Dave Zirin
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Dave Zirin (; born 1974), is an American political sportswriter. He is the sports editor for ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'', a weekly progressive magazine dedicated to politics and culture, and writes a blog named ''Edge of Sports: the weekly sports column by Dave Zirin''. As of January 2022, he has authored eleven books.


Early life and education

Zirin was born in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.Bleacher Report: "The B/R Interview: Dave Zirin" by Max Tcheyan"
November 4, 2008
He is of
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
descent. He graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.


Career

Zirin was the host of th
''Edge of Sports Podcast,''
hosted by the Slate/ Panoply network. He also co-hosted "The Collision: Where Sports and Politics Collide on Pacifica Radio" with former NBA player Etan Thomas. Zirin is a contributor to ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'', and has been a columnist for '' SLAM Magazine'', and '' The Progressive''. He has been a guest on
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
's '' Outside The Lines'' and '' Democracy Now!''. His first book, ''What’s My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States'' ( Haymarket Books) has entered its third printing. Zirin has published ''Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports'', and ''A People’s History of Sports in the United States'', a sports-related volume in the manner of
Howard Zinn Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian and a veteran of World War II. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn ...
's '' A People's History of the United States'' series for
The New Press The New Press is an independent non-profit public-interest book publisher established in 1992 by André SchiffrinReid, Calvin (December 2, 2013)"New Press Founder André Schiffrin Dead at 78" ''Publishers Weekly''. Accessed August 1, 2014. (Chev ...
. In addition to “What’s My Name, Fool?”, he has also published “The Muhammad Ali Handbook” for MQ Publications. Zirin is also the published children's book author of “My Name is Erica Montoya de la Cruz” ( RC Owen). "A People's History of Sports" forms the basis of a documentary co-written and narrated by Zirin called ''Not Just A Game: Power, Politics and American Sports'', produced by the Media Education Foundation. Zirin is the co-author with John Carlos of ''The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World'' ( Haymarket Books, 2011). He writes a blog named ''Edge of Sports: the weekly sports column by Dave Zirin''.


Political views

Zirin has repeatedly called for boycotts of certain teams, states, or nations for political reasons.


Call for boycott of Arizona

On April 27, 2010, writing for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', Zirin called for a boycott against sports teams from Arizona, in particular the Diamondbacks, to protest the Arizona SB 1070, the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act. He expressed support during the 2010 NBA Playoffs for the Phoenix Suns, who went by "Los Suns" as a statement against the Arizona immigration law.


Support of boycotts of Israel

On June 2, 2010, writing for ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'', Zirin justified the decision of the Turkish U-19 soccer team to boycott a match against Israel. He described the Gaza flotilla raid as an act of state terror committed by the Israeli government and proposed a boycott of Israel.


Criticism of Hank Williams, Jr.

On October 6, 2011, during a live interview conducted on the sports cable television network
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
, Zirin referred to Hank Williams, Jr. as
racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
and proslavery after Williams, the writer and singer of ESPN's then- Monday Night Football theme song, made a political statement comparing
multiracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...
US President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
to
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
.


Defense of Barry Bonds

In an undated interview, Zirin said, I never wrote that I 'believe Bonds has never done steroids.'" He continued: "unlike oh so many others, the man never actually failed a steroids test. Is there a ton of circumstantial evidence that the man juiced? Absolutely. But he is still the best player I've ever seen. The best player of what will go down as the anabolic era." Zirin said that, rather than steroid use, "much of the reaction to Bonds is simply bad old-fashioned racism".


Bibliography

*''What's My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States'', Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2005. , *''Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports'', Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2007. , *''Muhammad Ali Handbook'', Chicago: MB Press, 2007. , *''A People's History of Sports In The United States'', The New Press, 2008. , *''Bad Sports: How Owners Are Ruining the Games We Love'', New York: Scribner Books, 2010. , *''The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World'', Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2011. , *''Game Over: How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down'', The New Press. 2013. , *''Brazil's Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, the Olympics, and the Fight for Democracy'', Haymarket Books. 2014. *''Things That Make White People Uncomfortable'' Hardcover – Apr 13 2018 *''Jim Brown: Last Man Standing'' Hardcover – May 15, 2018 *''The Kaepernick Effect: Taking a Knee, Changing the World''—September 14, 2021 - Hardcover


Movies in DVD format

* ''Not Just a Game – Power, Politics & American Sports'', Media Education Foundation, 62-minutes, 2011 , * ''Race, Power & American Sports'', Featuring Dave Zirin, Media Education Foundation, 45-minutes, 2013 ,


References


External links


The Edge of Sports
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zirin, Dave 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American non-fiction writers Journalists from New York (state) Sportswriters from New York (state) Jewish American sportswriters Jewish American sports journalists The Nation (U.S. magazine) people Members of the International Socialist Organization Macalester College alumni Jews from New York City 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 1974 births Living people American male feminists Male feminists