That's Entertainment!

That's Entertainment!

Society is increasingly taking a stance against violence by many people, sports has become an area where some feel that the violent acts such as the hitting and fighting that occurs should be eliminated. You cannot change something that has been around for so long because it would change the aspect of the game to something completely different. The elimination of violence should not be done in sports because the violence is a part of the game. Removing violence would only hurt its popularity.

The reason that the violence is occurring in sports is due to six theories according to John Schneider. The violence in sports mirrors the violence found in society, violence as the result of economic incentives, the influence of crowd behavior on player violence, genetic causation for player aggression, learning theory and player aggression, and psychological stress and player violence (Lapchick 230). The theories of sports mirroring society, violence as a result of economic incentive, and the influence of the crowd behavior are the theories that I feel are responsible for the increasing violence in sports. Most people when involved in a highly stressful situation where violence is around would probably resort to a fight to resolve their differences. In sports, why should we expect any difference? In events such as hockey games, where people are expected to hit and make body contact, sooner or later a fight will break out and the fans will yell and scream for their favorite player involved. Like anything, if people around are applauding us for a certain act we have done, we will try to do it over so that we will continue to be praised. In sports, there are some players whose only role on the team is to protect and enforce the unwritten rules of the game such as in hockey where it is not right to fight or hit a type of star player. Their economic incentive is to protect the team and if he does not, a new line of work might be in the future. All three of those theories closely relate to the role of the fighter in sports and why it is that he commits the acts of violence.

When leagues such as the National Football League (NFL) or the National Hockey League (NHL) are asked to try and remove the violence from their sports, they are hesitant because it is not what the fans want. Bryant and Zillman report that television viewers enjoy NFL plays more when they are rough and violent (McPherson 294). Why should these leagues remove the violence that is occurring if they are making money and keeping people employed? The fans of the games want to see these situations and eliminating the fighting aspect would hurt the support. When I watch a hockey game or any other sporting event with contact, there is nothing better than seeing a good fight take place. One of the best-selling videos in areas of the Northeastern United States has been a collection of the best fights in the NHL (McPherson 294). Even former NHL president Clarence Campbell felt that the violence taking place in his sport was called for and was reluctant to remove the fighting and the body contact because he knew that it is what the majority of hockey fans want. Fighting is a well-established safety valve for players. If violence ceases to exist, it will not be the same game. "Fighting is part of the show; we certainly sell it. We do not promote it. We tolerate it and we bring it under disciplinary control, which we believe satisfies the public (Snyder 201)."

Its better that the violence take place between two willing combatants such as in sports than in a situation involving spousal abuse where the majority of the times the female is being attacked against her consent. Allowing people not to be able to vent their frustrations through sports in my mind would increase the violence that is happening away from the playing field. It is a known fact that a sport does keep kids off the street and away from gangs, which is why you see so many athletic and boxing clubs in the inner city. It allows the youth to take that hostility out on a willing participant who is ready and consenting rather than against an innocent bystander. Some individuals have gone as far as saying that sports are creating a deviant subculture where these athletes are becoming the opposite of what was intended for them. "The emphasis in formalized sports on victory may, in fact, promote deviant behavior and poor sportsmanship (Snyder 101)." Sports do not promote poor sportsmanship, it creates a drive to succeed within yourself and to try to do the best at whatever you do whether it be in sports, school, or at a job.

The violence that is occurring today is not occurring more than it was ten or twenty years ago like some people might suggest, it is only being shown and talked about more by the mass media. If there is one group to blame for the increase in violence I feel that it would be the media, not the athletes themselves. If you turn on the television to watch a sportscast, it will always glorify an act of violence like a hit of the night or repeats of some type of fight whether it be in hockey, boxing or a bench-clearing brawl in baseball. I