Aftermath of the Boston Marathon

There are times when politics and sports get intertwined. Normally it's not too pretty, but there are lessons to be learned. I think that there are multiple lessons and realities that can be taken from the Boston Marathon tragedy. First, tragedies shouldn't scare us from public events. While the attacks on Boston had no connection to marathons at large, sports are often common targets for violence. This shouldn't be a deterrent to participating in, and spectating, sporting events. Also, sports often serve as a stage for international politics.

There was talk of changing marathons so that all 26.2 miles would be secure. I don't think this is a good idea. Runners should be able to run marathons with no fear whatsoever. Making marathons "high security", like airports, would be a hassle, and would make marathons exclusive in a way. Police officers are one thing, but metal detectors and body scanners would just make people not want to watch marathons. Also, tight security is just going to scare runners more. The fact is, being in a free society, we should have the right to run marathons. With tight security, marathons will focus more on being safe, than personal accomplishments. Marathons are public events shared by a community; marathons, as well as other events, are best held without the fear of terrorism.

There are many stages where political views are expressed. The press, cinema, and internet are just a few outlets. But one of the largest transmitters of opinion is sports, especially on a global level.Throughout the Olympics and especially soccer, politics are often transmitted. Regrettably, these opinions are often reproduced forcefully, memorably through acts of terror. Palestinian soccer players in Israel are tormented and persecuted, but vice versa, Palestinians killed numerous Israelis in the Munich massacre of the 1972 Olympiad. Maybe the reason why sports are targets of terror is that sports are universal. Almost every culture has athletic competitions. Sporting events get a lot of attention from a vast audience. There's also peaceful forms of protests in sports. There's Tim Thomas' infamous political goalie masks as well as athletes having mottos on their undershirts that are revealed when he or she scores. Peaceful sporting political expression can have a very large impact. Sports and Politics are definitely not separated, both are part of culture and will probably be long intertwined.

Sports are just like politics. They require strategy, opinion, and most importantly, the ability to please the population. The link is fascinating. Sports allow those with opinions to spread their views - peacefully or not.