Violence in Sports - an Ethical Perspective

The competitive nature of today's sports associations calls for athletes to be aggressive and forceful , both physically and mentally. This aggressive mentality stays with some athletes off the field, and may explain why so many athletes are committing violent crimes.

A controversial issue in sports is contact sports. Which means you have to tackle or sometimes push the person to play. Like football or Lacrosse. People are getting hurt and sometimes it leads to death. It can cause a lot of injuries, in many different places, depending on where they get hit.

“I am here to start a fight, because I’m a man and that’s how I solve problems” (Phillips) The main argument presented in Brian Phillips’s essay “Man Up” is what ‘being a man’ means in the football world. In football, being a man means dealing with your problems and not being afraid to fight back physically. Phillips says that football players put on this tough guy act on the field, they fight like real men, and do not run from their problems. In this essay, Phillips argues against this idea of toughness by redefining it. All aspects of football, not just the player, but the networks and the fans treat football as a man’s sport. Phillips addresses mental/emotional issues as a problem in football by describing the abusive relationship between Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin. Since football is a man's sport, emotional issues are just unacceptable, but Phillips challenges this idea.

As we constantly hear of professional athletes being involved in domestic violence and other violent crimes, it is important to notice a trend. There is always some athlete being accused of some form of domestic violence. True sociological issues need to be addressed when violent issues such as the O.J. Simpson case arises. Simpson was influenced by a variety of sociological factors that created him into a violent person, such as the way in which African Americans are portrayed by the media, racial socioeconomic disparities, and racial labeling, that are all still evident in our society today.

Injuries impact the school life, profession, and the approach to society of a player. It slows down the natural ability of one to obtain and accomplish their aspirations in life, such as academics achievements or relationship goals (Dr. Echlin, 2014). Physicality and toughness are important factors in sports, especially in hockey. In a sport that is nearing a century old, who dare prohibit the originality of it? But with prolific past injuries on players caused by malicious hits, such as Todd Bertuzzi’s infamous check on Steve Moore in ’04 or superstar Sidney Crosby’s year-long concussion in ’10-11, speculation has started to gather regarding the complete exertion of violence in the NHL. With over 50% of players getting injured each year and

Professional sports have been in the news for domestic violence for a really long time. Some that may come to your mind could be Ray Rice, Warren Moon, Greg Hardy, and Jose Reyes. Yes, three of these four players are in the National Football League (NFL), but that does not mean that only football players are the ones who have been doing this. The most recent one is Jose Reyes who plays in Major League Baseball (MLB). That is really ones opinion, but some don’t have anything but I slap on the wrist. Commissioners around these leagues usually suspend the player for a couple games until all of the details and videos come out. Ray Rice was suspended two games until they saw evidence then he was suspended for the whole year. Some wanted him banned

In the event that a player makes a dirty hit on a skilled player, the enforcer’s role is to send a message to the other team. For fear that a skilled player will be hurt and unable to play, an enforcer will take matters into his own hands. As a result, skilled players feel protected and can do their job of scoring goals more effectively. All things considered, fighters are there for protection, not violence. Fighting as part of the game reduces injuries drastically. At the present time, fighting in the NHL is being heavily debated and there are two very different sides to the argument. In the meantime, with the stricter regulations against fighting, NHL injuries are at an all-time high. My coach, Kelly Chase—a retired NHL enforcer—says that with concussions being such a focus in sports, only 2% of the ones in the NHL are caused by fights. The other 98% are caused by dirty hits. In the background of the controversy, the game has evolved to where fighting is not an enforcer’s only role on the team. Beyond a reputation for being tough, an enforcer good hockey player. All things considered, fighters are here for protection, not

The audience cheered, but upon further inspection the paramedics realized that he had broken both his tibia and fibula and would be unable to continue racing for the rest of the season. It is not that the audience—sport spectators—want to see people become severely injured; instead, they view these injuries as one of the entertaining aspects of the sport. In John McMurtry’s essay “Kill ‘Em! Crush ‘Em! Eat ‘Em Raw!” these concepts are developed upon to show that society takes pleasure in watching violence, thus revealing a sadistic, inhumane American culture. The author utilizes comparison, hyperbole, and antithesis to build upon this argument.

According to the Centre for Disease Control New Jersey, roughly 1.4 million people sustain traumatic brain injuries in the United States from the result of contact sports. Out of those 1.4 million people, 50,000 die due to the severity of their brain injury.“But brain injury is preventable. Surely given what we already know about the brain and getting at least a glimpse of it’s awesome complexities, we should not be making sport or deliberately trying to do it damage,” says Joan Beck in her article, “Stop Pretending Boxing is a Sport”. Violence in sports should be removed because, it is treacherous to the human body and leads to severe injuries; especially head injuries.

Domestic violence is one of the most common crime among male athletes. The statistics are staggering. Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, Ray McDonald – three standout NFL players who have been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons over the last 12 months. The acts of the men, particularly Rice, who was caught on camera punching his then fiancée and now wife, Janay in the elevator of an Atlantic City casino, brought domestic violence and sexual assault into sharp focus, in particular how the NFL handles players who commit such dreadful acts (and yes, we can all agree that the justice systems responsible for these cases failed terribly).

Every sport has its own unique signature that separates it from the rest of the sports world. Baseball has the homerun, basketball has the slam-dunk, golf has the hole in one, and football has the touchdown. But, perhaps the sport with the most distinguished and unique signature is hockey and its fights. However, hockey officials and executives are trying to eliminate the games most distinctive aspect. Yet, because of the recent decline in the amount of fighting in the National Hockey League (NHL) and since a ban on fighting in the NHL could jeopardize the popularity of the sport, eliminating fighting from games may not be necessary. Over recent years, the amount of fighting in NHL games has been on the decline and the role of the one time

As everyone who has access to a television or the Internet knows, a lot of the major headlines today are dealing with the domestic violence problem in the National Football League. In the article written by Thomas Barrabi in the International Business Times, “NFL’s History of Domestic Violence Extends Beyond Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson Abuse Cases”, it addresses the discrepancies the NFL has displayed throughout the years when it comes to disciplining the players involved in domestic violence disputes. This article takes a look at the NFL’s position on the crime of domestic violence throughout the years and today and also what they have done

Sexual assault, abuse, and rape by athletes is a devastating crime.  These crimes by themselves are horrendous, but when committed by athletes there are many different factors involved.  Through extensive research this paper will show contributing factors that may result in assault, abuse, or rape by athletes.  Special treatment for athletes throughout their career, belief in sexual male dominance, and the role of alcohol are all important factors.  Other crucial factors are the attitudes and responses of: society, juries, victims, coaches, and athletes.  This paper will explore all these issues and show that changes need to be made in all the areas to combat the growing percentages of sport assault, abuse, and rape against women.

"I went to a fight the other night and a hockey game broke out." Rodney Dangerfield. Ever since the start to the game of hockey, violence has always played a role in the sport. While that role both contributing positive and negative aspects to the game, violence has taken its toll on not only the players but the fans as well. As violence in hockey is as many fans say part of the game and what makes “hockey” hockey, the negative outcomes overweigh the positive. From fights to brawls, slashes to high sticks, boarding to head contact the violence surrounds the entire game. As fans cheer and rant at their full potential when a fight breaks out during a hockey

THESIS: Contact sports have been here since the medieval times. Soccer was also already being put into sport use by china in the dynasties. Implied, players on both teams have agreed to be hit, pushed, shoved, and possibly fought. What can be used for considering when or where a player crosses the line? Using examples from previous court cases, we will examine how players in the NHL could be charged when excessive force against other players in the opposite team come into play. Having hockey being used for an example, we will examine and look at the rules of the NHL, as well as how Todd Bertuzzi from the Vancouver Canucks stepped over the line, and was charged with assault.