With several Boston Celtics taking to the streets to protest the killing of George Floyd despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to dive into the most extraordinary moment we are witnessing in sports in a different way than usual.
In this episode of Celtics Lab, we talk about how we’re adapting to one of the more chaotic moments in US politics in decades — if not ever — with nationwide protests and a pandemic that have transformed our quotidian engagement with sports.
To that end, we spoke with anthropologists Frances Sutton and Dr. Jeff Cohen, Authors of “Why Are Sports Fans So Bereft Without Live Games?” to discuss these vital topics from an anthropological angle.
While our initial intent was to discuss the ways sports create community, that community has been transforming a longstanding “stick-to-sports” narrative in important ways before our very eyes.
We do touch on how our lives have changed in the absence of sport, but not merely in the sense of missing a beloved form of entertainment.
Given the power of sports as an imagined community to crosscut social barriers otherwise insuperable, we are seeing a powerful moment in the actions of Jaylen Brown, Enes Kanter, Marcus Smart and others as they do precisely that.
We hope it helps amplify the struggle they are risking so much to support.
