Posted on 12/06/2004 1:39:44 PM PST by Mr. Silverback
Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley.
By now, we have all seen the footage from the near-riot that broke out at a recent game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers in the NBA.
There have been plenty of attempts to figure out what conclusions, if any, we should draw from what happened. Some sportswriters, like Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post, insist that it was an isolated incident. Others, like Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, see what happened as a consequence of cultural trends within the NBA, such as younger, less-mature players and the NBA’s uncritical embrace of hip-hop culture.
While I tend to agree with Burwell, I think that there are other, more widespread and troubling, cultural trends that contributed to what happened on November 19. In our ministry here at Prison Fellowship, we see the results every day in the constant filling up of our prisons.
One trend is the coarseness and incivility that has permeated American culture. Friends of mine tell me that they dread taking their kids to professional sporting events. The combination of profanity, drunkenness, and boorish behavior on the part of fans makes us all uncomfortable and, worse, sets a bad example for any child.
Ten years ago unruly “fans” would have been asked to shut up or leave—now it’s those who want to enjoy the game in peace who are faced with that choice. And this problem isn’t limited to professional sports. A reporter for USA Today wrote about a fight that broke out at a co-ed slow-pitch softball game he attended. It’s as if the entire country has, as we say in Virginia, forgotten its manners.
This coarseness and incivility is fueled by a belief that self-expression is always good and inhibition of any kind is always bad. The past few decades have seen the triumph of what author Rochelle Gurstein called “the party of exposure.” This “party” turned ideas such as manners, propriety, and decorum into synonyms for repression. It convinced our culture that, as Robert Bork ironically put it, “Let all be told, let all be shown, and we will be a society of well-balanced individuals.”
Of course, no such thing happened. A culture that has renounced inner restraints only has the cudgel of law to keep people from acting on their own worst impulses. If shame isn’t enough to keep you from making a drunken spectacle of yourself, then the sight of a “rent-a-cop” isn’t going to stop you from throwing your beer on the court—or charging into the stands swinging, only to go on talk shows the next morning to promote your new CD.
What makes this even worse is that athletes are, in many instances, the closest things kids have to heroes. The NBA and its advertisers have used this admiration to make our kids the biggest market for NBA-licensed apparel and expensive shoes and soft drinks. Whether they want to admit it or not, these guys are role models, and they failed miserably that night.
While thankfully events like the “brawl at the Palace” are the exception to the rule, the beliefs that helped make it possible are not. We see the results every day in prisons all across America. And while expulsions, suspensions, and even criminal prosecutions are in order, these won’t change what most needs changing: a culture that has forgotten its manners. Only a good dose of repentance before a holy God is the necessary medicine for this cultural sickness.
SOB!
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The veneer of civilization is getting thinner every day!
tbird1
"I can be on TV!!!!!!!"
I gave up watching these hyperpituitary psychopathic overpaid "Gangsta" jungle-mentality freeks years ago.
I haven't cared since Bird and Jordan left, and I have to admit I didn't care much then.
Born and reared in Detroit, but I've been a Packers fan from waaaaaay back when Guy Lombardo was the coach.
PACKERS RULE!!!!!!!!!!
<><
Um...not to nitpick, but that's Vince Lombardi. Saint Vince, to the Cheeshead faithful. Guy Lombardo was a big band guy, IIRC.
PACKERS RULE!!!!!!!!!!
Absolutely! Even the RNC says so. I even have a photo of the "Flippercam" dolphins (who were following Kerry around) standing in front of Lambeau with cheeseheads on. It's a beautiful thing.
As a native Hoosier and life long Pacer fan, I was pleased to see it when it happened--I thought since the Pacers traded Dale and Tony Davis, they had gotten a reputation of being a little "soft;" indeed, perhaps it was well deserved.
I assumed 10 game suspensions all around--boy was I shocked when Stern came back with what he did.
But in the end, I don't have a lot of problems with fighting in sports--it's a competition, and tempers run high with competitors. And I don't have a problem with fans getting taken behind the woodshed when they throw beer (or chairs) at players. I like the way baseball used to be: every once in awhile, the two teams would come running out of the dugout, and then they'd beat each other up for 10 or 15 minutes, then they'd all go back to the dugout and then it was game on. No harm, no foul.
Shoot, maybe if there were more fistfights, there wouldn't be as many shootings. I, for one, don't think this is the end of the world.
Well, I don't either, though I never view violence for any reason but the defense of life and/or freedom to be a positive. Heck, I was more concerned about Warren Sapp's warmup antics, because they signalled a complete rejection of any form of authority in the NFL. Ditto for his cheap-shot hip-breaker hit on a Packer who was moving parallel to the ball about 20 yards away from it. What Artest and company did was out of line, but at least they were responding to an attack, not just giving the whole idea of sportsmanship the finger.
What's funny about this is that both Don Kaul (Christianophobic hateful lib columnist) and Mark Earley have cited this incident as a sign that our civilization is going down the tubes. Politics indeed makes strange bedfellows...
>>>not to nitpick, but that's Vince Lombardi<<<
See my tagline on post #8. hehehe
It's a better joke in person 'cuz I can tell when guys look at me funny that they're thinking: "Uh oh. Should I tell her or not?" LOL!
<><
Oh dang, I'm such an idiot.
Five Indiana Pacers players and five Detroit Pistons fans are being charged in connection with one of the worst brawls in U.S. sports history, a Michigan prosecutor announced Wednesday.
All charges are for misdemeanor assault and battery, except for one count of felony assault against a fan accused of throwing a chair, Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca said at an afternoon news conference.
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