LIVE BLOG: David Maraniss

I'm currently sitting in the second row listening to author David Maraniss give a speech entitled, "Playing for Keeps: Race, Sports, and Politics." I will do a live blog throughout his speech giving reaction at certain points. I asked some staff member if I could plug in my lap top and I got a yes with plenty of dirty looks. Oh well.

David is beginning to talk. I'll give an update every half hour.

5:58 p.m: My sister and mom are currently getting a snack and trying to find me so I guess I have some time to spare. I had the second to last question asking him who his favorite interview was and Maraniss answered that it was a commander in the Vietnam War simply because he was wowed by the experiences he shared. It wasn't was I expected considering there were all these big-name sports figures I know he's talked to. The Q and A session really showed his large span of knowledge because he would address topics that had nothing to do with the previous question one right after the other. Great lecture and I'm out before these Intro to Journalism people hound me for an interview.

5:45 p.m: Unrelated but my sister is visiting me and wants to go to dinner. I'll blog about the end a bit later.

5:30 p.m: Q and A is starting so I'll go ahead and sum up the second half of his speech. Maraniss talks about Bill Clinton and Barack Obama's history with race and sports. He identifies Clinton as a key leader for reform in Arkansas during 1963. He helped many black Arkansas students pass classes who otherwise wouldn't have had the resources to pass. Obama shook him up so much that the media accused him of being racist. The most interesting thing he says about Clinton is how he always takes mulligans in golf and that's how he approaches his life. For him every day is a chance at fixing his mistake. It's a packed house and I don't think anyone here is bored. Everyone has something at stake in his speech whether its an interest in sports, politics, the sociology, or journalism. He finds a way to tie in any sporting event to a historical and political event. This guy could do some really interesting E:60 pieces. He speaks about race without being cliche and he talks about politics without being partisan.

5 p.m: Maraniss just told this great story about an Ethiopian who won the gold medal in Rome's Olympic games in 1960 without having any shoes. An American told his teammate that they had nothing to worry about. The irony here is that prior to the Olympic games, Italy invaded Ethiopia. He also talks about what was going on in America a few months before this race took place. I enjoy how the speech effectively ties together the three themes of race, sports, and politics. He addreses the criticism that sports is trivial and doesn't matter by showing how the Cold War and Olympics forced the U.S. to stop its hypocricy and treat African Americans better.