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Violence in Sports
women." She puzzles how things can get better "if a man with the moral standing Brown has brought to the minority male community refuses to accept his "flaw" and deal with it and fix it." She offers that Brown could be a hero without a flaw if he'd "speak about evil of violence against women, about how difficult it might be to acknowledge the problem when it's personal and how necessary it is to stop such behavior." For the complete story, see "Actions of Jim Brown Convey This Message Too," Diane Pucin, The Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2002.
(See "Jim Brown Is Prisoner on His Own Terms," Mike Freeman, The New York Times, March 28, 2002.)
The New York Times' Mike Wise points to several factors that may contribute to the actual or seeming rise in violent incidents in NBA games:
Rule changes that de-emphasize calling fouls for incidental contact
Inconsistent officiating, leading to frustration on the court
Development of a new class of rough, young players trying to prove their worth
The news media's penchant for broadcasting replays of fights.
See "In the N.B.A., Fists and Elbows Flying More Frequently," Mike Wise, The New York Times, March 27, 2002.
For insight into why it's better to judge actions rather than people, see New York Post's Wallace Matthew's story on former NBA star Jayson Williams. ("Dying Girl Saw Jayson At His Best," Wallace Matthews, New York Post, March 17, 2002.)
Newsday's Shaun Powell takes us through NBA star Jayson Williams' metamorphosis from a life sprinkled with magnanimity, charm and occasional recklessness to one of another athlete accused of terrible felonies surrounding and including manslaughter in "A Life of Leisure Changed Forever," Shaun Powell, Newsday, March 14, 2002.
On the NHL's success in shifting the sport away from violence, the Washington Times' Patrick Hruby explains why "the one-dimensional hockey bruiser — species: Homo Goonus — teeters on the verge of extinction, a victim of harsher rules, shifting mores, shrinking rosters and creeping irrelevance." See "Requiem for the goons," Patrick Hruby, The Washington Times, March 14, 2002.
Los Angeles sports writers muse over the cause and effect of Lakers' Kobe Bryant's post-game swipe at Indiana's Reggie Miller (who also recently had to sit out a few games because of a flare-up with Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal). As they did with O'Neal's on-court violence, some teammates praised Bryant's aggression as teaching a lesson to a "disrespectful" opponent. Lakers' Coach Phil Jackson publicly rebuked Bryant's behavior as selfish to the team saying, "You don't get respect, you earn it." See "What was he thinking?" Kevin Modesti, Los Angeles Daily News, March 3, 2002, and "Incident With Miller Has Left Bryant Boxed Into a Corner," Bill Plaschke, The Los Angeles Times, March 4, 2002.
In a stirring commentary on Jayson Williams' arrest for the killing of a limousine driver, sports columnist Mike Bianchi writes, "You've never ever read of an athlete doing anything good with a gun. … Athletes don't carry guns to be safe; they carry them to be cool." See "Athletes find it necessary to pack [next page]