Soccer Violence
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6330009.stm
The Italian Federation of football (soccer) Friday suspended the league indefinitely due to uncontrolled rioting. A rocket struck down a goalie and one police officer was killed.
Rush Limbaugh may be the last man on Earth who does not think Global warming is a problem, but his views on professional sports are right on. These have become blood sports. Where blood money is involved, the sports become that too.
I was saddened to read a High School essay enthusiastically describing the young man’s new found sport, somewhat critically, as “smear the quire.” He described a level of violence in an unequal match that likely could only be found in a young adult “B” side grudge match. More alarming still the referee did nothing to stop it while the coaches and parents urged them on.
This may sound old fashioned, but amateur sports just should not work that way. Sport and violence are an oxymoron. The very term sportsmanship implies truth, fair play, mutually enjoy-ability and leading to lasting friendships. That was my experience with school sports and many years of Union Rugby. A decade of refereeing offered an opportunity to pay back and more importantly to instill the spirit of the game. Most of the great athletes, among the pros, resist the violence and play above it. Why don’t the other players and the fans get it.
Body paint, obscene signs, noise-makers and mis behavior have become a commercialized commodity. I have seen Rugby referees stop the match and scold spectators for rowdy yelling and screaming, “You are ruining the sport!” International Union Rugby is now professional --- blood money.
True, the quality of play now rivals NFL, but it can never match the joy of a Sunday match on damp uncut grass. The hazy golden air warmed by the afternoon sun and the women sit on their blankets by open kits discussing the week. Children run and play, some kicking their dad’s rugby ball whilst others dream of other things. It will be a hard game but a studiously skilled one. The players all work on Monday, most at professional jobs. There will be handshakes, shoulder hugs and a pony of beer after the match. Coworkers no longer notice the bruises.
Internationally, Rugby tends to be a gentleman’s sport, a private school sport anyway, while football (soccer) has been more a blue collar thing. In other places, it amounts to just how English you are or would like to be. In Fiji, the Indians all play football while the Fijians play Rugby.
In the US, it’s the other way around. Mothers naively take their minivan of children to highly organized Soccer practice. Their children play as if on command for their parents, vicarious desire. Parents think of Soccer as more civilized, less dangerous, but do not recognize the subtle brain damage that butting the ball with the head will cause or the violence of the sport at a higher level. Nothing will change though. The media prostitutes our values for profit.
The Italian Federation of football (soccer) Friday suspended the league indefinitely due to uncontrolled rioting. A rocket struck down a goalie and one police officer was killed.
Rush Limbaugh may be the last man on Earth who does not think Global warming is a problem, but his views on professional sports are right on. These have become blood sports. Where blood money is involved, the sports become that too.
I was saddened to read a High School essay enthusiastically describing the young man’s new found sport, somewhat critically, as “smear the quire.” He described a level of violence in an unequal match that likely could only be found in a young adult “B” side grudge match. More alarming still the referee did nothing to stop it while the coaches and parents urged them on.
This may sound old fashioned, but amateur sports just should not work that way. Sport and violence are an oxymoron. The very term sportsmanship implies truth, fair play, mutually enjoy-ability and leading to lasting friendships. That was my experience with school sports and many years of Union Rugby. A decade of refereeing offered an opportunity to pay back and more importantly to instill the spirit of the game. Most of the great athletes, among the pros, resist the violence and play above it. Why don’t the other players and the fans get it.
Body paint, obscene signs, noise-makers and mis behavior have become a commercialized commodity. I have seen Rugby referees stop the match and scold spectators for rowdy yelling and screaming, “You are ruining the sport!” International Union Rugby is now professional --- blood money.
True, the quality of play now rivals NFL, but it can never match the joy of a Sunday match on damp uncut grass. The hazy golden air warmed by the afternoon sun and the women sit on their blankets by open kits discussing the week. Children run and play, some kicking their dad’s rugby ball whilst others dream of other things. It will be a hard game but a studiously skilled one. The players all work on Monday, most at professional jobs. There will be handshakes, shoulder hugs and a pony of beer after the match. Coworkers no longer notice the bruises.
Internationally, Rugby tends to be a gentleman’s sport, a private school sport anyway, while football (soccer) has been more a blue collar thing. In other places, it amounts to just how English you are or would like to be. In Fiji, the Indians all play football while the Fijians play Rugby.
In the US, it’s the other way around. Mothers naively take their minivan of children to highly organized Soccer practice. Their children play as if on command for their parents, vicarious desire. Parents think of Soccer as more civilized, less dangerous, but do not recognize the subtle brain damage that butting the ball with the head will cause or the violence of the sport at a higher level. Nothing will change though. The media prostitutes our values for profit.
posted by Clancy Hughes | 2/07/2007 09:04:00 AM
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