Apr5

Spontaneous Combustion: (Bountygate) – Violent sports should be played violently, or not at all.

Bountygate, Brain Injuries in Sports, MMA, NFL Inferno, Spontaneous Combustion 9 comments

U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander, U...

U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander, U.S. Central Command, poses for a photo with NFL Hall of Famers Lynn Swann, Roger Craig, John Elway, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during Super Bowl XLIII, Feb. 1, 2009, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Question, should Boxers and Mixed Martial Artists not try to knock each other out?  How can you play a contact sport without making contact?  It seems Roger Goodell is actually trying to answer these questions as they pertain to football.  Imagine a Boxer being told that if you knock out your opponent then you’ll be fined and possibly suspended.  How about a boxer’s trainer being told that if you tell your fighter to knock out his opponent, then he’ll be banned from the sport for life.  They call this a “bounty” in the NFL, but in boxing it’s just a violent aspect of a violent sport.

Imagine an MMA fighter being told that you can’t hit your opponent in the head, but only the body.    You see, I’ve been looking for the right analogy to use to describe why I believe Roger Goodell’s crusade to make the NFL safer is only going to result in altering the game to the point where the real fans will turn away from it.  Think about what boxing would be if the fighters couldn’t hit each other in the head.  If Roger Goodell were a Boxing commissioner, imagine him telling Mike Tyson you can’t hit your opponent in the head.  Do you see the point that I’m making now?

Yes Boxing would be safer the for the combatants if they couldn’t hit each other in the head, but who would want to watch it?  Not me.  Another reason why this safe football movement is going too far, is the ridiculous sentiment that you can make a violent sport non-violent.  The NFL seems to be forgetting that people watch these sports because they are violent.  Violence is part of the attraction.  That may be a controversial stance in today’s politically correct environment, but it’s real.

It’s also ridiculous that football players are suing their employers for damage that they voluntarily inflicted upon themselves.  Imagine a Boxer suing his promoter because he is now suffering from injuries sustained while voluntarily participating in the sport.  This isn’t ancient Rome where slaves were made to fight and die in the coliseum.  No one had a gun aimed at their heads forcing them to play.  Athletes have a choice to participate or not.  If you are a professional football player or a professional fighter and you are not willing to accept that you may sustain permanent damage to your body by playing, then don’t play.  Simple isn’t it?  There are thousands of other ways to earn a living.

And if the NFL can’t accept the fact that football is violent and that injuries to players can and will occur due to the violent nature of the sport, then they should do one of two things:  1.  Take the helmets and pads away and put flags on everyone.,  or 2.  Shut the league down.  Because if they take this kinder, gentler version of the NFL too much farther, then fans will be turned off by it.  Just like MMA fans would be turned off if the fighters couldn’t strike blows to the head, the same thing would happen with the NFL.

Legislating from a position of fear rarely works.  Fear of being sued or fear of having to deal with the negative ramifications of violent actions are not clear enough reasons to ask your fans, your customers to accept changes to your product that they didn’t ask for.  Maybe the NFL has gotten too big for its britches.  It seems the image of the NFL has become more important than the game itself.  And if that’s true then the NFL has a problem.   Mr. Goodell, why is it OK for boxers to get knocked out with no helmets and no pads, and not OK for NFL players who do wear helmets and pads?  

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  • http://fantasyfurnace.wordpress.com fantasyfurnace

    The difference between Boxing and Football is simple. Boxing is a sanctioned sport; Football is not.
    Sanctioned: Authoritative permission or approval that makes a course of action valid.

    Look, I have two things wrong with what the Saints/Gregg Williams did. First, the league told them to stop what they were doing; several times. They didn’t. Second, the league has been trying to cut down on concussions. This is not your Grandfather’s NFL anymore . The players today are twice the size and strength as years ago. The Saints new about this edict yet if you listen to the tape today, Williams said repeatedly, “Affect the Head!” Affect the Head!”. That’s not Football. That’s barbaric!

    • http://fanonfiresportswire.wordpress.com Fan On Fire_Maurice Barksdale

      I respect your opinion and I’m not saying Williams was right. My point is, where does it end? If the NFL truly cared about the safety of players, then the sport wouldn’t be played at all, because it’s not completely safe to begin with. This is just a move to protect itself from litigation, and I could care less about the NFL getting sued.

      My biggest argument is that the NFL is overwhelmingly slanting these changes to favor the offensive side of the ball, and if that continues it won’t be football. It will be something else, and that won’t interest me.

      And the Saints could have been any team in the NFL. Do you really believe similiar things weren’t being said in the 49ers locker room? That could have been any locker room in the league. Like it or not, that’s part of the game’s culture. There’s a dark side to everything in this world. Part of what makes the NFL good is the negative aspects of it. Take those away and it won’t be what was.

      You don’t need a bounty to know that if you take out the other team’s QB, you improve your chances of winning. Hard hitting is a part of wearing down your opponent and gaining an advantage to win, just like in boxing, sanctioned or unsanctioned.

      Thanks for the comment. This is the kind of discussion I’m looking for.

  • http://fantasyfurnace.wordpress.com fantasyfurnace

    YW
    You said it all in your comment: “You don’t need a bounty to know that if you take out the other team’s QB”. So if that’s the case why do you think the Saints needed one? If you pay someone to maim or intentionally injure someone else outside of football it’s a felony. Inside of football it’s illegal. As it should be.
    I agree the Saints are not the only team to indulge in this sort of scheme but it doesn’t make it right. All presidents deal in clandestine acts in order to get an edge over their opponents. They’ve all done it. Nixon got caught.
    I think defense is still the only way to win playoff games and Super Bowls. It still works. The game can and IS still played with D by some teams. Most are winning teams. Goodell just wants to keep players from being concussed as much as possible. That shouldn’t mean stop playing D. It SHOULD and DOES mean don’t go after the head, which is exactly what Gregg Williams told his players to go after. “Kill the head the body will die” Kill Frank Gore’s Head. “Affect the head.” “Hit the head”. There is no room in any sport for this Maurice.
    It does make for a good argument though…

  • http://fanonfiresportswire.wordpress.com Fan On Fire_Maurice Barksdale

    I don’t take Williams’ words literally. I don’t think he was really telling his players to “kill” anyone, and I don’t think his players were out to “kill”anyone either. The idea is to hit people as hard and as often as you can to wear them down. All teams have this mentality and this mentality has been a part of the NFL culture for years, and it will continue to be, whether bounties are offered or not.

    I made the boxing analogy because I think it’s a similiar mindset. In football, teams fight for land, real estate, yardage and there’s only one way to stop an offense from advancing, and that’s to stop them physically by force. That’s always been the object of it. The violent physical nature IS football. It’s not meant to be played timidly or passively. In order to win at the game of football it takes an aggressive mindset.

    “Barbaric” is a term you used. But when it’s one man against another man for one inch of real estate to decide a game, then that’s exactly what it comes down to. It’s my physical will against yours, and there’s nothing civilized or safe about it. And that’s part of what makes the game great. If you tell me as a defensive player that I have to concede that inch in the interest of the other man’s safety, then what’s the point in even playing the game under a perceived fairness, when the rules are stacked against me?

    And yes, hitting QB’s as hard as you can is a key to winning in the NFL. There’s no doubt in my mind that Tom Brady was rattled physically and maybe even injured in the late stages of the Super Bowl. And the physical pounding that the Giants gave him enabled them to win the game. I think this led directly to Brady throwing behind a wide open Wes Welker, and giving the Giants the win.

    If they hadn’t gotten to Brady as much as they did, the Giants would have lost. If you don’t attack the QB, then you’re essentially at the QB’s mercy. And when you get to the QB, you have to hit them hard to ensure they go down, because the Ben Roethlisbergers and the Cam Newtons will just toss you aside if try to simply wrap them up for fear of hurting them.

    And I don’t condone head shots, but let’s face it, boxers get hit in the head repeatedly. Getting knocked down, dazed, shaken up, knocked out is part of the hazards of the sport. And I know what you said about sanctions. But I don’t see boxers running around filing law suits.

    Anyway, you bring up some interesting points, and some things I hadn’t really thought about, and I really appreciate your thoughts in this debate. We have to talk about something in the off season, right. :)

  • http://confessionsofalineman.wordpress.com nflste

    Reblogged this on confessionsofalineman.

  • http://fantasyfurnace.wordpress.com fantasyfurnace

    Anytime Maurice…That’s why I subscribed to your blog in the first place however long ago. You say what you feel and you write it so well. And you encourage insights and promote intelligent discussions like these.
    We’ve been working on something; a new feature, that someone like yourself (and others) might find compelling. Debates like this are the inspiration for just such a segment. We’re just hopeful that when it launches there’s enough interest out in ‘blogland’ to garner enough interest…
    And yeah, what do we have another 6 months before the football season begins again? :(

    • http://fanonfiresportswire.wordpress.com Fan On Fire_Maurice Barksdale

      Thanks, and I look forward to your new feature. I’m always up for a good debate.

  • Pingback: Spontaneous Combustion: Did the fans really want to know about Bountygate? « Fan on Fire – sports wire

  • Pingback: Spontaneous Combustion: Are we witnessing the death of the NFL? « Fan on Fire – sports wire

 
 
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