Your thoughtful reactions to football/boxing protests

Gregory Smith

I suspect you will hear positive and negative feedback from today's article, but I for one appreciate your courage in writing it. Hopefully, it will give some of us pause as we go into another football season to yell, "Kill" or "Sack the quarterback!" or before we encourage our young men to participate in such sports.

Ms. Moore,

I just read your article in the SunLife section of today's newspaper.  I agree with you, and more.

I have been disgusted by violent sports since I was a teenager.  I witnessed an athlete from my high school get severely and permanently injured during a football game, after he had previously suffered two similar injuries in prior games (yes, they kept playing him after he had already been injured).  It sickened me to see him on the field with his body jerking uncontrollably.  He was a junior at the time.  That was 43 years ago and the image is still clear in my mind.

I think the interest in blood lust sports is a masculine thing.  There are plenty of athletic contests out there that don't require beating the other participants up in order to win, but for some reason football and boxing pull BIG money out of the fan base.  Money is the bottom line.

There are other violent sports that don't get as much attention for their cruelty, but the inhumanity of them is beyond the pale.  Rodeo, horse racing and all forms of horse competitions, dog fighting, cock fighting, bull fighting, etc.  These are all extremely cruel forms of entertainment where the whole intent is to entertain people who may think and believe these activities are normal to the animals' behavior.

I don't think the cruel, violent, inhumane sports will stop until people like you lead the outcry against them.  As more and more people join the outcry, there will eventually come a tipping point where its totally uncool to support the violence.  Changing the public attitude towards violent sports would be similar to how it used to be cool to smoke cigarettes and now it's not, or it used to be okay to refer to people of color using racist language and now it's not.

Your article was a brave first step.

-- 

Dolores DeMers

575-496-5342 mobile

Hello,  

I just finished your column in today's paper, and contrary to my habits, wanted to reach out and thank you so much for having the courage to speak truth to power about the negative and senseless acceptance, if not glorification of violence inherent in football and boxing.

All the best,

Neal

Neal Bowen neal.bowen@icloud.com

Flo Hosa Dougherty

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Yesterday, 8:59 AM

Derrickson Moore, Sandra

Dear Derrickson,

In reference to your comment on violent sports:

For a long time I have referred to contact sports more aptly as COMBAT SPORTS as you proved ! 

Flo Hosa Dougherty      

Chickie Ferguson

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Today, 9:04 AM

Derrickson Moore, Sandra

Congratulations to you for writing  “TIME TO TAKE A FRESH LOOK AT VIOLENT SPORTS”……………….

Know you will have folks who disagree with you, but more and more, I think people are taking an honest look at this subject.

Last night, the Notre Dame vs UT game was a perfect example of how brutal football games are becoming.  And these are our young men, who are NOT getting paid BIG bucks, and having their young lives messed up before they even reach the “golden years”.   This was the first game of the season, and it involved bad sportsmanship during the game and a list of injuries.

I always enjoy your column.  Keep writing!

Marie Ferguson

A Las Cruces Sun subscriber and an ex-employee of  The Sun newspaper (in San Bernardino, CA)

      Kay L Lincoln

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Today, 3:03 PM

Derrickson Moore, Sandra

I just wanted to thank you for your Las Cruces Style column of Sunday, Sept. 4th about taking a fresh look at violent sports.  It is so counter to our so-called social norms that I suspect it may not win you any popularity votes. 

But I am so relieved that you gave voice to some deep feelings I have about sports.  I was beginning to think I was “weird” for thinking modern sports seem to be just a continuation of the gladiator fight to the death or the lions eating the Christians in the Roman Forum (which we consider and label barbaric). 

The only sport I have enjoyed watching is baseball because of the cooperative strategy and skill it requires.  However, I get no pleasure now because of the millions of dollars that get invested in baseball salaries and the enormous stadiums, not to mention the violent reactions fans have that result in injury and possible death to fans of opposing teams.  Even in the seemingly less violent sport of baseball, players endure irreparable damage to their bodies and will undergo numerous reparative surgeries in order to keep playing as long as they possibly can and we certainly want them to.

In the more violent sports you mention, football and boxing, there is even more spillover of violence and even more bodily damage to players. 

Instead of modeling the cooperative, collaborative nature of indigenous societies, we are perpetuating the competitive, victory/defeat society of the Roman Forum.   

And to think of all those millions we spend on our lust for competition, victory or defeat, and violence in sports, and how much could be done toward humanitarian needs if we spent that money on meeting those needs!  Yes, we should be ashamed of ourselves. 

In gratitude,
KLL