NBA player Serge Ibaka has no country

xlarge_c6ef097f60a184adb0d9e588926362e5

Last year we pointed to the fact that sports commentators, statisticians and journalists can’t distinguish the Democratic Republic of Congo (the DRC) from its neighbor the Republic of Congo every time they talk about NBA basketball player Serge Ibaka. He was born in Brazzaville, in the Republic of Congo, normally referred to as Congo-Brazzaville, not […]

About these ads

Magnificent

Earlier this week ESPN won seven Sports Emmy Awards, including one for music during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, like the video–played at the start of broadcasts and during breaks from the studio in South Africa–featuring U2 (I prefer Bono when he sings, not when he wants to save Africa) and the Soweto […]

What’s “a native African”

Even if you don’t care about boxing. On sports network ESPN’s their “analysts” Chris Broussard and Skip Bayless discusses comments by former boxer Bernard Hopkins that Manny Pacquiao does not want to fight African American fighters. Broussard then decides to break down “race.” Especially that of the only black fighter ever faced by Pacquiao, the […]

Sunday Ephemera No. 4

Sean Jacobs This is worth remembering. In 2004 the Liberian footballer George Weah was awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the Espys. (For those who don’t care: that’s sports channel ESPN’s versions of the Oscars.) This is the man who scored the greatest goal of all time and the only African player to win […]

ESPN observes Youth Day

hectorpieterson

I went to ESPN’s website to check WC scores and was surprised to find two short videos on its soccer homepage commemorating the June 16, 1976 student uprising in Soweto. A day which is now recognized as “Youth Day,”  a national holiday. Check them out for yourself:

‘Symbols of Liberia’s Struggle’*

Rapper Nas narrates a short insert on ESPN’s “E:60″ on the Liberian national amputee team made up of men, often former enemies, who lost the use of their legs or arms in Liberia’s very recent civil war.  (Above is a kind of mash up from the in-studio introduction that usually precedes an insert as well […]

ESPN does the World Cup

Umlando - Through My Father's Eyes -- Hugh and Sal Masekela

I, too, am in full World Cup frenzy. And while Puma gets Sean’s vote, I think I might have to go with ESPN on this one. Their 2010 World Cup coverage will feature “a 10-part series that offers an introspective look at the country of South Africa through the eyes of one of the host […]

WHEN RUGBY SHOOK THE WORLD

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while. “Foreign Policy,”a magazine whose blog loves lists, recently published one on “The Top Ten Sporting Events That Shook the World.” Included among the list, at number 6, was the South African national rugby team’s 1995 World Cup win:

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 5,486 other followers