Nerve Endings Firing Away

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Only a week back, the only disciplinary problem NBA seemed to have Vince Carter being penalized and possibly banned from listening to his iPod during pre-game warm-up. Until of course, the now famous Pistons-Pacers brawl broke out. The Vince Carter incident had nuanced underpinnings to the entire debate bordering on sponsorship legalese concerns or overarching image of NBA. Now the iPod incident doesn’t seem so important, does it? Heck, Carter can bring his personal ultra-large boom box and he wouldn’t get an iota of attention if the fans are expecting an imminent bench-clearing brawl.

What makes American sports so prone to violence? Of course, American sports are not the only ones that have rambunctious fans. No one can beat the riotous Barmy Army in creating a major ruckus wherever they go. But with the exception of golf, almost every American sport has witnessed its share of a major fight in recent times. As Rodney Dangerfield would claim, I went to see a fight and a hockey game broke out. I expect a fight in golf soon too; Vijay Singh has been kicking crowd favorite Tiger’s butt for a long time now. Baseball had its share of on-field fights too last year; sometimes with only an eccentric and geriatric coach dueling with a burly pitcher or entire teams going at it. The fans could only wait that long before joining in. American Football strangely is the last place where you would see a free-for-all fight (think of it as NFL’s iron grip over the sport). Guess all that bashing and tackling saps everyone’s energy for a fight. Anyways, you wouldn’t even notice if a fight does break out, all you would be concerned is the free ball and hoping someone grabs it and runs a hundred yards. Everyone enjoys a piece of action and just as we enjoy Final Destination movies, a bloody fight where it is least expected definitely gets everyone excited.

The media is having a field day trying to explain why such fights occur. Heck, if humans are involved in any activity, there is bound to be a hands-on fight sometime. Even our Assembly and Parliament are no exception so why should our playing fields be where it is expected to “trample your opponent to dust”? The media is definitely to blame. After going overboard with dramatic headlines, what else do they expect? Aussies crush India and humiliate them in their own backyard – Do you think Saurav is going to keep his shirt on after reading that? United States gets their asses handed back to them – I bet they will be taking their nukes for the next Olympics Basketball. Even the otherwise placid Inzamam got riled and actually ran up the stands to accost a spectator who heckled him (if calling someone Aaloo is heckling, ask Pedro Martinez on his “who’s your daddy” heckling by Yankee fans).

It is the pressure, stupid; everyone claims. Athletes perform under intense pressure and are expected to perform each time they step on the field. And after all they are just kids – teenage millionaires as we like to call them. Of course, the pressure of handling enormous sums of money doesn’t get them as they sashay on the ramp way peddling soft drinks and credit cards. The pressure only gets to them when they aren’t performing. No one complains when we religiously adore them at the peak of their performances. Like Aamir says in Rangeela, “apun public hai, kuch bhi bol sakta hai”.

That may be an exaggeration but reminds us of the public’s fickle memory.

Apart from NBA fanatics, most of us hadn’t heard of Artest until he went into hyper-punch mode (he has a “chequered” history, if you pay attention). The fan(s) who threw the beer, of course are to blame. But to label fans as irresponsible is to label an entire creed that pays their salaries as irresponsible. Of course, there are bad apples but then to imagine all of them managed to buy tickets to a single game in Detroit is preposterous. Identify the fans and ban them from games – I have no problem but don’t give stupid explanations that it is ok for athletes to blow their top occasionally. They can do all throwing and kicking around in their own private locker room. Eat your pride and exercise restraint. You are getting paid (a lot) not only for your talent but also for being a role model to millions of kids. Throw a tantrum and they will think it is ok to do so too.

All said and done, I can’t wait to see another fight on the field. Call me demented, but it is entertaining.

by Patrix | on Tuesday, November 23rd, 2004 at 11:05 pm | Sports . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.