A Hard-Hitting Read: Violence in Sports | Avenue Magazine http://www.avenuecalgary.com/articles/a-hardhitting-read-viole...
A Hard-Hitting Read: Violence in Sports A Calgary sociology professor’s new book examines the violent side of professional sports.
University of Calgary sociology professor Kevin Young tackles the complex issue of sport-related violence in his new book. Photo courtesy Getty Images.
Sports have always been hard-hitting and competitive, but these days it seems like things are taking a turn for the worse. Take professional hockey, for example, which has seen the deaths of NHL enforcers Derek Boogaard, Wade Belak and Rick Rypien, Sidney Crosby’s ongoing concussion woes and criminal charges pressed against player Todd Bertuzzi for his career-ending hit on Steve Moore. In his eighth book, Sport, Violence and Society, University of Calgary sociology professor Kevin Young tackles the complex issue of sport-related violence, in and out of the arenas and other fields of play. We caught up with Young and hit him with some questions of our own.
Can you provide a sociological perspective for the role of the NHL enforcer?
“There’s the uniqueness of that sport in allowing fist fighting to take place, which is not protected directly by the rules, but is protected and prized within the subculture of the game. There is the debate in the courts about how forms of violence and physical brutality in sport should be [dealt with] by the authorities. There are also questions of health — in hyper-macho and masculine environments, men’s health issues have always been underplayed.”
How do you explain the difference between the “culture of sport” versus the criminality of the actions that are taking place?
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“Canadians are wrestling more and more with the rights and wrongs of risk in sports. For instance, while every hockey player or rugby player, male or female, understands they consent to a level of violence done to or against them, they don’t consent to lose an eye, or be paralyzed or live a life of emotional trauma after retirement.”
What role does the media play?
“If we use the easy target of [hockey commentator] Don Cherry, what’s interesting is how someone of his status has been given the opportunity and the stage, in Canada’s publicly funded television programming, to offer extremely narrow and potentially dangerous attitudes toward risk and safety. Another example would be how our local papers, on the one hand, deplore and criticize the likes of a Todd Bertuzzi for smashing Steve Moore’s face on the ice but, on the same day, those same outlets run pictures of fist fighting in the same league.”
What do you predict for the future of violence in sports?
“Whether [sports-related violence] is right or wrong, the law of the land will control and intervene more and more.”
Sport, Violence and Society (Routledge Press) is available at the University of Calgary Bookstore, Amazon.ca or through RoutledgePress.com.
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