As my first born moves into the more serious stages of athletics, I’m really starting to think about his psyche and his willingness to endure what sports offer. A recent CNN (yes, I do still stop by to peruse top stories, even if the organization is for shit) article reminded us of the ever-present culture of bullying in sports. My boys and I watched an outside the lines report about a coach who yelled and kicked and threw things at players. They were convinced the guy was a terrible coach, to which I responded, ‘he’s a typical coach.’ Anger has played such a large role in the coaching I’ve seen over the years that it feels ubiquitous to every sport. In fact, i’ve come to expect it and as a result want to know that my kid is ready.
The coaches my kid have don’t scream. He has one of the best tackle football coaches I’ve encountered up close in terms of motivation and management. The youth coaches he’s dealt with were largely nice or me. Imagine the shock he’ll feel walking into a locker room where a coach builds team unity by becoming the common enemy.
The real question is, why is bullying so endemic to sports? I think they may be one in the same. Te whole idea of sport is to establish physical and psychological dominance over another being. The whole idea of bullying is the same thing. Sports however are a far better way to exorcize this particular human proclivity.
Some Thoughts:
- Sometimes I throw out allegations and they take a long time to start panning out or don’t pan out at all. Finding out that the gun used in the recently politicized killing belonged to a government agent only adds to the lure of the thing.