Sports have absolutely nothing to do with life. They are not a test of our character. They don't reflect our finest values. At best, they are a diversion.
Sports can be a powerful diversion, it is true.
But whenever, say, our favorite football team ceases to be amusing, we are free to turn our attention to something that matters. Those who have nothing else in their lives that is more important can always call in to sports talk shows and make thinly veiled racial remarks about firing Green Bay Packers coach Ray Rhodes. We never said sports didn't reflect our values. We said they didn't reflect our finest values. The subject of race is particularly close to the bone right now in sports because, at long last, professional sports are being dragged kicking and screaming into an era of social progress.