Checking Militarism Public broadcaster giving airtime to war http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/3918

One of the most durable buttresses of militarism is found in the world of sport, and advocates like Don Cherry and his critics are just the latest in a long tradition.Military training all over the world had a significant element of sport in it because fitness is needed in battle. In Social Darwinist thought, sport was encouraged during industrialism to ensure that "the nation" would remain "vital" and able to flex its military muscle. As articulated by World War II General and US President Dwight D Eisenhower, "the true mission of American sports is to prepare young people for war."

Each of these events feature undisguised expressions of militarism, and many athletes, teams, and leagues have supported the military by visiting troops abroad. The defense industry continues the militarization of sport with athletic sponsorships such the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.Some athletes themselves provide financial support for war, as with the Strikeouts for Troops program, a national project that has raised over $1 million since 2005 from contributions made by more than 60 professional baseball and football players, fund raising events, fan donations and corporate partnerships.

Others do so by holding events for soldiers and their families. In both 2007 and 2008, Tiger Woods donated 30,000 tickets to the AT&T National Golf tournament to service members and their families. Woods, whose father Earl was in the US Army Special Forces (the "Green Berets"), is known as a strong supporter of the military, saying that he would have joined up if he hadn't made it as a professional golfer.At the same time that professional sport enlists support for militarism, it also serves as a major source of resistance to war. While athletes have a reputation for being more conservative than other celebrities, not all professional athletes endorse militarism, war or conservative politics. And, despite all the multifaceted connections between sport and war, there is also a long history of athletes acting as tools for peace.