Sports

The perfect storm of violence and monetary corruption: Professional football. The New Orleans Saints bounty scandal is an example of how a testosterone-based game of violence is not an asset to a civilized society. It is an atavistic ritual of violence for the masses. Gladiators in marketable gear. 

A second story on sports left me scratching my head. The Battle of Little Big Puck, an annual Canadian hockey event between real cowboys and real aboriginals in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. The title of the event refers to a brief stay of Sioux and Cheyenne after their victory at Little Big Horn over George Custer in June of 1876. Sitting Bull led the victors across the Canadian border to avoid capture. Hockey, another game of intentional violence, is another atavistic throwback to cavemen acting badly. The festive absurdity of Little Big Puck, while grimly humorous, given the history of genocide and killing involved in the historical basis of the joke, hardly makes it less offensive in my eyes. 

Violent professional sports, inflated by capitalism and mass media,  are not contributions to civilization. They are deterrents to human progress They are diversions and outlets for the angry and frustrated. Happy and peace-loving people are not be attracted to a display of violence for money. I frequently pass a large sports venue in Boston and see parents dragging small children under 6 years of age to hockey games. What are they trying to teach those children? Are they even aware that they are indeed teaching those children something which may not be in their interest as they grow up? Do they even ask themselves the question?

Look to the current situation in Syria to see the realities of violence embedded in human society. Life need not be an arena for bloody conflict. Progress does not require violent competition, in which the winner takes all. In fact, progress is drastically impeded by the effects of violence, alienation and greed. Violent professional sports are not harmless distractions. They are a touchstone for those who do not wish to move beyond conflict to cooperation, from battle to reconciliation.