Noam Chomski wrote a very interesting piece-I think in Manufactoring Consent-about the general publics engagement in sports versus their engagement in politics/democracy. His basic arguement was that people are alienated by the political process so they don't bother to engage in the debates by educating themselves about the pertinent facts required to possess an informed opinion. He compares this to talk back radio after a sports match where average punters call the stations armed with statistics and facts to back up the arguements that they are making about the match/teams. His contention is that average people are quite capable of becoming very informed about complex matters if they feel connected to the issues involved. I think this site is a case in point. For example I have never seen anybody on TV with the ability to cut through all the BS with stats that compares with our very own recently departed stats guru. I know a similar bloke who is a sports obsessed mathamatical genius. He's not on TV-he's on the punt.
