“The Arabs used to be in the 3rd World. They have bought the 2nd World and put a firm down payment on the 1st one,” the late Gil Scott-Heron sang in his smooth but politically devastating rap, B-Movie. That song was released in 1981, but it’s a sharp and accurate analysis of the public relations-driven takeover of sports through Gulf oil wealth. Golf, tennis and soccer are all selling out to states that want to distract from their abysmal human rights’ records with displays of well-hit balls. And we, like dumb dogs chasing a laser light on a white wall, will soon be mesmerized enough to forget where the money’s coming from. Never mind the torture, did you see that shot!?!
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