melissa@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU (Melissa Silvestre) (09/11/86)
I thought of this when watching the NFL games last Sunday, then reading the discussion on team sports in net.women: There was one point in one of the NFL games, in which the receiver stopped running after he stepped out of bounds, even though the referree had not whistled the ball dead yet. The commentators said they figured the runner just assumed the ref saw it, and they said something to the effect that he should just keep on running because you never know what the refs might miss. If there's one morality pro sports teaches, it seems to be that "it's only wrong if you get caught." I don't watch college sports, so I don't know if it is similar at that level. I'm not a radical wanting pro sports banned or anything. I am a big NFL and NBA fan. I was just wondering if anyone else noticed this anti-social bent in the attitudes of some of the commentators and probably the fans and players as well. The concept of penalties as punishment for doing something against the spirit of the game has been lost. Especially in basketball, penalties are used as just another strategy tool. If you want your children, boys and girls, to learn about t
woods@hao.UUCP (Greg Woods) (09/11/86)
In article <1127@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU>, melissa@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU (Melissa Silvestre) writes: > > There was one point in one of the NFL games, in which the receiver stopped > running after he stepped out of bounds, even though the referree had not > whistled the ball dead yet. The commentators said they figured the runner > just assumed the ref saw it, and they said something to the effect that > he should just keep on running because you never know what the refs might > miss. > > If there's one morality pro sports teaches, it seems to be that "it's > only wrong if you get caught." While the commentators may say that, there is another, more important reason to keep running. If the defenders don't hear the whistle, they are likely to take a good shot at you. If you aren't prepared for it, you could be injured. Many injuries occur this way. As far as the morality goes, I think what it really is is, "the referee is always right, even when he's wrong". That means stepping on the white line doesn't make you out of bounds, the referee *declaring* that you stepped on the white line (and blowing the whistle) makes you out of bounds. Throwing the pitch over the plate does not constitute a strike until the umpire raises his right hand. Etc. --Greg
tewok@umcp-cs.UUCP (Uncle Wayne) (09/11/86)
In my first year of high school, I decided to go out for the football team. I went to one day of practice and didn't go back. The defensive coach told us that when we were coming in to block someone, we should bring our arms up hard underneath the face mask. This would snap the person's had back and throw the person off balance. This has been known to do such nasty stuff as cause paralysis when the back of the helmet impacts with the spine. The coach then told us not to tell anyone he had told us that, since it was illegal to do so. I decided then and there that I didn't want to have anything to do with someone or some system that cared so little about legality, let alone personal safety. I started at the same high school that Len Bias went to. If anyone has been following the news about the Len Bias case, you might remember that one of his high school coaches was possibly going to be indicted in the case. I don't remember for absolutely certain if this guy was the one who told us that, but if it wasn't him, it could only have been one other of the other coaches. In my naivete, I couldn't believe that they would risk permanently injuring someone just to win a game. In the years since then, I've lost more and more of my idealism due to similar happenings. I guess in the case of pro sports and money, anything is legal unless you're caught. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "I love the feel of plastic. It makes me hot!!!" - T. J. Tarou Wayne Morrison ARPA: tewok@brillig Parallel Computation Lab UUCP: seismo!umcp-cs!tewok University of Maryland (301)454-7690
ccastkw@gitpyr.UUCP (Kenneth E. Walker) (09/14/86)
In article <1127@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU> melissa@mit-athena.UUCP (Melissa Silvestre) writes: >If there's one morality pro sports teaches, it seems to be that "it's >only wrong if you get caught." I don't watch college sports, so I don't >know if it is similar at that level. > The announcers say much of the same thing, and in the past, the cheating and NCAA violations would lead the general person to believe that this was the case as well. Fortunately, the members of the NCAA are trying to clean up there act. There are programs out there proving that you can be dedicated to academics and win big-time-college-football without resorting to bad recruiting practices or other violations..... It take longer for the program to get on its feet, but the base is more solid for a winning program... >I'm not a radical wanting pro sports banned or anything. I am a big NFL and >NBA fan. I was just wondering if anyone else noticed this anti-social >bent in the attitudes of some of the commentators and probably the fans >and players as well. The concept of penalties as punishment for doing >something against the spirit of the game has been lost. Especially in >basketball, penalties are used as just another strategy tool. > People are bloodthirsty to begin with, and this is an extension of sports (competition) drawing the 'in-humane' from within us. What I mean to say is that there is no spirit of good competition as far as many fans are concerned, just whether or not 'their' team won the friggin' game... This filters out of fandom to the commentators (as they are there to provide what the viewer wants (ratings and all..)), and back to the newer/impressionable fans in a vicious cycle... kenn -- Standard Disclaimer in force..... (I think????) Kenneth E. Walker Office of Computing Services Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 ...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!ccastkw or !gatech!gtfelix!gt-opus!kenn
ccastkw@gitpyr.UUCP (Kenneth E. Walker) (09/15/86)
In article <3357@umcp-cs.UUCP> tewok@umcp-cs.UUCP (Uncle Wayne) writes: >In my first year of high school, I decided to go out for the football >team. I went to one day of practice and didn't go back. The defensive >coach told us that when we were coming in to block someone, we should >bring our arms up hard underneath the face mask. This would snap the >person's had back and throw the person off balance. This has been known >to do such nasty stuff as cause paralysis when the back of the helmet >impacts with the spine. The coach then told us not to tell anyone he >had told us that, since it was illegal to do so. I decided then and >there that I didn't want to have anything to do with someone or some >system that cared so little about legality, let alone personal safety. >I started at the same high school that Len Bias went to. If anyone >has been following the news about the Len Bias case, you might remember >that one of his high school coaches was possibly going to be indicted >in the case. I don't remember for absolutely certain if this guy was >the one who told us that, but if it wasn't him, it could only have been >one other of the other coaches. > >In my naivete, I couldn't believe that they would risk permanently >injuring someone just to win a game. In the years since then, I've >lost more and more of my idealism due to similar happenings. I guess >in the case of pro sports and money, anything is legal unless you're caught. We all know of people who'll do anything to win, no matter what the cost may be in terms of money or lives or anything for that matter. These sentiments exist in neighborhood leagues to high-school to college to the pros to plain everyday business. It is not something that particular to sports, but to the overall desire to win, and to make the other person lose. Much of the practices that are described above have been removed in many aspects of football. Litigation in the late 70's and early 80's have established that the coaches that teach these techniques are responsible for any and all injuries that occur due to them. In fact, it becomes a matter of negligence if the coach doesn't point out that these techniques can injure a player, and that it is possible to be killed or paralyzed for life playing football. Hopefully there are more people in coaching today there because of the benefits they get from seeing young people mature and grow.... I know that my high school was like that (our head coach was a math teacher, and he was there because he WANTED to be a teacher, the football was just another way to teach about life) and my team has had nothing but winning seasons the past 15 years, 2 state champions, and the head coach has 260+ career wins... Here at Georgia Tech, the football is a bigger business, but the coaches are just as concerned with the welfare of their players... (if you've ever heard of Homer Rice's "Total Person Program" concept... that's what's going on here).... I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, hopefully the imnprovements will make up for it in the future.. kenn -- Standard Disclaimer in force..... (I think????) Kenneth E. Walker Office of Computing Services Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 ...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!ccastkw or !gatech!gtfelix!gt-opus!kenn
figmo@lll-crg.ARpA (Lynn Gold) (09/15/86)
I was luckier than Kenneth. I was a lousy athlete up to high school -- NON-athlete is a more accurate representation. When I transferred to a small, private school for high school, there was a much stronger push for EVERYONE to get involved with athletics because when your school is THAT small, you NEED warm bodies just to fill up a team. Surprisingly, though, our school fielded some damn good teams. Since the headmaster had 5 or 6 daughters who were all outstanding athletees, there was a strong girls' sports program. Any other coach would have discouraged me, but Floss Brudon, the main girls' gym teacher and coach, encouraged anyone who wanted to to go out for sports. There was a policy against cutting anyone from any team just because they weren't a great athlete. Another policy throughout the school's sports program was that "How Well You Played The Game" was emphasized over winning. If we played our best but were still defeated, we were praised for playing our best. If we won mostly because we were sloppy but the other team was sloppier, we were criticized for playing a sloppy game. Another policy was that everyone who showed up to play got to play -- even if it was only for five minutes because the game was tight. Because of the encouragement I received in the area of sports, I made visible improvements in my physical fitness. For example, when I entered the school, my time on the 50-yard dash was 13 seconds; by my junior year, it was down to 9 seconds. While this was slow compared to most of my teammates (who timed in from 6-8 seconds), I noticed the improvement, as did everyone around me. --Lynn P.S.--Wrt quality, our girls' lacrosse team was #2 in NJ my senior year! -- UUCP: ...lll-crg!figmo ARPA: Lynn%PANDA@SUMEX-AIM *********************************************************************** * Any resemblance between my postings and any person, living or dead, * * is purely coincidental. Besides, I'm only a guest user here... * ***********************************************************************
fox@bnrmtv.UUCP (Richard Fox) (09/16/86)
> In article <1127@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU>, melissa@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU (Melissa Silvestre) writes: > > > > There was one point in one of the NFL games, in which the receiver stopped > > running after he stepped out of bounds, even though the referree had not > > whistled the ball dead yet. The commentators said they figured the runner > > just assumed the ref saw it, and they said something to the effect that > > he should just keep on running because you never know what the refs might > > miss. > > > > If there's one morality pro sports teaches, it seems to be that "it's > > only wrong if you get caught." > > While the commentators may say that, there is another, more important > reason to keep running. If the defenders don't hear the whistle, they are > likely to take a good shot at you. If you aren't prepared for it, you could > be injured. Many injuries occur this way. > As far as the morality goes, I think what it really is is, "the referee is > always right, even when he's wrong". That means stepping on the white line > doesn't make you out of bounds, the referee *declaring* that you stepped > on the white line (and blowing the whistle) makes you out of bounds. Throwing > the pitch over the plate does not constitute a strike until the umpire > raises his right hand. Etc. > > --Greg Like they say, driving is just like football. You can step on the pedal until the officer blows the whistle. Anyways, how 'bout them Rams!
brian@vaxwaller.UUCP (zippy the pinhead) (09/16/86)
> > Like they say, driving is just like football. You can step on the pedal > until the officer blows the whistle. Anyways, how 'bout them Rams! *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR SOUR GRAPES *** Yeah! How about a team that can only score 16 points each game and still get lucky enough to win? Whatever those guys are doing (Holding group prayer meetings at halftime, performing human sacrifices during warm-ups, or sleeping with sheep) seems to be working. They managed to get the clock to run out before St. Louis could move that last yard, and then this week the voodoo curse worked on Joe Montana's back. They shouldn't need any luck for their next three games (although having a quarterback would be useful). The three following should be fairly routine unless the Falcons are for real. But you can FORGET about week 9. After they become lamb chops for the Bears the rest of their schedule will become considerably difficult, and they should end up at 10 and 6 for the season. These guys will peeter out during the second half of the season, just like last year. Condolences to the L.A. area, Zippy P.S. While we're on the subject of L.A. --- how 'bout them Raiders!