When you're representing a sport, people are more likely to judge and comment as, unlike other fields, sport permits every viewer to participate to a certain level.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
In all Games, there is always a tendency, particularly in the lead up to the Games when there isn't much sport to talk about, to write about things that are not sport.
I'm persuaded that sports is the one place where the rules are pretty well set out, where fans are equal. And if you got game or you're a good official, you make it here, whether you're white or you're black.
I think, without question, the way someone plays sports shows something about inherently who they are, you know?
Every time you write anything, at least half your readers are going to disagree with you. A big part of sports writing is how you respond to that tension.
Sport allows people to come together, but politics divides people.
Sports is a bunch of people gathering around, watching something that they're not actually connected to - they're just emotionally connected.
We judge athletes as if we all don't have trouble performing our various duties from time to time.
For many of us, sport has provided the continuity in our lives, the alternative family to the one we left behind. It gives us something to talk about, to preen about, to care about.
Amazingly, I think that a lot of times athletes are - are kind of in a position where other think they shouldn't weigh in on certain social topics.
Good spectator sports share certain fundamentals. Their competitors battle head-to-head. Their winners are determined objectively: fastest runner, most points. They are refereed, not judged.