Italian Soda and a Hot Chocolate with Prof. Guttmann

Coffee with Prof. Allen Guttmann went OK. Unfortunately I had a terrible headache and therefore wasn't feeling intellectually "on", so I felt I couldn't quite control the conversation to yield dazzling insights. Nonetheless Allen was extremely knowledgeable and had a lot of little fascinating sports factoids that really intrigued me. In fact if I could re-do the conversation I would just try to milk him for this type of information. Here is a quick run-down of a few things that Allen talked about that I found interesting:

1. Baseball Annie's. Ladies who "collect" sexual experiences with baseball players, and presumably share these lists with others.

2. I mentioned to Allen that I was confused that the soccer field measurements were listed in ranges and not fixed measurements. He informed me that soccer is somewhat unregulated to a certain degree because of its earlier history. Turns out a lot of the origins of soccer originate from 17th century ball games where there were no boundaries between the spectator and players. The game most consisted of kicking a bladder between 2 rival villages and the object was to kick the animal skin into the portal of the village church. Anyone could join. As a result soccer to this day has somewhat flexible rules about certain things. This is known as "folk football". Allen then told me to read his book Sports: the First Five Millennia for more details.

3. The rules of many sports changed with television. The number of time-outs are by and large decided by advertisers who want to make sure they get their ads in.

4. Mohamed Ali was known to draw out fights so advertisers would get their money's worth.

5. Allen discussed the complication of European Labor laws and immigration laws that dominates the way players are picked.

Books to read:
Quest for Excitement: Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing Process by Norbert Elias, Eric Dunning

The People's Game: The History of Football Revisited by James Walvin

Sports: A Cultural History in the Mirror of Art Peter Kuhnst

I asked Allen if he considered himself a sports fan. I was secretly happy when he confessed that he wasn't really. He began his research 30 years ago because he was trying to understand what everyone else was getting so excited about. My impression is that he hasn't found an entirely satisfying answer.