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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Author
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Topic: Corrupt culture in organized sports
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
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Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 02-20-2004 12:01 AM
Preface: I was going to post this in the "political forum," but this subject really isn't political, it's more "pop cultural."
To get to the subject, we're hearing a lot of stories lately about ill-behaved athletes from the high school to professional levels. Right now, the University of Colorado football program is mired in a sexual abuse scandal that only seems to get worse with each passing day.
Even if every allegation against the football players is proven false, it raises this question: just how much moral slack must we extend to athletes?
Here's the most obvious example of special treatment afforded to professional athletes. There's lots of fights and no arrests. If I walk up to someone on the street and punch him in the face I'll certainly face assault charges and perhaps even a costly civil judgment if the victim wants to press it that far. Yet we not only allow athletes to beat on each other, I believe we encourage it. We indulge our bloodlust in finding entertainment value in people beating the hell out of each other. We get off on displays of cruelty and don't think there is anything wrong with it (hence the great ratings for shows like "Survivor"). I like hockey; it's a good sport. But there's a lot of hockey fans out there who get pissed if they don't see at least one good fist fight in a game.
I believe it is exactly this kind of macho "kick his ass" culture that encourages athletes to think they have extra license to behave badly. And who's going to stop them? Will you stand up for what is right against a fellow who can bench press 450 pounds? Or worse, stand up against all the sheep who take sides with the bullies? Very often, a popular jock can dish out a lot of headaches to others with impunity. We're entertained by it. Instead of saying, "that's terrible," we enjoy it and cheer the villian on with, "kick his ass!" Women get raped by such men and few press charges out of fear for what their peers will think. Kobe Bryant's defense team is doing their best to paint the alledged victim as a slut.
With the culture being what it is, I am not surprised by the scandal happening at Colorado University, or others happening at schools like St. Johns and elsewhere. Some of the women involved in this scandal could indeed be making it up. But knowing the latitude afforded to big name athletes, there's probably some shread of truth to some of the allegations.
America is obsessed with sports, but doesn't know the price it pays by "winning at all costs". Ability is the only thing that counts these days. We seem to forget athletes, as absurd as it may be, are often looked upon as role models. As we populate teams with more thugs bearing no moral integrity, we have to deal with more consequences.
I'm doubtful we'll see any criminal prosecutions in this Colorado University mess. But if it does turn out that things like sex parties with escort services were used as recruiting tools in the football program, then coach Gary Barnett needs to at least be fired.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
![](/ubbmembers/840f.jpg)
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 02-21-2004 01:10 AM
I like the Seinfeld joke regarding fan enthusiasm: "We Won! We Won!" "No. They won. You watched."
But I didn't intend to get reactions whether people like sports or not in general. My concern is the climate surrounding it now; the conduct and culture being shaped by its participants. I am concerned the actions of a few bad apple jocks are adding to a very destructive influence on our society.
For instance, a particularly disgusting incident recently happened on a school bus (in Jacksonville, FL, I think). The on board video camera recorded how the entire bus load cheered as seven kids beat the living hell out of one victim. The bus driver did not do anything to stop it.
Anyone can make the point we've had bad behaved sports stars for the entire history of organized sports. This is true. But in the past, much of the bad behavior was kept off the field. And it usually didn't get into felony territory.
Today, athletes freely disgrace themselves on the field. During one game Terrell Owens, a receiver formerly of the San Francisco 49ers, freely screamed insults at the team's offensive coordinator in full view of the cameras.
Warren Sapp Style Football One of the biggest disgraces I've seen in recent memory was the infamous blind side hit Warren Sapp laid on Chad Clifton during a 2002 Tampa-Green Bay game. Clifton wasn't anywhere near the ball in play on the field. He assumed his part of the play was done. He didn't see Sapp coming and got leveled by a brutal hit. Clifton crumpled to the ground and Warren Sapp celebrated all over the field. Minutes later, Clifton was carried off the field on a backboard and hospitalized.
There was no penalty against Warren Sapp on the play. The ball was still live (even though it was on the opposite side of the field) and no whistle was blown. An NFL investigation judged it was a "clean hit." One could make a devil's advocate type argument saying Clifton is partly responsible for his injury for not paying attention, especially when a guy like Sapp is cruising in your vicinity.
Still, Green Bay coach Mike Sherman confronted Sapp about the hit, which had Sapp saying "if you're so tough, put on a uniform." Sapp later said to the press, "If I was 25 years old and didn't have a kid and a conscience, I would have given him an ass-kicking right there at the 30-yard line." Yeah, that's really good. A 300 pound football player beating up a middle aged White guy. You'll win lots of people over with a stunt like that.
Here's the thing. Warren Sapp didn't have to lay the hit on Clifton. But he took advantage of the "clean" opportunity anyway. And, IMHO, I think that is what makes the difference between someone who is out there just to play a game versus someone looking to kill somebody. NFL culture seems to be about killing opponents rather than just beating them honorably.
Sapp is not the only guy to "de-cleat" someone. Lots of NFL players hunt around, hoping to cherry-pick an unsuspecting opponent. That still doesn't make it right. And audiences should be ashamed of themselves for deriving entertainment value out of it. After all, their cheers for the thuggery only encourages the problem to get worse.
Thuggery like this is turned into an cultural institution, with the players being in their own special club. With this type of environment there can be little surprise that things like sex parties for recruitment and rape can exist in the institution.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
![](/ubbmembers/840f.jpg)
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 03-10-2004 10:07 AM
Here's a new story to bump this topic back into play.
A couple nights ago Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore was seriously injured from a cheap shot hit by Vancouver's Tood Bertuzzi. Vancouver was losing a game that would end as a 9 to 2 rout in Colorado's favor.
Bertuzzi came up behind Moore, punched him in the side of the head and then drove him face first into the ice. Moore suffered facial injuries, and worst of all a fracture in his neck.
Now, a couple days later, the Vancouver police department is "investigating" the incident. Can anyone tell me why the police were not arresting Bertuzzi right then and there!!?? It's not like there's any lack of evidence. You only have, what, around 15,000 witnesses and videotape views of the hit from a couple different camera angles? Sounds like a clear case of assault and battery to me.
If I did some similar shit to a stranger I passed in Wal-Mart and they caught the incident on the security cameras, I know I would be going to jail. But then that's just me. I'm not a professional athlete.
Days later, Bertuzzi is apparently distraught over the harm done to Moore. IMHO, I just don't think that is good enough. Steve Moore could have been paralyzed or killed right there on the ice.
Some may say, "fighting is just part of the game." I say bullshit to that. It is high time police departments started doing their jobs when it comes to these incidents. Some guy punches another guy, arrest him. That's what happens in the stands. The same thing should extend to what happens on the field. A very harmful message is getting sent to the public and encouraged through our culture when professional athletes are given the license to commit criminal behavior in public. Assaults like the one Bertuzzi committed upon Steve Moore should not be tolerated. What has to happen for things to change? Does a hockey player need to die from getting a broken neck?
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