istory. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle justified the decision by saying, “It has been traditional in sports for athletes to perform in times of great personal tragedy. Football was Mr. Kennedy’s game. He thrived on competition.” (Meggyesy, 1970, p. 145). Meggyesy viewed this justification as utter nonsense. He believed the actual reason for playing the games was because the various owners would have lost huge profits if they had postponed them. (Meggyesy, 1970)Conflict theorists also study sports and various forms of nationalism and militarism. These studies examine whether sports create superficial, irrational, and potentially harmful feelings of nationalistic pride, and whether sports might be used to justify violence in society. (Coakley, 1998) Meggyesy asserted that football was being used to justify violence in society, more specifically the United States’ involvement in Vietnam. (Meggyesy, 1970) He believed this justification could be seen by observing the similarities between football and war. Meggyesy stated:…there was this whole militaristic aura surrounding pro football, not only in obvious things like football stars visiting troops in Vietnam, but in the language of the game—‘throwing the bomb’, being a ‘field general’, etc., and in the unthinking obligation to ‘duty’ required of the players. In short, the game has been wrapped in red, white, and blue. (Meggyesy, 1970, p. 147)The final category conflict theorists study is the sexism and racism found in sports. These studies examine whether sports divide people by race and gender, perpetuate racial stereotypes and distorted definitions of masculinity and femininity, and create racial and gender inequities in society. (Coakley, 1998) In terms of sexism, Meggyesy tells of his days at Syracuse University when it was “…healthy and manly to go out and get drunk, pick up some girl, lay her and maybe e...
