Mike Tyler Sport

This is an anecdote. I was born in 1982 and raised in a housing association house on the east of Birmingham. My mum worked as a teaching assistant in my primary school, and my dad on the shop floor of a vehicle parts factory. He biked it to work because we didn't have a car. My mum's parents weren't called grandparents. They were Nan and Granddad, and they too lived in council housing. My Nan used to bath all three of us kids at the same time, and wash our faces with our own underpants. True story. We were working class. Birmingham has always had a strong grammar school presence, and I was one of the select few to whom those schools afforded an opportunity that I had no right to claim. No one coached me for the 11-plus entry exam, I just turned up and did it. They offered me a place. That was a critical moment.  I loved the environment at my school, and felt immediately at home. It was an environment in which I was able to indulge my love of learning and my teachers pushed ...

I was reading an article recently by Philip Mellor and Chris Shilling entitled 'Body pedagogics and the religious habitus' in which the following statement is made: "The global resurgence of religion in the contemporary era, however, has presented a challenge to what can be seen as the methodological ‘default’ position of many sociologists, namely, that religion is always the ‘dependent variable’, relative to secular phenomena deemed to be more important." (p. 27) I want to assist with this challenge. It seems to me that every social scientist must stand downstream from Marx for some period of time, if not to take the plunge then at least to test the water. Why is this? It is plain that the great majority of renowned sociological thinkers draw from that stream. When Mellor and Shilling speak of the 'methodological default', it seems to me what underlies this is a prior commitment of those 'many sociologists' to a leftist theoretical perspective. ...

The changing design of Barcelona's club badge teaches us about how sport is an integral part of wider society, not simply a meaningless addendum.  In 1899 at the club's founding it was decided to use the city coat of arms as the club's badge. FC Barcelona's regional ties have long been a fundamental part of its identity, and when the club produced its own unique badge in 1910, key symbolism from the city's crest was retained. The Cross of St. George 1910 crest St George, is not only the patron saint of England, but also a significant icon in numerous regions of Spain. In Catalonia, as in England, he is the noble slayer of dragons, the moral crusader, the rescuer of damsels; in short, God's man on the earth. In a culture saturated with Catholicism the symbolic act of wearing George's cross is of great relevance. The selection of the Cross to form the Barça crest is a means to tie the club to a heritage which - albeit mostly invented - enables the...

Recently the Sport and Recreation Alliance produced a report on the social value of sport (you can read it here ), in which several writers outline the positive outcomes to be gained through increased sports participation. The case was made in particular for sport as a tool for righting the wrongs of inactivity and obesity. I'm sure there’s nuance in the writers’ minds but what is down on the paper strikes me as unduly imbuing sport with an almost miracle-working capacity. For example, on page 9 of the report the writer declares, with reference to improving the health and fitness of young people in the UK, ‘It can be done. All we need is the right sport’. I could hardly disagree more. I think we need to stop pinning our hopes on sport, and start talking about the much broader, and much more accessible options to people who don't want to play sport. Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=511409 It got me thinking about how and why this idea of sport-as-el...

I was dismayed this morning to read this piece by Toby Young. I had hoped to discover that it was written as an April Fool's joke, but sadly it seems this is not the case. I'm not responding in order to attack Toby himself because, though I know his views often ruffle feathers, ad hominem is poor form and is not my style. Besides, I like Mr. Young as a writer, and think he brings a lot to the table on a range of issues. I'd happily listen to him on the EU, or schools, and so on... But he's wrong this time.  My primary objection to the article is straightforward and so I shall be brief. Mr Young complains that the 'politically correct brigade' - by making themselves visible at football matches - are encroaching into unwelcome (male) territory. I believe there are two key errors made in the article which concede ground where it need not be conceded. The first error is that political correctness is equated (unintentionally or otherwise) with concern...

During my A Level studies, my Geography class went to Chester (a northern city of the UK) for a week of fieldwork. One of the key aspects we studied was the historical determinants of the present day town plan. We considered how the raw materials present in the locality, as well as the depth and navigability of the River Dee, helped to make the site a good one for initial settlement. We discovered how the walls built by the Romans had enabled and constrained the development of the settlement. We thought about how the Mediaeval additions were in part informed by what their Roman predecessors had left behind, and how they added to the existing spaces with their own built structures. This process of remoulding and remaking the built environment continues to to the present day, presenting us with the modern, taken-for-granted forms of the cities and towns in which we dwell. Braun's map of Chester (1571) from http://chesterwalls.info/gallery/oldmaps/index.html Our A Level class ...

Hi, how are things? I'm Mike, and I'm a full time college lecturer (I teach sport, since you asked). But I also study sociology in what little spare time I have. Well, sociology of sport, at least. This letter is to ask for your help. I'm a newcomer to sociology, a johnny-come-lately, the new kid on the block. And the fact of the matter is that I'm entirely out of my depth. I'm assured by my peers that that's a good thing though. The internet is also pretty sure, for example, that Bertrand Russell once said something like this: "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." I'm not claiming intelligence necessarily, but if the 'full of doubt' bit is anything to go by... well you get the idea. I'd like to stick around long enough to see if some of that doubt can be lifted and maybe if there's anything I can contribute. I've come to sociology in a kind of round about w...