2004 should be remembered as a year when the hermetically sealed divide between sports and society frayed for the first time in a generation. The year however did not begin on nearly as promising a note as sports stood in the dual shadow of Janet Jackson's right breast and FCC chair Michael Powell's own indignantly heaving bosom. Then the death of former NFL safety turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan seemed to morph the National Football League into a wing of the War Department churning out propaganda at a Capra-esque pace. US Troops watching NFL games were beamed in our living rooms, with one over exuberant Oakland fan holding up a red, white, and blue sign that read all too appropriately, “Raider-Nation.”

2004 seemed destined to be a year of sports as a 'weapon of mass distraction,' when on-field exploits would serve as little more than a dystopian diversion from a world of Abu Ghraibs and Fallujas pulsating off the playing field. Amidst this maelstrom of misery, we were handed a Presidential 'debate' so narrow it could have stood on the side of a coin as serious debate was tossed under the political swift boat. But in this barren wasteland, a small group of athletes looked reality in the face and instead of retreating to the antiseptic sanctity of gated celebrity, used their platform to say enough is enough.

These players varied from superstar to benchwarmer, but each – in a time of stifled speech – made a difference. There was Toronto Blue Jays All Star slugger Carlos Delgado refusing to stand on the dug out steps for “God Bless America.” 'I don't (stand) because I don't believe in the war,' Delgado said. 'It's a very terrible thing that happened on September 11. It's (also) a terrible thing that happened in Afghanistan and Iraq. I just feel so sad for the families that lost relatives and loved ones in the war. But I think it's the stupidest war ever.'

There was Washington Wizards' fifth year forward/center Etan Thomas going public, with no apologies, saying, 'I am totally against this war. But at the same time, I am completely for the troops. Republicans tried to paint the picture that if you were against the war, you were somehow unpatriotic, and that couldn't be further from the truth. What's truly unpatriotic is misleading an entire nation into war under false pretenses.'

Thomas also stood up for his right to both play sports and have a working brain that produces opinions. 'I have never had a problem standing up for what I believe in. I admire the athletes of the past, like Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, John Carlos and Tommie Smith, Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar]. Athletes that used their position as a platform to speak out on social issues and stand up for a cause. Basketball is not my life. To quote Bill Russell, 'You're not going to reduce me to an entertainer. I'm a man who stands up for what I believe in and you're going to respect me for it.''

We saw a crack in the façade of the usual flag flapping nausea that accompanies the Olympics when the Iraqi soccer team refused to be a shill for Bush's reelection efforts. Mid-fielder and team leader Salih Sadir told Sports Illustrated, 'Iraq as a team does not want Mr. Bush to use us for the presidential campaign. He can find another way to advertise himself.'

Sadir's teammates were even less diplomatic. Midfielder Ahmed Manajid, born and raised in Fallujah, told SI angrily, 'How will [Bush] meet his god having slaughtered so many men and women? He has committed so many crimes.' Manajid even said that if he were not playing soccer he would 'for sure' be fighting as part of the resistance. 'I want to defend my home. If a stranger invades America and the people resist, does that mean they are terrorists? Everyone [in Falluja] has been labeled a terrorist. These are all lies. Falluja people are some of the best people in Iraq.'

The war also produced the antithesis to Pat Tillman, Danielle 'D Smooth' Green, a former star athlete at Notre Dame who returned from a tour of duty Iraq without her left hand, but with iron-clad views about a war she saw without a CNN filter. From her hospital bed, Green told the New York Times, 'They just don't want us there. I personally don't think we should have gone into Iraq. Not the way things have turned out. A lot more people are going to get hurt, and for what?' Secretary of State Colin Powell, when confronted with her words while being interviewed on Meet the Press, could only mutter, 'I hope she will see in time that her sacrifice was worth it.' Green retorted and spoke for millions of us in a way John Kerry either didn't or couldn't by saying, 'I'm not going to lie, I didn't understand the mission, the purpose. If you understand what you're fighting for, then you've got something to hang on to. But we didn't even have that. I think if I hadn't lost my arm, I would have lost my mind. It was enough to drive you insane, and I think that's where I might have been headed.'

She certainly was not alone. Let 2004 be remembered as a year when a new crop of athletes finally grabbed the torch from Muhammad Ali and his athletic brothers and sisters of the 1960s. I cannot wait to see what 2005 has in store. We will see if LeBron can continue his 'leap' toward greatness, we will see if Diana Taurasi can reach her mighty potential, we will see if Michael Vick can run the Falcons to the Super Bowl. And we will see who else will trade in their cleats and high tops for marching shoes and join the chorus demanding that another world is not only possible but necessary.



--To get Dave Zirin’s column sent to you every week, just e-mail edgeofsports-subscribe@zirin.com. Contact the author at editor@pgpost.com. “What’s My Name Fool!” Sports and Resistance in the United States hits stores in June 2005!