There is a terrible structure of goodness in the United States that is designed to be unattainable for most non-white Americans, most poor Americans, most immigrants, most queer, most disabled bodies. We are taught early to be good, to behave, to be quiet, to not take up space, to be invisible. Maybe this is why we gravitate toward sports - a place where we can be good. Not an equal playing field, as we have seen, but as close to one as we get. It's the gimmick Baldwin was talking about - sport/game - our way up and out from under the thumb or boot of our nation's power structures.