Dave Zirin
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| Dave Zirin | ||
|---|---|---|
| Occupation | Sports journalism | |
| Notable credit(s) | A People's History of Sports in the United States Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports |
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| Official website | ||
Dave Zirin is an American sportswriter. Zirin comments on varied sports-related matters. He champions athletes and issues which might be overlooked by corporate sports media and addresses the tendency of the media to objectify and employ athletes as pawns in money-making efforts.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Zirin's column, Edge of Sports, appears on Sports Illustrated’s website and he is the host of XM satellite’s weekly show, Edge of Sports Radio. Zirin is a frequent contributor to The Nation, a columnist for SLAM Magazine, The Progressive, and the Philadelphia Weekly. He is a regular op-ed writer for the Los Angeles Times.
His first book, What’s My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States (Haymarket Books) has entered its second printing.[1][2]
Zirin has taken his blend of sports and politics to the television program CNBC’s The Big Idea with Donny Deutch where he discussed steroid use in baseball with John Rocker and José Canseco; C-SPAN’s Book TV, and the WNBC Morning News in New York City. He is also a monthly commentator for Canadian sports channel The Score.
He has also been on numerous radio programs including Air America Radio's On the Real with Chuck D and Gia’na Garel, The Laura Flanders Show, Radio Nation, ESPN Radio, Stars and Stripes Radio, WOL’s The Joe Madison Show, Pacifica Radio’s Hard Knock Radio and Democracy Now, among others. He is also the Thursday morning sports host on WBAI’s “Wake Up Call with Deepa Fernandes”.
Eventually Zirin created his own radio show, Edge of Sports Radio - "Where sports and politics collide". Digressing from the standard tropes of sports shows (and political shows) Edge of Sports Radio ran up against their management's difficulties in how to program the show. (For example, one of the recurring segments is entitled, "Ask a Sports Sociologist?") So far, they have survived these bumps in the road and are still broadcast on XM Satellite Radio.
Zirin has also published Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports, and “A People’s History of Sports,” a sports-related volume in the manner of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States series for The New Press. In addition to “What’s My Name, Fool?” for Haymarket Books, 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). In addition, he is working on a sports documentary with Barbara Kopple’s Cabin Creek films on sports and social movements in the United States.
Zirin’s writing has been printed by the Los Angeles Times, CBSNEWS.com, New York Newsday, Pittsburgh Courier, The Source, Latinosports.com, Common Dreams, The College Sporting News, basketball.com, Alternet, The Black Sports Network, Counterpunch, Dodgers Dugout, San Francisco Bay View, Z net, International Socialist Review, War-Times, and The Afro-American.
[edit] Barry Bonds steroids controversy
Zirin maintains the opinion that the aggressive hatred toward the use of steroids by Barry Bonds is in large degree due to racism. In 2004, Zirin wrote, “The greatest case for reasonable doubt lies in Bonds' very late career success. His unparalleled middle-aged majesty screams his innocence.”[3] However, in an undated interview, Zirin claims “I never wrote that I "believe Bonds has never done steroids."” He continues: “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.”[4] Zirin claims that, rather than steroid use, “much of the reaction to Bonds is simply bad old-fashioned racism”.[5]
- Articles and interviews concerning bonds
- Reasonable Doubt: Why Barry Bonds in Not on Steroids (March 27/28, 2004)
- The Juice and the Noose (November/December 2006)
- The Unforgiven: Jack Johnson and Barry Bonds (June 19, 2007)
- Barry Bonds: Steroids, Scapegoats and Sweet Satisfaction (August 9, 2007)
- Indicted!: Barry Bonds Busted by a Broken System (November 15, 2007)
- Bosses’ Boycott: The Bonds Vanishes (May 12, 2008)
- No Softballs: Dave Zirin (undated interview)
[edit] Bibliography
- What's My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States, Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2005. | ISBN 978-1931859202
- Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports, Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2007. | ISBN 978-1931859417
- Muhammad Ali Handbook , Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2007. | ISBN 978-1846011559
- A People's History of Sports: From Bull-Baiting to Barry Bonds, Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2008. | ISBN 978-1595581006
[edit] References
- ^ "The Nation > Author Bios > Dave Zirin". http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/dave_zirin. Retrieved on 2008-06-26.
- ^ "Edge of Sports -> Bio". http://www.edgeofsports.com/bio.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-26.
- ^ Dave Zirin (2004-03-27). "Reasonable Doubt: Why Barry Bonds is Not on Steroids". http://www.counterpunch.org/zirin03272004.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-26.
- ^ Dan Lewis. "No Softballs: Dave Zirin". http://www.armchairgm.com/index.php?title=No_Softballs:_Dave_Zirin. Retrieved on 2008-06-26.
- ^ Dave Zirin. "THE UNFORGIVEN: Jack Johnson and Barry Bonds". http://www.edgeofsports.com/2007-06-19-264/index.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-26.
