Violence and aggression really come to the fore when talking about contact sports that are played all over the world. Examples might include the devastating and demoralizing hits in football, the elbows in basketball and soccer, and the incidental shoves in hockey to gain possession of the puck. There are many different levels and degrees of violence in sports, and as the danger increases at each level, the player’s health and well-being are at greater risk. According to Mike Smith, a respected Canadian sports sociologist, he concludes that there are four categories that identify violence in sports.
The first level of violence is brutal bodily contact, which includes physical practices common in certain sports such as foot ball and soccer that all athletes accept as part of the sport in which they compete. Examples could be tackles in football and soccer, and body checks in hockey. These strikes carry great force and sometimes consequences, but this is what these athletes are paid for and are expected to do persistently. The second level of violence is borderline violence, which includes practices that violate the rules of the game but are accepted by most players because they are part of competitive strategies; this is also known as “mind games”. Examples of this could be the back brush in baseball, the fist fight in hockey, and the little elbow or shove while playing football to scare the opponent, to instill that level of fear. The third level of violence is Quasi-criminal violence, which includes practices that violate the formal rules of the game and can lead to suspensions for being contrary to the norm of that sport. Examples of this could include low kicks, late hits, punches, and flagrant fouls that could harm the athlete. The last level of violence is criminal violence, which includes practices outside the law to the point that athletes condemn them without question.
Examples of this could be premeditated assaults during a game to seriously injure another player, such as a hockey player using his stick as a weapon, or baseball pitchers intentionally throwing at batters, particularly in the head and neck region . These four reasons are very interesting because athletes and analysts break down the fact of violence in sport to explain certain types of situations that can occur. I used to see violence as one thing, causing harm to a person even if it was unintentional, but these four reasons help people, especially athletes like me, to understand the seriousness of certain violence and how it is accepted in the world of sport. sport. .
There are factors and characteristics of a crowd at a sports outing that provoke violence, animosity, and enmity regardless of the sport. There are nine known characteristics that can lead to this level of “hate” from viewers as they watch and experience the game:
1. The size of the crowd and the standing or sitting patterns of the spectators.
2. Composition of the crowd in terms of age, gender, social class, and racial/ethnic mix.
3. Importance and meaning of the event for the spectators.
4. History of the relationship between the teams and between the spectators.
5. Crowd control strategies used at the event (police, attack dogs, surveillance cameras, or other security measures).
6. Consumption of alcohol by spectators.
7. Location of the event (neutral or local place of one of the opponents).
8. Viewers’ reasons for attending the event and what they want to see happen at the event.
9. Importance of the team as a source of identity for viewers (female, ethnic or national, regional or local identity, club or gang).
It’s easy to think of some of these factors as the reasons why people fight as spectators, but the other factors included in this list were new to me and helped open many more doors of knowledge. These give you insight into the thoughts and actions of viewers and why some people do stupid things based on the many influences that surround them at every sporting event.
After doing some research and reading about violence in sport, my perceptions or misconceptions haven’t really changed; the findings really helped reinforce my ideas and beliefs on this particular topic and set in stone what i think and what analysts and practitioners believe as well. He believed that some violence was allowed and believed to be the “norm” in sports, while other violence crossed that invisible line that athletes should never perform. The four parts of violence and the way the Canadian sociologist broke them down really helped reaffirm my ideas and beliefs about violence in sport and helped me prove the facts that many people are wondering about. The use of violence such as intimidation in non-contact sports can also have a huge impact on certain athletes. Examples like tennis players hitting their rackets, abusing the tennis ball, yelling at referees to show a side of violence through words and actions to instill fear in their opponents without even making physical contact with them. Athletes use words, thoughts of violence to fuel their drive to be the best in their sport, no matter if it’s non-contact or contact. They want to be the best and they won’t let anything get in the way of that dream and create an obstacle.