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"Sports Cultures in America and Europe: A Mirror of Modern Life"

Vienna
June 4, 2008

Remarks by Cultural Attaché Katherine Perez, U.S. Embassy Vienna

On the eve of the EURO 2008 soccer tournament on Wednesday, June 4, Andrei Markovits, Professor of Comparative Politics and German Studies, University of Michigan, gave a talk on "Sports Cultures in America and Europe: a Mirror of Modern Life" to a packed audience of students and faculty from Webster University Vienna and others at the Amerika Haus. Professor Markovits touched on the origins, the role, and the relevance of typically American sports such as baseball, American football, basketball, and ice hockey for U.S. society and culture. Markovits, because of his personal background (having lived on both sides of the Atlantic) and great avocational interest in sports, is able to contrast and juxtapose the U.S. situation with facts about the role of sports such as rugby and soccer in European society, and to put it into a historical context. Markovits, who lives and breathes sports, in particular soccer, captivated the audience, further exciting the anticipation of soccer fans for the coming European Championship.


Cultural Attaché Katherine Perez, U.S. Embassy Vienna	Dr. Arthur Hirsh, Director, Webster University Vienna

Professor Andy Markovits, Karl W. Deutsch Collegiate Professor of Comparative Politics and German Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Front row, left of the aisle: Dr. William Fulton, Academic Director; Dr. Arthur Hirsh, Director, Webster University Vienna; Mrs. Gila Moffat-Hirsh Front row, right of the isle: Stefano Cantini, MA'94, President of Webster Vienna Alumni Association; Dr. Gregory Weeks, Department Head, International Relations; Dr. Michael Freund, Department Head, Media Communications; Webster University Vienna; Michele Mihanovich, alumna of Webster University St. Louis

Remarks by Cultural Attaché Katherine Perez

Professor Markovits, Dr. Hirsh, Dr. Ortner-Chopin, Honored Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Welcome to our Amerika Haus.

Today is the second time that the Embassy is co-hosting a talk by a recipient of Webster University's prestigious Dr. Elizabeth Ortner-Chopin Visiting Professorship. We welcome such joint events as they provide us an opportunity to cooperate with the largest, oldest and most established degree-offering U.S. University Program in Austria. At the same time, is allows us to share with our own audiences some of the finest that U.S. academia has to offer. In this particular case, Prof. Markovits is no stranger to Austria, as he spent some formative years in this country and still has many personal friends here.

But, I do not want to preempt Dr. Hirsh who will tell us more about Webster University's program and introduce Prof. Andrei Markovits in more depth. Rather, I should like to say a few words about sport and its meaning for U.S. society and culture. Sports are an intrinsic part of American life. We simply cannot imagine life without them. From the first baskets a kid learns to shoot in the yard to learning to swing the baseball bat on the school sports field to shooting a puck on a frozen lake, sports are omnipresent in our lives from childhood on, lasting into adulthood.

Although we may stop practicing sports actively at some point, media coverage of sports events on any level is inescapable. And even when we are abroad, we Americans do not want to do without our daily dose of sports coverage:

At the Embassy, the first thing that catches one's eye when one enters the snack bar is a large TV-screen in the dining room area. And guess what? It is almost always set on some sports channel so that people can catch up on results even during their lunch break.

Enjoying sports is also a unifying experience for us Americans as it transcends social, racial and political boundaries. It is part of the social glue that bonds our country together. It also helps us transmit such inherently American values as justice and fair play, teamwork and sacrifice. And it is big business, both in itself and in that it has become the subject of countless movies ranging from Rocky to Sea Biscuit, Downhill Racer to Field of Dreams.

Surely, on the eve of the EURO 2008 I cannot think of a more interesting topic than the one Professor Markovits has chosen for his talk. I am greatly looking forward to your talk, Professor, and I hope that you as well as our audience will have time to stay on for a little while afterwards to share a glass of wine and some discussion. There are also some reference materials in the back of the room. Please help yourselves.

Before we start, I should like to ask Dr. Arthur Hirsh, the Director of Webster University Vienna, to say a few words on behalf of Webster and to formally introduce our speaker.