of external trappings to participants who succeed.

For a sport self-proclaiming its pride in showcasing a specific skill set, it seems at its highest level of competition to be continuously haunted by accusations lending credence to this interpretation, all the while shamefully trying to enshroud itself in pretensions of honest play. Yet as the tournament progress fans will continually be disgusted by simulations on the field and a governing body reveling in scandals and controversies, mediated only by their desire for ever escalating sponsorships.

Yea, there's no Leithart like the real thing. Sorry.