263f – Week 1

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This material is posted to assist you by providing examples used in class re Week One introductory material The material on Ancient Olympic Games is more detailed than what will be customary in order to stay on course schedule

If sports editors wrote historical headlines: Greek Quick-Opener Stuns Trojans Henry 8 th 5 th Drops in a Row Lions Hungry for Victory as Xtian Clash Nears Freud Goes Deep Marconi Takes to Air: Finds Open Receiver Joan of Arc Favoured In French Stake Race Lindbergh Flies Out Michelangelo Credits Good Sistine Showing To Strong Backstroke

History & Sport history

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What is it that makes or marks history ?

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What is history ?

What do you know about Cdn history and/or Cdn sport history

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What makes good history

Observations by Mr Dooley:

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“ I know history isn’t true Hinnessy, cause it ain’t like what I see every day in Halstead Street. If a man comes along with a history for Greece or Rome that’ll show me the people fightin’, getting’ drunk, makin’ love, getting’ married, owin’ the grocery man, and bein’ without hard coal, I’ll believe there was a Greece or Rome but not before…. History is a post mortem examination. It tells you what a country died for. But I’d like to know what a country lived for!” ~Caroline Ware, The Cultural Approach to History

What is history ?

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Chron study of recorded time ?

Study of great people ?

Study of politics over time ?

The interaction of character with circumstances over time ?

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All of the above ? Others ?

What is history ?

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History is historiography

What is history ?

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History is historiography History is either

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The events of the past

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The record of the past

Understanding History

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“…only a part of what was observed in the past was remembered by those who observed it; only a part of what was remembered was recorded ; only a part of what was recorded has survived ; only a part of what has survived has come to the historian’s attention; only a part of what has come to their attention is credible ; only a part of what is credible has been grasped or can be expounded or narrated historian” ~ Louis Gottschalk by the

What is history ?

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Point is we DO history Research >> Analysis >> Writing History is NOT the past: “Historian tries to reconstruct the past; often, she merely creates it” Consider the Donnellys story: ~ The Black Donnellys - Kelly ~ The Donnellys Must Die - Miller

1954 Orlo Miller’s The Donnellys Must Die 1962

http://www.donnellys.com/Photos.html

The Process of DOING history [ schema ]: H i s t o r i a n d o i n g h i s t o r y Actor’s Real sit Actor’s interp of situation Action Intended Unt’d cons

Time dimensions

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Time as linear : horiz or descriptive analysis/history – ex: evol of lacr 67-14 Time as vertical : analytical approach cuts into time – ex: anal of lacr in 1867

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“we need to ask what interests and coalitions of interests gave specific shape to the development of modern sport. We need to ask how the development of sport has affected the lives of men and women in different parts of Canada. We need finally to ask how contemporary sport in Canada is both influenced by and an influence on developments in other Canadian Institutions.”

Classical Greece and the National Athletic Festivals:

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Ancient Olympics founded sometime in 8 th C BCE Most prominent of some 1300 such Gr festivals Popular bec Grks delighted in physical excellence – agonistic ideal Not just games, but cultural (music, poetry, art) & religious celebrations

Ancient Olympic Games

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776 BCE to 393 ACE, nearly 12 centuries as quad festival Little variance to events: Ch races; foot races; discus, javelin, wr, boxing Stade race of 200 yds Sacred grounds of Olympia; olive wreath ideal Women banned

Ancient Olympic Games – the ‘How’:

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Fairness was critical value Race starts w trumpet then husplex (’56) Longer than stade, had turning post; always went counter-clockwise Pentathlon and halteres – 55 feet; amentum w javelin; boxing and himantes

Modern sport roots in Ancient Greece:

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Our sporting inheritance with - types of events - concepts of discipline, training, beauty, excellence, struggle - celebrations - values – amateurism, character

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Festivals became more professionalized by 4 th C ACE

Roman Sport:

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2 eras here: Republican Rome of 2 nd century BCE to just before birth of Christ – will not deal with its sport Roman Empire – dominated Medit world for some 4 centuries – 100 mill pop Rome w aqueducts, paved roads, parks, libraries all w 1.5 mill in 17 km circumference – apt living, smelly; very prosperous

Roman Sport:

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Leisure time cannot be overemph 159 public holidays/year at height of Empire; 93 of these devoted to Games [ ludi ] at public expense Chariot racing in Circus Maximus; Gladatorial combats; wild beast fights; naval battles; athletic contests

Decline of Roman Sport

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Economic decline by 400 ACE Growing Xtian fanaticism ag body Plagues, earthquakes, famine Barbarian invasions Contribs to Modern sport ? – prof; spectatorship; gambling; excesses and win emphasis

Medieval and Renaissance Sport

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“decline” of civiliz during M-Ages Warring elite, poverty of masses Feudal system Asceticism of Xtian church Chivalry w tournaments & jousts as lavish displays of medieval pageantry Renaiss or re-birth of Civiliz around 14 th C w ‘scientific’ discoveries – golf, tennis, archery, animal-baiting but no organization

Significance of Ancient to Medieval Sport to “Modern” Cdn Sport

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Upper class Men, fem exclusion Sports of war

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Festivals & pageantry Professionalism Entertainment

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Codes of behaviour re amateurism, morality, Chivalry Beauty, excellence

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Sport seldom for its own sake Religious conservatism

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Spectacle

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Impulse to sport-play

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*organization is timeless *** See class handout re you ‘doing’ these ***

What brought sport back to western World ?

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The British public school Eton, Chester, Harrow, Rugby Early 19 th C and Dr Thomas Arnold at Rugby – 6 th form, prefects, fagging, houses & organiz of of pastimes [ Tom Brown’s School-days ‘57 ] Xtian gentleman ideal – loyalty, team spirit, courage Sport by house: football, cricket, boxing, hare & hounds Values: fair play; organiz; team before indiv; “It’s not cricket” “B of Waterloo won…Eton”