Assignment 1-3: Journal Article Analysis

After reading the article by Travis Vogan I would speculate that his publication was aimed towards a specialized audience rather than a general audience. This was apparent by Vogan’s references to particular people that a general audience might not be familiar with. However, he does reference to certain events that a general audience would be familiar with such as; Katrina, Pat Tillman’s death and Rutgers women’s basketball team’s conflict with Don Imus. The author does use some subject specific terminology and vocabulary that would be specifically directed to an educated sports fan.
This article is actually a book review of “Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports” by Dave Zirin; however it does have some key points. The first paragraph stresses the idea that athletes and commentators should not discuss how sports influence political actions. The following paragraph is mainly just used as a simple review of the book and a critique of the author. Vogan lists the examples of sports figures and incidents that have challenged “the dominant discourse.” The final paragraphs are Vogan’s thoughts and reflections of Zirin’s final chapters and the book in its entirety.
Vogan discusses the variety of examples that the author uses to support his main idea. Vogan explains how Zirin uses the Superdome’s role during Hurricane Katrina as a discussion to tie in his main points of the book. Zirin uses this as a metaphor of sports and politics’ complex relationship. He is adamant about the idea that sports have the ability to unite, educate, and effect change.
As far as organization goes the review written by Zirin is in logical order and flows fairly easily. The review does lack a relevant introduction and a strong conclusion. A reader can become somewhat confused by Vogan’s introduction that can be taken as his owns thoughts on the topic discussed by Zirin. The review also lacks a strong conclusion that would persuade the reader to either read the book or not. As discussed before, Vogan lists the many examples that Zirin used throughout the book that support his position but the reader does not gain much from this. I understand that a book review is simply review and is not a summary but Vogan lacked enough information for the reader to base their decision on.
What stuck in my mind about this article was Zirin’s idea that sports can play a huge part politics. I personally pay way more attention to sports than I do politics and I’m definitely not just a small proportion of the population. If sports figures would adamantly speak about politics and stress the importance of being involved in government functions I believe as Zirin does that people would be more likely to become involved themselves. Sports play a huge role in our popular culture and politics have somewhat diminished over the years and if somehow they could become integrated, it would benefit both parties.
There is flipside to Zirin’s idea that would have a negative impact on politics. Just as fans buy soda that is endorsed by their favorite athlete, I believe they would do the same and support the politician that is endorsed by their favorite athlete. Athletes would become even more influential and could create more of a problem. People would vote for the most popular candidate rather than the candidate that stands for the same principles as they do. In the theory Zirin has an excellent idea but the maturity of the sports figures need to be improved before this will be successful.
As I said before I’m a huge fan of sports and I am somewhat involved in politics but just off Vogan’s review, “Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports” would not be a book I would chose to read. The review does bring up some interesting points that would be something I would be interested in researching.

References
Vogan, T.(2008). Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports. Journal of Popular Culture, 41(2), pp. 367-368.