State Dept. Names Cal Ripken, Jr. Special Sports Envoy
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has announced the appointment of major league baseball great Cal Ripken, Jr. to be the nation's second American public diplomacy envoy. The State Department created the position of American public diplomacy envoy in 2006 in an effort to involve business, sports, academia, non-government, community and faith-based organizations in America's public diplomacy efforts. Ripken joins the first public diplomacy envoy, figure skating champion Michelle Kwan."Like all of our greatest sports heroes, Cal Ripken is recognized for bringing integrity to the game of baseball and by extension to all of sports," said Sec. Rice in announcing the appointment. "He is revered, not just by fans, but by all for his character, his perseverance, his work ethic."
During his 21-season career with the Baltimore Orioles, Cal Ripken, Jr. set the all-time Major League record for most consecutive games played at 2,632, and appeared in 19 All Star games. Ripken was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in July.
"Since the leaving the game, Cal Ripken, Jr., has dedicated his life and his work to youth, not only here in America, but also around the world," noted Sec. Rice. "He established the Cal Ripken, Sr., Foundation, which teaches life lessons through baseball to disadvantaged youth, and he has built the Ripken Youth Baseball Academy, the largest baseball academy in the United States, where thousands of young people learn the finer points of the game and deepen their love for playing it."
To the place of sports in global diplomacy, Ripken stated, "I happen to think that sport -- baseball, in particular -- is very magical. It can go across cultural lines. It can appeal to all kids and all people."
Ripken will travel to China in October and November to assist in establishing and promoting youth baseball programs.
Photo: Cal Ripken, Jr. and Sec. Rice by Alex Wong/Getty Images
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Comments
No slight to Cal Ripken, but this appointment seems pretty pointless, doesn’t it? Our communications challenges in the world are immensely more complex and nuanced than could be even slightly impacted by the sort of image work that the State Dept has intended for him. Worrying about such ‘image’ issues has failed most coporations, and I am concerned that the gov is following their (sad) lead. I’ve written a bit about it at DIM BULB, at http://dimbulb.typepad.com, if you’d like to check it out.
I have mixed feelings on this. One one hand, yes, the appointment of sports stars to diplomatic positions seems superfluous and self-serving. On the other hand, our more “traditional” diplomats haven’t done much for the U.S. global image lately. Sports is sort of a universal language that speaks to people at a very granular, grass roots level. Nixon was getting nowhere with the Chinese, until he played ping-pong with them.
Robert