Spartan Daily

Sports and violence: old acquaintances, not new

Spartan Daily

As I typed this last night, I was getting ready to attend to a live
sporting event. The San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings
preseason game, to be exact.

It's business, getting a season preview for the local National
Hockey League team, but I don't mind getting a taste of my
childhood, watching the old hometown Kings take on the
Sharks.

It would normally be `Let's get everything done and head for the
hockey game,' except there were other things on my mind.

One thing that stood out: I was attending an event in the wake of a
terrorist attack -no, act of war – on this country's soil.

Another reminder is the fact the Kings were affected by the attacks.
They lost two scouts in one of the planes that hit the World Trade
Center.

Maybe I should be scared. Maybe I should wonder if it is right for
sports to resume, whether it is safe.

I knew it never was. Before I decided on journalism, I wanted to go
into federal service. I read about and studied topics about
espionage, terrorism and the like.

Numerous articles I read had said the U.S. was totally unprepared
for terrorism. How easy it was for anyone to hijack a plane or attack
a target in the country. How the nation's defense was more
preoccupied with the notion of being attacked by missiles, not
terrorists.

And I knew that sports venues were easy and attracting prey, with
plenty of people, very important people, and a landmark venue to
boot.

Listening to sports radio and reading articles lately, it's almost
fascinating to hear fans and athletes voice the fear that's burst
their bubble of invincibility.

I know that sounds bad, but from a scholarly standpoint, that's how
it is.

The fact is, these two subjects, terrorism and sports, are nothing
new. Terrorism and sports has happened before, in fiction and in
real life.

In the book, "Rainbow Six," author Tom Clancy used the 2000
Olympics as a target for terrorists using a biological weapon.

In the 1970s film, "Black Sunday," terrorists plotted to pilot a blimp
into the Super Bowl and explode it, killing tens of thousands of
fans in attendance.

In real life, the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta were temporarily halted by
a bomb blast. Two were killed and more than a hundred people
were injured.

And people must have forgotten about the 1972 Olympics in
Munich, where 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian
terrorists.

But the kicker is this: the games went on. Organizers, athletes and
fans were determined to keep on playing, even with the
unease.

Another truth: think of how many sporting events have gone
scot-free.

Thousands of games have gone on without an assault.

Even in Europe, South America and in the Middle East, soccer
games are held in the midst of unrest. They are played under
heavy security, of course, but the games are played.

More often, it's fans that start rioting that's more of a concern than
mad bombers.

And in America, rioting fans after championship games or
controversial games has always been a safety threat. People have
been killed and injured, and millions of dollars in property damage
has occurred.

Incidents go as far back as 1955, when Montreal hockey fans
rioted after their star player, Maurice "Rocket" Richard, was
suspended for the season.

Yes, there's now an increased chance of an attack on a sports
team or venue. Now there's increased security, making the whole
scene uneasy.

But the fact is, that was always a possibility. Now it's real. As long
as there are deranged people on this planet, it's a fact we'll have
to deal with.

But there aren't enough of them to go after every ball game. That's
one small, but important solace.

Another thing that's been going through my mind is a bit of a
stretch, yet I can feel something ironic about it.

The Romans, I've read, used the gladiator contests not only for
entertainment for the masses and a distraction from the usual
dregs of ancient life, but as a teaching tool to its people.

What went on in the arena was the struggle between life and
death, a useful educational tool to condition the crowds to the
horrors of savage conflict.

Rome was a militaristic society. The gladiator contests were the
center of its philosophies.

And Roman soldiers, like the gladiators, slaves and prisoners
fighting for their lives in the arenas, often engaged in one-on-one
combat during battlefield melees.

I won't see the Sharks' Owen Nolan decapitate someone with his
hockey stick, let alone see someone's innards spilled by a stab,
but perhaps the arena I'm headed to reflects America's society, a
place of business and aggression, of obtaining winning records
and team play.

Here, after a bad call, a horrifying incident, America returns to
business, and goes toward its goals of winning with aggressive,
but well-coordinated team play.

The goal of getting our lives back to normal.

The goal of winning the new conflict.

The goal of our nation to continue holding the winning hand in the
high-stakes global poker game our country has been involved in,
whether we like it or not.

Let the games resume.

D.S. Perez is the Spartan Daily Sports Editor.
"A View
From the Box," appears every three weeks.