Sports

– Violence And Society Essay, Research Paper

With the increase in society taking a stance against violence by many people, sports hasbecome an areawhere some feel that the violent acts such as the hitting and fighting thatoccurs should be eliminated.You can not change something that has been around for solong because it would change the aspect of thegame to something completely different.The elimination of violence should not be done in sport becausethe violence is a part of thegame which would only hurt its popularity. The reasons that the violence is occurring insport is due to six theories according to JohnSchneider. “The violence in sport mirrors theviolence found in society, violence as the result ofeconomic incentives, the influence ofcrowd behavior on player violence, genetic causation for playeraggression, learning theoryand player aggression, and psychological stress and player violence”(Lapchick 230). Thetheories of sport mirroring society, violence as a result of economic incentive, andtheinfluence of the crowd behavior are the theories that I feel are responsible for theincreasing violencein sports. Most people when involved in a highly stressful situationwhere violence is around wouldprobably resort to a fight to resolve their differences. Insport, why should we expect any difference.In events such as hockey games, where peopleare expected to hit and make body contact, sooner or later afight will break out and thefans will yell and scream for their favorite player involved. Likeanything, if people aroundus are applauding us for a certain act we have done, we will try to do it overso that wewill continue to be praised. In sports, there are some players whose only role on the teamisto protect and enforce the unwritten rules of the game such as in hockey where it is notright to fightor hit a Wayne Gretezy or Mario Lemieux type of star player!. His economicincentive is to protect the team and if he does not, a new line of work might be inthefuture. All three of those theories relate closely to the role of the fighter in sport andwhy it isthat he does commit the acts of violence. When leagues such as the NationalFootball League (NFL) or the National Hockey League (NHL) areasked to try andremove the violence from their sport, they are hesitant because it is not what the fanswant.”Bryant and Zillman report that television viewers enjoy NFL plays more when they arerough andviolent” (McPherson 294). Why should these leagues remove the violence that isoccurring if they are making money andkeeping people employed. The fans of the gameswant to see these situations and eliminating the fightingaspect would hurt the support.When I watch a hockey game or any other sporting event with contact,there is nothingbetter than seeing a good fight take place. “One of the best-selling videos in parts oftheNortheastern United States has been a collection of the best fights in the NHL”(McPherson 294). Even former NHL president Clarence Campbell felt that the violencetaking place in his sport wascalled for and was reluctant to remove the fighting and thebody contact because he knew that it is whatthe majority of hockey fans want.Fighting is awell-established safety valve for players. If violence ceases to exist, it will not bethe samegame. Insofar as fighting is part of the show, we certainly sell it. We do not promote it.Wetolerate it and we bring it under disciplinary control which we believe satisfies the public(Snyder201). Its better that the violence take place between two willing combatants suchas in sports than ina situation involving spousal abuse where the majority of the times thefemale is being attacked againsther consent. Allowing people not to be able vent theirfrustrations through sport in my mind wouldincrease the violence that is happening awayfrom the playing field. It is a known fact that sports doeskeep kids off the street and awayfrom gangs which is why you see so many athletic and boxing clubs beingrun out of theinner city. It is allowing the youth to take that hostility out on a willing participantwho isready and consenting rather than against an innocent bystander. Some individuals havegone as far as saying that sport is creating a deviant subculture where these athletes arebecoming the opposite of what was intended for them. “The emphasis in formalizedsporton victory may, in fact, promote deviant behavior and poor sportsmanship” (Snyder 101).I would have to totally disagree with the above quote because being an athlete myself, Ican never recall a time when I could have related my deviant behavior to my sporting past.Sports does notpromote poor sportsmanship, it creates a drive to succeed within yourselfand to try to do the best atwhatever you do whether it be in sports, school or at a job. Theviolence that is occurring today is not occurring more than it was ten or twenty yearsagolike some people might suggest, it is only being shown and talked about more by themass media. If thereis one group to blame for the increase in violence I feel that it wouldbe the media, not the athletesthemselves. If you turn on the television to watch asportscast, it will always glorify an act ofviolence like a “hit of the night” or repeats ofsome type of fight whether it be in hockey, boxing or a bench-clearingbrawl in baseball. Ican recall on numerous occasions where the media has hyped up a hockey gameinvolvingtwo “tough guys” and creating a hysteria in sporting world wanting to see the outcome