Fight!
I am a little late to the party on this post as I have been thinking about it for a while. My writing fire faded some over the past few weeks but one particular topic has annoyed me to occasional bouts of rage recently. I feel that in America, there is becoming more of a "violence culture". It is becoming more okay to act violently.
Sports, as of late, have only added to this culture.
There are quite a few off the field issues that have occurred over the past few years that I could point to (Ray Rice and Joe Mixon among others), and I don't want to downplay the serious nature of such incidences, but I take an extreme issue when violence enters the field of play.
In a playoff game between the Washington Wizards and the Boston Celtics not even two weeks ago, emotions boiled over. Kelly Oubre Jr., angry about a questionable screen from Celtic Kelly Olynyk, ran over to the Celtic and with force threw him to the ground. One night later, a similar yet less extreme altercation occurred involving Houston's James Harden.
Last night, in baseball, benches cleared twice during the Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves game. Once because of a bat flip. And the other because the batter didn't like how the pitcher pitched. For more examples in baseball just watch any Red Sox-Orioles game this season.
Why so much violence on the court/field?
I understand that there is passion and that players get heated and emotional during a game. I also want to recognize that fights have happened before. Some notorious fights from ages past still grace the TV screen every so often. It seems, however, like it is now becoming more normalized as opposed to being an exception. The reasons also seem more petty than ever. Players don't like a foul. Players don't like what another player says. That pitch was outside.
Guys...chill out.
What concerns me more than what is happening on the field is the reactions coming from spectators. I was appalled when I saw the Oubre incident take place. In curiosity and seeking opinions that matched mine (of course), I turned to social media to see what others were saying.
That's when I became more appalled.
I saw a lot of posts about how "Olynyk finally got what was coming for him" and "Oubre is finally making the NBA interesting" and "where has this brand of bball been all my life". A number of females even commented on how sexy it was to see Oubre do what he did. Beyond that, not a single post was in agreement with my opinion. Every post I read glorified the violence that had happened.
I was disgusted. I am disgusted.
People watch sports. Kids watch sports and see their role models lashing out on the court. The next time they take the court and don't like a call or an opposing player what are they more likely to do? It is possible that they follow in the footsteps of the pros that they watch....pros like Kelly Oubre Jr. Thus becomes the escalation of the issue.
What happened to respecting the referees and umpires. These individuals are trained and given authority by the league to act with justice on the field of play. Sure, they are wrong sometimes, they will even admit that. But there is a line crossed when that authority is downplayed and the official is disrespected.
This leads to my last statement. Players are lost in their own false sense of entitlement thinking that they deserve every call to go their way and that no call should go against them. This leads to frustration. Frustration leads to over-emotion. Then we see violence. Stop complaining about calls and try to hone your fundamentals so you don't foul on defense. Sharpen your eye to see the baseball curve back toward the plate. Use these calls as a chance to hone your playing skills, not your complaining skills.
Be better, not bitter
Sports, as of late, have only added to this culture.
There are quite a few off the field issues that have occurred over the past few years that I could point to (Ray Rice and Joe Mixon among others), and I don't want to downplay the serious nature of such incidences, but I take an extreme issue when violence enters the field of play.
In a playoff game between the Washington Wizards and the Boston Celtics not even two weeks ago, emotions boiled over. Kelly Oubre Jr., angry about a questionable screen from Celtic Kelly Olynyk, ran over to the Celtic and with force threw him to the ground. One night later, a similar yet less extreme altercation occurred involving Houston's James Harden.
Last night, in baseball, benches cleared twice during the Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves game. Once because of a bat flip. And the other because the batter didn't like how the pitcher pitched. For more examples in baseball just watch any Red Sox-Orioles game this season.
Why so much violence on the court/field?
I understand that there is passion and that players get heated and emotional during a game. I also want to recognize that fights have happened before. Some notorious fights from ages past still grace the TV screen every so often. It seems, however, like it is now becoming more normalized as opposed to being an exception. The reasons also seem more petty than ever. Players don't like a foul. Players don't like what another player says. That pitch was outside.
Guys...chill out.
What concerns me more than what is happening on the field is the reactions coming from spectators. I was appalled when I saw the Oubre incident take place. In curiosity and seeking opinions that matched mine (of course), I turned to social media to see what others were saying.
That's when I became more appalled.
I saw a lot of posts about how "Olynyk finally got what was coming for him" and "Oubre is finally making the NBA interesting" and "where has this brand of bball been all my life". A number of females even commented on how sexy it was to see Oubre do what he did. Beyond that, not a single post was in agreement with my opinion. Every post I read glorified the violence that had happened.
I was disgusted. I am disgusted.
People watch sports. Kids watch sports and see their role models lashing out on the court. The next time they take the court and don't like a call or an opposing player what are they more likely to do? It is possible that they follow in the footsteps of the pros that they watch....pros like Kelly Oubre Jr. Thus becomes the escalation of the issue.
What happened to respecting the referees and umpires. These individuals are trained and given authority by the league to act with justice on the field of play. Sure, they are wrong sometimes, they will even admit that. But there is a line crossed when that authority is downplayed and the official is disrespected.
This leads to my last statement. Players are lost in their own false sense of entitlement thinking that they deserve every call to go their way and that no call should go against them. This leads to frustration. Frustration leads to over-emotion. Then we see violence. Stop complaining about calls and try to hone your fundamentals so you don't foul on defense. Sharpen your eye to see the baseball curve back toward the plate. Use these calls as a chance to hone your playing skills, not your complaining skills.
Be better, not bitter
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