52 The author <acudd@ku.edu> is with the Dept. of Philosophy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 2007, 34, 52-67 © 2007 International Association for the Philosophy of Sport Sporting Metaphors: Competition and the Ethos of Capitalism Ann E. Cudd That is the law which again and again throws bourgeois production out of its old course and which compels capital to intensify the productive forces of labor, because it has intensified them, it, the law which gives capital no rest and continually whispers in its ear: “Go on! Go on!” (Karl Marx, Wage Labor and Capital) “You give 100% in the first half of the game, and if that isn’t enough in the second half you give what’s left.”—Yogi Berra The English language is replete with metaphors that use sport to describe daily life as a kind of game. Many of our sports metaphors date back to an earlier time when the most popular games were games of chance, poker and horse racing. In the latter part of the 19th century the team sports of baseball and football (to be followed by basketball and hockey and later still by lacrosse and soccer) began their ascendancy to the top of the American imagination. At the same time, capitalism was becoming the dominant economic system in America. As capitalism became more industrial, team sports gained in popularity (10). These sports are face to face and hard hitting, emphasizing quick, strategic decision making; athletic moves; and team play. Throughout the phases of 19th- and 20th-century capitalism, from personal to managerial to fiduciary (3), capitalism has come to value similar skills in its executives, managers, and investors. This connection between sports and capitalism is reflected in and emphasized by our metaphorical language connecting sports and work. No metaphor is more powerful than competition and the idea of the competitive market as a winner- takes-all, no-holds-barred dogfight. This article examines metaphors that illuminate the competitive aspects of capitalism and its focus on winning but also metaphors that emphasize cooperation and ways that capitalism improves the lives not only of the winners but also of all who choose to play the game by its rules. Although sports metaphors invoked to describe capitalist competition may appear to cast an unflattering light on both capitalism and sport, on a deeper analysis those metaphors appeal to many of us because they reveal a closer resemblance to the Latin root of the word “competition” and its cooperative, pareto-improving implications. Just as healthy competition in sports requires cooperation, healthy capitalism is also,