Violence in Sports

Not Again, and not THIS guy

Normally, I brush off the drama surrounding professional athletes because it becomes redundant.

Steroids in baseball is tiresome. I don't care whose jersey is crumpled up next to Madonna's bed. Another DUI? Another ungrateful athlete.

This story is another tick in a timeline that is growing too long.

Last night, Carl Landry was shot in the leg after an apparent car accident. This is another unfortunate incident in a string of violence in professional sports. Landry is the second Houston athlete attacked at or near his home in the last two years.

Houston's professional sports teams have always had one thing in common: they value the character of their players. Landry and Dunta Robinson, mentioned in the second link, fit the mold of upstanding Houston athletes.

These guys don't illegally tote guns around or ignore league drug policies. They aren't surrounded by constant allegations of impropriety and they're not pariahs in the locker room. The only attention these players bring to themselves is the appreciation of their coaches and the admiration of their fans. These guys didn't deserve what happened to them.

Violence and the pro athlete

I've railed against the astronomical salaries and the trite things about which pro athletes complain. The inequity of someone making millions of dollars to play a sport and the modest salaries of our teachers, police officers and other public servants grows more disparate with every draft and free agency.

We can battle the numbers another time. Right now, the violence has to stop. I think professional players associations and the NBA, NFL and MLB security consultants need to address this issue directly, openly and immediately. Violence in sports is too broad to address as a whole, but the leagues need to start somewhere.

I don't favor coddling professional athletes, I think a lot of them get too much special treatment throughout their careers as it is. But in this case, I'm tired of the violence. I don't want to explain to my kids that their favorite player was shot, or bound and robbed, or was stabbed in the head by his girlfriend at a time when kids should enjoy seeing these guys as larger than life.


We can't escape if they can't

You know, the Houston Texans sent a copy of every game of the 2004 season to my Marine unit in Iraq. Watching those games let us feel like we weren't in a war zone for a little while. Sports should be that kind of escape for fans here as well and it should not be adulterated by attacks on or by professional athletes.

This subject doesn't rank among the likes of the economic crisis, the environment or the continuing war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe that's why we get these syncopated updates about pro athletes as victims of violence. Regardless about the moral weight of the issue, someone needs to be a loud, responsible voice.


Hard to spot the roots

I don't know if this violence is a result of the culture of professional sports, if these athletes made poor choices which resulted in dire effects, or if the victims succumbed to societal forces beyond their contemplation. It's time for some examination of self, league policy and the relationship of pro sports to their fans.

I don't have the answers. This isn't an academic evaluation of the individual and society. I'm just a voice saying we need look at whats going on here.

Whether it's Carl or Plaxico, a series of poor choices or bad guys seeing the stars as easy victims, these things shouldn't happen.

Get better Carl.