Opening Question: Why do so many people encourage violence in sports?
Core Question 1: What effect is McMurtry trying to achieve when he compares football to war in paragraph four and five on page 454?
Core Question 2: On page 455, McMurtry states, “And progressively and inexorably, as I moved through high school, college, and pro leagues, my body was dismantled. Piece by piece.”
Core Question 3: McMurtry states, “The doctor in the local hospital said three weeks’ rest, the coach said scrimmage in two days. Three days later I was back home reading philosophy,” on page 458. What is the effect of this juxtaposition?
Closing Question: In order to eradicative any negative connotations associated with sports, should all violent aspects of sports be removed or at least somewhat altered?
Whether you are an avid spectator of football, hockey, basketball, or NASCAR, you have witnessed a fair amount of violence. In the 2013-2014 football season, at least five different college football players broke their leg, and hundreds of other players at the high school, college, and even professional level have injured a plethora of other body parts in a variety of methods. Hockey is considered one of the most violent sports in the world—the players have violent tendencies and generally release their anger on their opponents—and, unsurprisingly to its audience, results in many injuries. While basketball is not considered particularly violent, audiences are thrilled when they witness almost any sort of injury. Last year, University of Louisville guard Kevin Ware’s compound fracture broke through his skin, exposing his broken bone to everyone around him. Several people took videos of the incident and less than a year later, the video has nearly tw...
... middle of paper ...
...ed the violence to go too far.
McMurtry, a former football paper, utilizes comparison, hyperbole, and juxtaposition to effectively develop the idea that American society accepts violence and brutality within sports, which reveals the sadistic side of the world. To repair this attitude, however, all of the violent aspects of sports cannot simply be removed. For example, if the tackling part of football was eradicated, the sport would change completely and, consequently, lose much of what gives the sport its redeeming qualities and entertainment for the audience. Tackling does not make the sport violent; it is the violent characteristics of the players and the coaches combined with the constant encouragement stemming from the audience. Violence is a terrible thing, and it will never be completely removed unless each person works together to suppress their behaviors.
Over the past years, many will say that football has become America’s new pastime, taking over our weekends for almost half of the year. Fans travel from all over the country to see their favorite college or professional teams play, and once the football season is over, the countdown clock for the first game of fall begins. There are many positive aspects to the sport, and the fans and players love it, but in John McMurtry’s “Kill ‘em, Crush ‘em, Eat ‘em Raw”, the reader is introduced to a side of football that some have not seen, and many choose to ignore. McMurtry believes that the game of football has become one of people just wanting to hurt other people and too many injuries are occurring to justify the fun
As long as there have been sports, there has been violence in them. Ice hockey, particularly due to its increasing popularity as a professional sport, has brought up several ethical issues regarding the act of fighting in hockey. There are strong arguments for both sides of this present problem in the world of hockey. Numerous male athletes, including children as young as nine years of age, have suffered injuries as an outcome of fighting and it should be considered if it should be part of a sport that very young people grow up with (Brust, Leonard, Pheley & Roberts, 1992).On the other hand, fights create excitement and the sport of hockey might grow in terms of popularity, making the problem of fighting in hockey complex and difficult to resolve (“Towards An Explanation Of Hockey Violence: A Reference Other Approach”). Even though hockey is known to be a very aggressive and fast-paced sport, the unsportsman-like action of fighting in hockey cannot longer be tolerated.
...tch football. Humans have had a natural interest, and fascination with violence and brutality, all throughout time. Modern censorship, has limited this somewhat morbid fascination, but many new movies, videogames, or television shows, supply the population with this desired entertainment. Scott’s film, Gladiator, reveals that human nature has changed very little, by recreating the bloody and violent Gladiator games, and the Roman Colloseum.
Physicality and sports have been synonymous with each other ever since the beginning. All sports leagues of various skill levels must straddle the fine line between what is acceptable within the game and what is pushing the limits. This is especially true for full contact sports, such as; American football, boxing, and ice hockey. Deliberately or incidentally, the physicality of the sport is an integral part of the game. These unique sports are in the crosshairs of the rules, regulations, and policies of the given sport and are at the mercy of civil laws as well. This brings up tort law, in which someone unfairly causes someone else to suffer loss or harm resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Within this paper, I will cover past, present, and potential future issues regarding tort law in the professional sports industry. This information is valuable because many people believe that sport administrators are powerless when it comes to these sorts of problems, and that the judicial system needs to intervene. If it is not up to the sport administrators running and working for these leagues then who is responsible for finding solutions to problems? Or making the game a safe and fun activity for future generations to enjoy? Furthermore, recent lawsuits surrounding head injuries in the National Football League (NFL) and the National Hockey League (NHL) have stem from the alleged negligence of the individuals leagues. These issues can potentially change the way we see and play American football and ice hockey forevermore.
Coakley, J. J., & Donnelly, P. (2007). Violence in Sports . Sports in society: issues & controversies (9th ed., pp. 198-199). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Contact sports in America, like football and boxing, carry a rich history of the spirit of the game, and the feeling of victory. These games bring us together as we cry out and cheer for our team or fighter as they deliver the winning touchdown, or the knockout that brings them the undisputed champion belt. However, these players are facing injuries that can destroy their career and affect their brain for the rest of their lives. We shouldn’t outlaw contact sports, but we should force safety to become more important. If we want to keep our players safe and continue the tradition of the contact sports we enjoy as a country, then we must evolve our safety in sports, and change the way we view contact sports as a country.
He then suggests that fans should reconsider supporting this industry. Focusing on the dangers of football, Almond shares personal anecdotes of football players whose lives were changed forever by the love of the game. He then goes on to state that football has contorted our view of war into a “winnable contest”, and has served as a distraction from the horrors outside our home. Lastly, Almond points out that fans undying “worship” of this sport has forced us to turn a blind eye to the true “pathologies” that football possesses. In light of learning these new facts, Almond hopes that fans will reconsider supporting the violent sport of
The entertainment is what people love to watch like boxing and other sports. these types of sports have very high risk of injury that can affect the players because they entertain people who watch them. in the essay “Who Killed Benny Paret?” by Norman cousins is an example of violence in sports. In this story a boxer Benny Paret, died from taking many hits to the head, which cause so much damage to the brain which cause his body to shut down which caused his death. Violence in sports is caused by fans, media, managers, and by the players themselves because of un-sportsmanship.
On T.V we see all of the cool catches and touchdowns, but don’t forget about all the huge hits or injuries we hear about. On espn they have a category “Top Ten Hits of The Week”. If you’ve ever played or watched it up close, then you know that being an animal was good. Don Sabo states from “Pigskin, Patriarchy, and Pain” that “I learned to be an animal. Coaches took notice of animals” (Sabo, p. 61). People say that “pain is part of the game”, and I completely agree. But isn’t pain pretty much what the game surrounds? Pain is the game. It seems as though they don’t teach the kids to play football because it’s fun. They teach the kids to play football because it’s manly. Making someone hurt is the objective as an individual player. Of course the ultimate objective is to score and win. But if you can break someone 's bone along the way, or make someone cry, than you have done well. I can’t count how many times i’ve heard football players bragging about hits or injuries they gave someone. In “Pigskin, Patriarchy, and Pain” Don Sabo says “If I saw an arm in front of me, I trampled it. Whenever blood was spilled, I nodded approval” (Sabo, p. 61). In other sports, that’s considered a foul. But in football it’s expected. It’s teaching kids in their developing stages to be aggressive and angry all of the time. Instead of just enjoying what they 're
American political commentator George F. WIll once stated on the violence of football, “Football combines two of the worst things in American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.”(Will) Throughout the course of the sport history, there have been many changes to the rules regulations and procedures by which the players and sports fans abide by. From equipment changes to a change in score-tallying, there have been deviations in the way the game has been played since it was first conceived. However, what has stayed consistently in the roots of the game up until this day is its origin in organized and entertainment based violence. The thrashing
With the increase in society taking a stance against violence by many people, sports became an area where some feel that the violent acts, such as the hitting and fighting that occurs should be eliminated. The elimination of this violence should not be done in sport because the violence is a part of the game, which would only hurt its popularity. Violence has been around since time has started. People should just have to live with it and understand that violence has been in sports and leisure activities since the times of the Roman gladiators. There are numerous similarities with the violence that takes place in our sporting events today and the events that took place in the Colosseum.
Soccer is the worlds most popular sport. It is the national sport of most European and Latin-American countries, and of many other nations. Millions of people in more than 140 countries play soccer. The World Cup is held every four years. Soccer is one of the most famous international sports. Soccer is known world wide and is played in the Olympics.
The violence isn't always among the players of the sports being played. At a nine-year old soccer game in Staten Island parents of opposing teams became engaged in a verbal fight over a call that a referee made and it became a big brawl between parents. This shows the kids at that game that if their parents can engage in a fight with the opposing teams parents then that makes it right to throw an elbow in a game or shove someone.
What should athletes deserve to be paid? Many players have risen to stardom by becoming a professional athlete. Athletes have come from many different backgrounds; some from wealthy and some from poverty raised backgrounds. Salaries are continuing to rise, and money doesn’t seem to be an issue. Athletes are getting what they want from the owners by negotiating through their agents. Athletes’ salaries aren’t just from their owners, but they come from other sources also. Athletes get paid an enormously high salary for the work they do. Really all they do is entertain us. We should consider the value of their work and pay them accordingly. They do not deserve the extreme amount they get paid and something should be done about it.
Hockey, by nature, is known as a tough and dangerous sport. It is a game that places grown men on thin pieces of steel chasing a rubber puck across frozen water. As such, the game of hockey is one of the most physically and mentally demanding sports in the world. Hockey is also the only team sport that allows opposing teammates to square off in a physical fighting match within the game. In recent years, however, the allowance of fighting has become a controversial issue. Those who oppose fighting point out that there has been injury and even deaths to hockey players as a result of fights. People who oppose the allowance of fighting within the game also point out that fighting may send messages to young fans