Violence in sports... "Basketbrawl"

[Abby Normal]

Well, this happened in a city about 45 minutes away from me during an 8th grade basketball game. And with the thread about the French jackass, I thought Id put it up for comment.
The boy throwing the punches has been brought up on assult charges...
What upsets me.... the boys coach defended the kids actions. Said the other kid was talking smack to him. What? Is this the new excuse for losing your temper during the game?

http://www.hedonistica.com/media.php?path=/videos/basketball-brawl.wmv

[JK]

That was fucked up, but not uncommon. In a former life, when I used to shoot video for the local TV station, I had a whole tape of fist fights that broke out at school sporting events. The best one was a football game between Buna and some other little piss-ant town in deep east Texas. The quarterback got blitzed and a dog-pile ensued. In my viewfinder, I could see another player turn and brace himself. Some kid came in from the sidelines and mowed that one down. But then the guy from the sidelines grabbed the other one's face mask and began punching this kid- through the face mask. By that point the whole thing just turned into a brawl. And too, that was only the second down of the game...

[ILovePapaSmurf]

Oh, sports and violence. A common mix in the land of Smurfs. We smurfs get really into it here. I even punched a girl in the chest during a game of dogeball for making fun of my brother. I think it has to do with the heat, the energy of the game and the lack of parental supervision.

[Zens7s]

We should just expect the problem to increase. Look at what influences them in professional sports. Basketball last year showed us that not only do we beat each other up on the court, but we can now jump into the stands and beat the shit out of spectators.

I think it's a product of a win at all costs mentality that certain coaches instill in their players. No longer are people playing a game...they are playing for scholarship money, fame, and power. Often the very people that are playing these games come from areas and families where sports are the only way to attain these things. Their parents aren't teaching them honor and respect for themselves and others. Their coaches are just teaching them to eat or be eaten.

[By-tor]

You're right, Zens. And what's worse are the kids on the periphery getting their collective asses handed to them by their peers because they just enjoy the game. It's gotten way worse since I played sports back in the 70's, but it's always been there. Parents and coaches living vicariously through kids. Well, hell, not so much the coaches, anymore. Nowadays, if you don't win, you don't got no job.

[jjcourtright]

I used to punch people all the time during cross country races. Shove one of my teammates, I'll punch you in the spine. Not only did it intimidate the other guy, but it would get my adrenaline going so that I could run past him - really demoralize him.

At the starting line elbows would fly like Zidane head butts.

[Zens7s]

I used to punch people all the time during cross country races. Shove one of my teammates, I'll punch you in the spine. Not only did it intimidate the other guy, but it would get my adrenaline going so that I could run past him - really demoralize him.

At the starting line elbows would fly like Zidane head butts.
I was a cross country runner in high school and college. We would elbow and spiking was really popular in college. Ever had somebody scrape a set of cletes down the back of your calf? Yep, good times.

[jjcourtright]

We weren't allowed to wear spikes in cross country, just rubber nubs. We could in track, but many track meets, especially triangles, weren't nearly as competetive as cross country meets, so the "need" wasn't there to injure your opponents.

[Zens7s]

We weren't allowed to wear spikes in cross country, just rubber nubs. We could in track, but many track meets, especially triangles, weren't nearly as competetive as cross country meets, so the "need" wasn't there to injure your opponents.
We couldn't wear them in high school. I think that's a good thing.

[By-tor]

We got to wear spikes back in my day. On cinder tracks(yeah I'm prehistoric), we wore long-ass spikes. I ran the 4x100 relay. Man, I ran the second leg for a few years(before coming out of the blocks), and I got spiked by my own teamate too freakin' many times to count. Practice was way worse than meets. 25 times a day the guy running up my ass. Arrrrghhh!!!

[jjcourtright]

I got to run on a cinder track one time. Night meet, too. It was a hell of a lot of fun. Bolstered by my 2nd in the 3200, and 4th in the 1600 (I was the only person that ran both races that meet) we finished in 2nd. That was junior year. Senior year I quit the team after they made it seem like it was my fault that I got expelled and forced me to run 10 400s each day of my first week back. After that meet my senior year our athletic director stopped to tell me that they would have won the meet had they had a decent distance runner. "That's what they get for fucking with me," is what I would have said had I had any balls left after getting expelled.

[By-tor]

Ever crash and burn on a cinder track at a dead sprint? Picking out pieces of rock for days.

[Abby Normal]

I didnt run track or cross country but I did play basketball (volleyball, softball). We all threw elbows and took shots whenever we knew we could get away with it. But none of us ever blantantly attacked someone from the opposing team. If any one of us would have we would have never set foot on the court again. Let alone what my parents would have done to my ass when I got home (and I mean that literally!).
Really too bad the direction sports has gone. They dont teach self respect, commitment, patience, etc. anymore.