Tag Archive for football

The Human Football

We’re all aware of the demonstrations in recent months sparked by the death of George Floyd. And most of us realize that he’s mainly a symbol of the racial discrimination in our country. The demonstrations are NOT, as we’ve been repeatedly told, mismanagement by one party’s governors.  In fact, 26 of those states experiencing these demonstrations have Republican governors and 24 have Democratic governors.  Yes, that’s all 50 states, indicating that this is a concern shared by every state in our union. So, let’s stop making this an election-year political football and get down to the hard work of curing our national black eye.  If you’re interested, here’s the list. 

Republican: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming. 

Democratic: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.

Another fight. I’ll drink to that!

Sports are changing.  A baseball or football game used to be a family event.  Now not only is it too expensive for most families to go to the ballpark, it’s too dangerous. There are so many stories, like Bryan Stowe, beaten at a Giant’s game two years ago by rival fans.  In the last few days two more incidents have taken place.   At Levi Stadium two men attacked two others in the restroom not long before kick-off.  And at the Angels Stadium three people attacked a 43-year-old man and his cousin (an off-duty police officer, yet!) in the parking lot.

The news doesn’t answer my major question about all the attacks: how many of these incidents involved people who had been drinking?  With tailgating and free-flowing beer concessions–not to mention what is sneaked in–a good number of people at any game end up drinking enough to make them belligerent.  That mood is heightened by the heat of the sun, the roar of the crowd, and the emotional ups and downs each time a team scores.

Maybe it’s time to make games family-friendly and safe again.  Ban drinking at tailgate parties, and don’t sell alcohol in the stadium.  Does a fan really need to drink to enjoy the game?  Would fans’ behavior and language improve if they didn’t have alcohol-soaked brains?  Would–here’s a thought–fans therefore get more for their money, because they’ll actually see the game?  I imbibe a bit of the grain or grape from time to time, so I’m not suggesting another Prohibition…just a dose of common sense.

 

 

 

How to Promote Spousal Abuse

Here’s a recipe for promoting spousal abuse and other violent personal crimes: Recruit people for sports like football and boxing or induct them into the military.  Then spend the entire time you have them training them to fight, attack, do physical harm, and perform other acts of extreme violence.   Focus on harming their opponent, who is an enemy to be defeated at all cost.  Mold them into fighting machines whose objective is to win.

When you’re successful, don’t be shocked when the violence they’re trained for and live with daily spills into their private lives.  If you don’t want that to happen, maybe you should modify the training.