Assessing the Sociology of Sport: On Cultural Sensibilities and the Great Sport Myth

On the 50th anniversary of the ISSA and IRSS, Jay Coakley, a foundational scholar in the development of the sociology of sport, reflects on the lasting power of the Great Sport Myth (GSM) to shape cultural understandings of sport. Situated in an unshakable belief about the inherent purity and goodness of sport, it is argued that the GSM has shaped uncountable decisions to embrace and sponsor sports despite their costs and what they may preclude in the way of other private and public choices. In assessing the challenges of the field, the author points to the influence of the GSM in masking and enabling personal power that has enabled ruling elites to appropriate public money for private gain. In looking ahead to future sociology of sport inquiry, scholars are encouraged to recognize how the GSM continues to undermine critical discussions and research on the culture and organization of sports and engage that understanding in more effective tactics for disseminating research that can facilitate social change and activism.