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Missing the Campaign? Try the Politics of Sports.

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As for athletes, we've already seen a new generation of "Jocks for Justice" loosening the yoke of apathy and speaking out. NBA players such as Steve Nash, Etan Thomas and Joakim Noah raised objections to the war in Iraq, as did such NFL players as Scott Fujita and Adalius Thomas. Even Ultimate Fighting champion Jeff "The Snowman" Monson hands out anti-war pamphlets on his way to compete at the Octagon; he protested at the Republican National Convention. As Martina Navratilova recently told Sports Illustrated, "It's like athletes have woken up to what actors and musicians have known forever: I have this amazing platform -- why not use it?"

Fans may have a slightly less exalted platform than the people they cheer, but don't confuse the humble with the powerless. It's still the people in the seats who could demand change in the world of sports. They've seen how it can work in politics. Passion abhors a vacuum, and right now, sports and sports alone may be awfully thin gruel for fans-turned-political-junkies now coming off an election high.

edgeofsports@gmail.com

Dave Zirin is the author of "A People's History of Sports in the United States."

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