Comments on: Sports Fights in Black and White

By: max

max — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:50:51 +0000

Very interesting write up. I was trying to think about ways in which this occurs in non-sports fields, and I think some very strong parallels can be drawn here between the treatment of fighting in various sports, and the penalty differences between cocaine and crack. These are the same drug, but one form is consumed by poor people, and the other by less poor people. A reactionary media frenzy were the nascence of our current draconian standards. Why does this occur? It’s easy to peg those laws as being racist, but perhaps that’s too strident a term. I would argue, that both the treatment of fights across sports, and the enormous differences in the manor in which similar drug offenses are punished stand as examples of something different. You know fuck it both of those things are mad racist, and I can’t even front.

By: dan

dan — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:28:55 +0000

I think this is a crock. For one hockey is a sport that needs fighting to keep the game clean. If they outlaw fighting there is gonna be more injuries involving stick. Its a fact. Now Football is anothe violent sport and the NFL tries to cut back on it. Baseball if you call the meetings between teams in the infield fighting , go ahead. Bsketball isnt a violent game, never has been. I am getting tired of this race baiting. Just because you say it may be racist doesnt make it so

By: Keith Russell

Keith Russell — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:57:36 +0000

Congratulations, Vee. You’ve just provided everyone with a perfect example of what happens when you get all of your hockey news from ESPN. It’s the one major sports league they don’t carry, so they take shots at it all the time. Otherwise, people might (gasp!) turn off ESPN for Versus.

ESPN loves to muddle the difference between an honest hockey fight, involving two willing participants trading punches, not sticks and skates, and punks like Jonathan Roy, Chris Simon, and Todd Bertuzzi.

Watch an entire NHL game, not just ESPN’s cherry-picked “highlights,” and you’ll see plenty of vigorous full-contact competition. Maybe you’ll see a fight, maybe not. Your odds of seeing an incident, however, are far, far lower than seeing the Broncos offensive line throw a knee-hunting cut block.

By: Wise

Wise — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:11:04 +0000

Correlation is not Causation.

Fighting was no more acceptable in basketball or football when they were lily white. Soccer is predominately white and fighting isn’t tolerated in the sport. The media is quick to condemn the soccer-related brawls that take place in Europe. History and tradition are responsible for the differences between sports, not race.

By: JTS

JTS — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:53:47 +0000

Excellent post, Mr. Jones. Vee, I think you’re missing the underlying point on the Vogue cover. It’s not that we as an audience need get enraged in the aftermath (although some might say we should), but the very fact that this cover passed through untold numbers of hands at Vogue, and no one, at any point, thought that maybe it should be reconsidered stands as a testament to where racial discourse stands at this day and time. There were many shots of LBJ and Gisele that could have been used. At the end of the day they chose the one they did, and that says a great deal, whether the public wants to see it or not.

By: Vee

Vee — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:36:31 +0000

I agree with you on one point. “These are the subtle, problematic things . . .”

There’s is NOTHING subtle about the violence covered in hockey compared to the violence covered in sports where there are more people of color.

I’m not a hockey fan, but for as long as I briefly glanced at hockey I know the culture of violence is a part of the game. So I am not surprised to see or hear people fawning over hockey fights. And they’re FAR MORE BRUTAL than an MMA match or Boxing match. Some hockey players have been knocked unconscious and put into a coma for weeks. Hit in the back of the head with a hockey stick, an illegal move in most combat sports because the blow can be fatal.

But as soon as Kobe lays his hands on Chris Childs? Or some one decides to shove the Spurs Bowen . . . they’re so uncontrollable, they should be grateful and appreciate this wonderful opportunity to make millions and play professional basketball.

The hypocrisy is obvious and the proof is self-evident.

However, the Lebron-Gisele Vogue cover?? I’ll pass. I can see how and why people may feel the image evokes King Kong and many historically stereotypes about African American men . . . but I’ll just chuckle and ignore it. I don’t see anyone protesting Vogue and I fail to see how this will even be a significant newsworthy item 1 month from now. At the end of the day, it is simply some ones opinion.

By: dewfish

dewfish — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:13:39 +0000

great article. nowadays it seems like perception is reality.

By: Jason Clinkscales

Jason Clinkscales — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:57:04 +0000

As one of the few people (let alone black people) who actually pays attention to the sport of hockey, I cringe every time there’s some sort of fisticuffs. While the major sports we love are rather physical, the NHL tends to go overboard with it. As WABC (New York) sportsanchor Scott Clark said after showing the Roy’s display “and they call this hockey.”

I’m with you on this one, though I have never been able to articulate this thought on paper or web, but with conversations in my circles. I always thought that baseball seems to skate away without criticism in this regard, but in a very inconsistent manner. I mean when the Yankees and Red Sox had their little scuffles since it was ‘juicy’ and ‘part of the rivalry’). When the Oakland As and Texas Rangers had their infamous moment, it might as well have been Armageddon. Granted, the latter got real ugly, but still, in general, when a bunch of guys stand around and pose real tuff, it seems as if some people can’t get enough of it.

This is also a sign of the major condescending tone that ESPN and others have towards hockey over the past few years, but there aren’t too many people who care enough to change that, whether they are fans, TV execs or the league itself.