Violent Athletes Essay -- Essays Papers

Violent Athletes When Indiana Pacer, Ron Artest, charged into the stands with forty-five seconds remaining in a NBA game, last November, between the Pacers and the Detroit Pistons, the shock waves reverberated immediately. Video clips showed Artest pummeling Pistons fans with his fists. Replays also revealed that it was fans, throwing a cup of beer at Artest, which sent the NBA superstar on his rampage. It was one of the ugliest incidents ever seen in American professional sports. Sports fans and non-sports fans alike witnessed the chaotic outbreak of violence from the serenity of their own living rooms. NBA junkies saw the scene unfold during the game's live broadcast on cable TV. Sports fans caught highlights of the melee on ESPN's SportsCenter. American housewives experienced the outrage as they watched their local ten o'clock evening news. For weeks this basketball brawl was not only headlines news on sports pages but it also became the focus of mainstream American debate. Everyone had an opinion on who was to blame: It was the players' who began the brawl on the court and then took it into the stands. It was the fans who provoked multimillionaire athletes into anger by throwing debris down on them. It was the Palace at Auburn Hills' security who failed to bring the situation under control. It was the NBA for encouraging such thuggish behavior from its players and then allowing their violence to take place on live TV. Opinion makers from all perspectives weighed in on the issue. Newspaper columnists and TV talking heads kept the brawl in the national spotlight. Some condemned the incident; some excused it, and some just wondered what all the fuss was over. In the end five Pacers players and seven Pistons fans were charged... ...at they agree on. Or at least one that they are not so strongly divided over. Hopefully this will help strengthen the debate both in the media and outside of it, as American's try to figure out if athletes really are good role models for our youth. Works Cited BasketBrawl.US. http://www.basketbrawl.us. Limbaugh, Rush. "Time for NBA to Stop Pretending." 8 December 2004. http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/estack/time_for_nba_to_stop_pretending.guest.html Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Penguin Books, New York: 1986. Simpson, Carole. "Where Are the Role Models?" ABC NEWS. 28 November 2004. http://search.abcnews.go.com/US/id=2800796. Accessed: 10 March 2005. Traudt, Paul J. Media, Audiences, Effects: An Introduction to the study of media content and audience analysis. Pearson Education Inc.: 2005.