sports and violence
...figure skater, Nancy Kerrigan, who was attacked during a skating practice in 1994, just weeks before the Olympics, by her opponent, Tonya Harding. Tonya Harding was charged with the same consequences as anyone who would have attempted to stab a skater or person. Basketball has, to a lesser extent, a history of violent behaviour. For exmaple, Dennis Rodman has a history of being suspended for destructive behaviour. Meanwhile, NHL players are paid millions more to be fighters than scorers. An example of this would be Toronto Maple Leafs’ Tie Domi, who made a career out of fighting and giving Niedermayer a concussion. For this, he merely received a suspension. From hockey to rugby to skating, any sport can become violent although some have the tendency to display violence more than others. Athletes have to be aware of their aggressiveness, because there is a fine line with going overboard. Sports and sports media appeal to adults and children of all ages. Cheering on a team is an activity that even very young children can enjoy together with their parents and friends. While many sports inspire tremendous physical and emotional accomplishments of strength and stamina, some also involve varying degrees of physical violence. Media representations frequently focus on and promote the physical conflicts that are inherent in these sports or, in some cases, have been staged to increase audience appeal. Research in psychology have shown that young children tend to model their behaviour and attitudes on those of adults, particularly adults they admire. Athletes and fathers watching or playing sports can be considered as role models. Children watch ice hockey on television. We all know the stale joke “I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.” But how many children, or adults, are aware that a majority of hockey players want to abolish this violence? At annual meetings of the National Hockey Players Association, violence has been a major issue, with players asking owners to impose much stiffer penalties, including expulsion. But Club Owners (sponsors and the media) refuse to discourage the violence, because it attracts spectators who come to see “red ice.” Players who do not participate in the violence are in danger of losing their jobs. Most players do not want to play a game where their lives or others are in jeopardy. That pressure ultimately comes from owners (sponsors and the media) “who are into making profits.” It is common, for example, for sports reports and play-by-play commentary to contain metaphorical language that glorifies and promotes physical conflict- language that enthusiasts usually enjoy because it’s graphic and exciting. Commentators describe plays in terms of “crushing” opponents, throwing a “bomb”, and “killing” the animals that not only identify teams, but tap into or create a consumer demand for “spin-off” merchandise. But to children it all seems natural. Little does he or she know that the extreme violence he/she sees often grows more out of the owners’ commercial interests than the players’ inclinations. A child who watches acts of violence committed by thieves, murderers, or sadists in films or on TV knows that society disapproves of these acts. Nevertheless, the child who watches sports knows that athletes’ acts of violence are by and large approved by society and does not fully realize that there is little difference in the violence that is seen on TV/films and the violence that is seen in sports. It makes sense that sports violence would serve as a bad habit for children who tend to be well adjusted socially, while hostile violence on the screen would tend to have a greater influence on the behaviour of children who are more psychologically damaged and feel more alienated from society. Through graphic visual and sound images, children see and hear about countless real-life examples of extreme competitiveness. Displays of temper and arguments with authority, for example, are not uncommon in televised sports. Such images can have a powerful influence on those who experience them, and may suggest “scripts” to be imitated. It is clear, therefore, that children require images to balance their media experiences of sport. These may be provided through positive modeling of cooperation, skill development, and respect in community and school sports programs. The parents of athletes also occasionally become violent. For this type of parent, the game is no longer about their children having fun. They are only interested in pushing their child to the extent that sportsmanship is completely lost and competitive, aggressive behaviour is encouraged. Some taunt or hit coaches, players, and other parents. Others bully their own children, lashing out as punishment or misguided encouragement. Parents of children engaged in sports may yell at referees if they think it is a bad call or their kid is taken out of the game. Incidents of parents and coaches’ violent misbehaviour have increased around the country in recent years. The most visible case involved 275-pound truck driver, Thomas Junta, who was sentenced to six to 10 years in prison after beating the coach, Michael Costin, to death in front of their children and others at a suburban Boston hockey rink on July 5, 2000. Spectator violence seems to rise when a sport is violent, such as football, baseball, or rugby. Sports Illustrated took an “unscientific poll of fans” and reported in its August 8, 1988 issue that “everyone who had ever been a spectator at a sporting event of any kind had, at one time or another, experienced the bellowing of obscenities, racial, religious, or abusive sexual remarks to women in the court, fistfights between strangers, and fistfights between friends.” Increased spectator violence is one more manifestation of the escalation of violence in sports, which has taken place in our society within the last 20 years. Violence between athletes can only serve to encourage it. They can even go to the extreme, such as the one in Bangkok, where a woman was killed by her husband for changing the television channel during a World Cup Soccer game. In both the stands and the streets, fans may resort to violence to express loyalty to a team, to release frustration with a team’s performance, or to intimidate opponents. Monica Seles, who was a tennis player, and Andres Escobar, who was a soccer player, are examples of victims of violence who were injured at the hands of fans. Violence may also be related to nationalism or as an outlet for underlying social tensions. However, it is also often alcohol availability is closely related to violent assaults. Communities and neighborhoods that have more bars and liquor stores per capita experience more assaults. When it comes to mixing alcohol and sports, the NFL is not alone. The National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and the National Hockey League all have intimate relationships with alcohol producers. Coors Field is home to the Colorado Rockies baseball team, and ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California has a scoreboard covered in Budweiser advertisements. Countless other sports venues that feature alcohol ads on walls, scoreboards, and banners are home to not only professional athletes, but may also host high school and college team events. This can lead to drinking and driving after the game, which can hurt innocent people. People, in addition, sometimes rely on the athletes for them to win so that they can earn more money in gambling. On November 19, 2004, near the end of an NBA game between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons, a massive brawl erupted between Pacers players and Pistons supporters. Artest and Jackson of the Indiana Pacers threw punches at the spectators who supposedly threw cups at them. Artest was suspended for the remainder of the season, while Jackson was suspended for 30 games. It was seen on television and disturbed some viewers. Riots after a game occur when crowds of people have gathered and are committing crimes or acts of violence.The riot at Madison Square Garden after the first fight between Riddick Bowe and Andrew Golota is an example. Many police officers had to put a stop on this bad outbreak. In 2000, a brawl broke out during a National League Baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs. During the ninth inning, a fan reached over the wall at Chicagos’ Wrigley field close to the Dodgers’ dugout and grabbed a players hat. The players showed bad conduct when they stormed out to fight in the stands of the crowd. As bad as violent sports are now, there are some positive outlooks that we are able to perceive. Some athletes can be positive role models, such as Dave Robinson, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, who is respected for his off-court behavio...