Where We Live: Violence In And Around Sports
Violence seems to be part of sports culture, on and off the field.
If you’ve listened to this show for a while, you know I’m from Pittsburgh. And that makes me a Steelers fan. Steelers fans root for their team in good seasons and bad, and have always had a belief that their players embody the spirit of Art Rooney, one of the founders of the modern NFL. Their players are tough and gritty, without being thuggish. They play hard…and they play right.
Then, you see this.
That’s from last Thursday night.
If you haven’t seen the hit, it’s gruesome - one of many that linebacker James Harrison has leveled on opposing players over the years. He’s gained such a reputation in fact that this hit cost him a game suspension - and about $75 thousand dollars. That’s on top of $125 thousand he was fined last year for blows to the head. Many football players - and Steelers fans - defend Harrison, saying he’s just playing a fast game the way he was taught...and the way fans like.
Detractors say these fines - and others levied by the league in a recent crackdown on hits like this - are essentially meaningless to players who make millions. They worry that the game will only really change when a player dies on the field. Or maybe, as in the case of pro hockey - it’ll be the story of Sidney Crosby, an icon for my hometown team, the Penguins. The best, most skilled player in the league, has missed roughly a year - and is still recovering from concussions received on consecutive, dirty hits. The NHL is facing enough bad press already, with a groundbreaking profile of “enforcer” Derek Boogaard, who died young after a career of league-sanctioned brawling.
Today, violence in sports - have the games we love gone too far? We especially want to hear from you if you coach youth sports. What do you teach kids about playing hard - but staying within the rules?
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Email from Anthony
It is definitely a topic that we focus a lot on in youth sports. As these kids view these professional athletes as role models, they tend to want to emulate what they see on tv. We, at Central CT Youth Hockey, hold our players to a high standard when it comes to conduct on the ice. Each participant signs a Players Code of Conduct which stresses our belief in competition played with the highest integrity and respect for athletes, coaches and officials.
We try to teach them right from wrong and explain to them the consequences of a dirty hit (where a player could be paralyzed)
After the hit a few months ago that Milan Lucic had on the Buffalo Sabres goaltender, Ryan Miller which left him out with a concussion, I had a discussion with my team about what could have been done different to avoid that kind of play.
In the end, we try to teach our players to play hard but within the rules. Hockey is a violent sport with a lot of contact, we teach our players how to not put themselves in defenseless situations and how to give and receive proper body checks so the risk of injury is lessened.
Facebook comment from Jason
Doesn't matter to me if they want to bash their heads together on the field. They're not being forced to do so.
Facebook comment from Gene
It's part of the profit, violence sells. That's why I will not vote for Linda McMahon, she's a fake that would have women go on tv and be beaten and abused by men just to sell tickets, it sends the wrong message. People in her postion have a certain responsibility because we live in a monkey see-monkey do world. It's just as easy to write a wrestling script that is positive.
Listener email from Richard
Great topic and a great show you have.
First to clarify, I do not condone fighting in hockey but I do not believe it is such a big problem.
What I don't understand is the hypocrisy U.S. commentators have on violence in sports and then to spot light it on fighting in hockey. Where two players, fully equipped and with helmets, drop their gloves and vent their frustrations in matter of seconds is such a big deal. Usually when one player has knocked his opponent down, he would stop. Further the refs will intervene if one player has a decided advantage over the other.
Compare this to deliberate beaning of your opponent in baseball. Pitcher throws 90+mph at the head of a perhaps unsuspecting, minimally protected batter. Which usually results in the other pitcher doing the same next inning. This according to American sports writers is merely part of the game and is never questioned. How is this all right. In hockey, the players are engaged in physical contact and certainly tempers can flare. In baseball, the pitcher is usually ticked off because his opponents are doing well against him or maybe just received some verbal abuse. This can justify him throwing at his opponent and everyone knows it's coming and yet the sports writer condones it as part of the game. HYPOCRITES!!!
Today, the game of hockey is so fast and the players are that much bigger and stronger that the contact nature of the sport can evoke temper and frustration. Fighting lets them vent their frustration. In International hockey, where fighting is not allowed, there usually is a lot more behind the scene stick work that can lead to more serious injuries.
What was priceless is your guests had the audacity to claim this is a Canadian thing. So by the same logic, the cowardly act of hitting an unsuspecting opponent is purely an American thing. MORONS!!
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