Boxing's Free Pass
Sylvester Stallone just got an Oscar nomination for his new movie Creed, which I mention purely as an introduction for a rather unusual column, because it's not that often I write about sports. Politics, of course, borrows tons of metaphors from the sporting world, but that's about the extent of my usual commentary on the subject. Also, I'd like to make it clear from the beginning that it's impossible for me to either praise or pan the new Rocky movie, since I have not yet seen it. I probably won't see it -- I think the last Rocky movie I paid money to see was the second one. So this is not a personal attack on either Sly or his movie.
Having said all of that, I've been thinking about commenting on boxing for a while now. Mostly because of the subject of another movie that just came out -- Concussion. This film (again, which I have not yet seen) chronicles the attempt by one doctor to diagnose a major medical crisis in the world of football. Football players' brains are subject to a lot of abuse, which results in them deteriorating in ways normally seen only in the elderly. The subject has been a hot one in the world of sports and in the NFL in particular. Football has even changed many of its rules in an attempt to alleviate the problem somewhat. There's a big argument over whether these changes go far enough, but I leave that debate for others more knowledgeable about what is going on.
Instead, my reaction to the debate over football and concussions is a simple one: Why does boxing get a free pass? Even soccer is now telling young players to avoid "heading" the ball too much, and yet the sport where inflicting brain damage is one of the ways to victory gets an absolute free pass.
This is somewhat confusing to me, especially since virtually every time you hear about boxing in the news, the storyline is similar: A boxing training facility is opened by a do-gooder [usually a philanthropist, or an ex-boxer] to give kids at risk of joining gangs or dealing drugs a better chance in life -- a chance to do something positive with themselves. These stories almost always happen in inner-city neighborhoods which are overwhelmingly populated by minorities. Always, this is seen as a good thing, giving youth a chance to avoid a much grimmer fate and "build character" instead. This is the same storyline as many boxing movies as well (although, I must admit, I don't watch a whole lot of sports movies myself, so I'm just going on what I see in ads).
Why is this seen as a positive thing? Why does boxing fall outside the area of concern over concussions in sports? I have no answer to those questions. Boxing, at heart, is the attempt to cause a concussion in the ring. That's the whole point, really. Knocking someone's lights out, ringing their bell, knocking them for a loop -- the metaphors are endless, but they all describe the same thing. Causing unconsciousness for ten seconds in an opponent wins the bout. In fact, it's the highest achievement of the sport.
Boxing fans always dress the sport up in rather noble terms, calling it an "art" (as in "the manly art of self-defense"). Boxing is one of the oldest sports known to man (together with wrestling and foot racing), because it is a sport that in its original form required absolutely no equipment other than the human body. It's one of the few sports that is not only in the modern Olympics but was also in the ancient Greek Olympics as well. It has a long history, in other words, but that shouldn't mean it should go on forever.
The moral arc of history in sports has been bending (at least recently) towards safety. This process has been going on for quite some time (just look at an old-time photo of football players to see the radical changes in equipment since then). Athletes shouldn't kill themselves for our pleasure and amusement, to put it bluntly. The problem is some football fans feel that the recent anti-concussion rules changes are changing some of the essential nature of the game. You hear this all the time from retired players who now announce the games, as: "Boy, back in my day, that hit wouldn't have been penalized!" But football at least can change somewhat to make it safer for the players. Roughing the passer, roughing the kicker, helmet-to-helmet tackles, hitting defenseless receivers -- all have been made taboo in order to protect the players on the field from serious injury. Has the essence of the game changed too much, or does it need to change even further? Again, I'll leave that debate to others. My point is at least football -- a game with a thick book of rules -- has the ability to change while still remaining, at heart, "football."
The problem with boxing -- and why it gets a free pass, most likely -- is that it just can't do the same thing. The only way to remove the prospect of serious brain injury through repeated concussions in boxing would be to make "above the neck" the same as "below the belt" -- an absolutely forbidden zone for punches. Watching two guys (or, these days, gals) beat each other about the torso for three-minute rounds just wouldn't quite be the same sport. There would be no possibility of a knockout, which (as I mentioned earlier) is kind of the whole point to boxing.
Boxing has a long history, but boxers in retirement are usually pretty sad characters -- some barely even able to construct a complete sentence. All those repeated blows to the head add up, and their cumulative effect must be just as bad -- and likely much worse -- than the deterioration of football players' brains that is getting all the attention these days. But there simply is no way to make boxing "safe" and still allow punches to the head. Again, concussions are so ingrained in what boxing is supposed to be all about that you'd have to almost rename the sport if you disallowed them.
Sooner or later, others will make the same connection between making football and soccer safer by attempting to protect athletes from concussions and how we all just ignore the same thing when it happens in a boxing ring. Sooner or later, the applied violence of boxing is going to get the scrutiny it deserves. Perhaps this will start with those news stories -- if any journalist asks the simple question: "Is training inner-city youth to become boxers really giving them a better future, or not?"
I don't mean to be a killjoy for boxing fans, but the way the public is moving away from concussions in sports must surely eventually lead to boxing "going down for the count" in civilized society. One of these days a man beating another into senselessness is going to be deemed completely unacceptable, and in no way a "sport." It may not happen for a while -- especially seeing as how, so far, boxing is still seen as a noble pursuit (at least for inner-city kids) -- but sooner or later boxing is going to be classified with dog fighting, cock fighting, and bull fighting. Society once accepted those as legal sports, but then times changed, and now they are nothing more than crimes (at least in this country). My long-term prediction is that one day underground boxing will be seen in the same light by the public at large -- nothing more than unacceptable assault and battery, made even worse because it happens for profit and wagering. Because while football (and other sports) have the ability to change the rules to avoid concussions, boxing doesn't have that option. Concussions are, after all, the most desired result in the boxing ring. So far, we have been able to somehow ignore this, but my guess is we won't be able to forever.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
Again, I'll leave that debate to others. My point is at least football -- a game with a thick book of rules -- has the ability to change while still remaining, at heart, "football."
There are those who would argue that...
Take away all contact from football and what do you have??
Soccer..
I don't mean to be a killjoy for boxing fans,
Gonna go out on a limb here and say I honestly doubt there are ANY Weigantians that are boxing fans.. :D
but sooner or later boxing is going to be classified with dog fighting, cock fighting, and bull fighting. Society once accepted those as legal sports, but then times changed, and now they are nothing more than crimes (at least in this country). My long-term prediction is that one day underground boxing will be seen in the same light by the public at large -- nothing more than unacceptable assault and battery, made even worse because it happens for profit and wagering.
The solution is simple...
Robot fighters... :D Ever see REAL STEEL?? You really should, if you haven't.. Great Hugh Jackman flick...
Michale
Gonna go out on a limb here and say I honestly doubt there are ANY Weigantians that are boxing fans.. :D
Indeed.
Scientists say that 2015 was, by far, the hottest year in recorded history.
And, with Trumps new friend on the prowl on the campaign trail, 2016 can't help but be hotter yet.
IF you know what I mean ...
As the British Medical Association sees it:
"Gloves are designed to protect the fists of the wearer and do nothing to prevent brain injury unless they are so large as to be unwieldy. Indeed, the bare fist prize fighters of the past were able to sustain very long matches because the force of the punches was less than in modern times."
Old timey bare knuckle matches were fights to exhaustion, which could take 75 rounds or more. That's a long time for a paying audience to sit through. Modern rules were designed to make bouts short by making knockouts likely - more or less fighting to concussion or to a fixed number of rounds (12 take about an hr.) The very high risk of concussion is a commercial decision on the part of promoters. Get a lot of asses in the seats and get 'em out of the seats quickly.
Ah, that would be Trump's new friend, of course.
M-1
Take away the helmets and armor from football and you get back to rugby, which is a full contact sport that is fun to watch and a lot safer to play.
Liz - 3
Broke the previous record by the largest margin.
Scientists say that 2015 was, by far, the hottest year in recorded history.
Yea.. by a factor of .oooo3 of a degree... Hardly "by far"..
Of course, those scientists had to ignore a whole slew of data that proved they were wrong..
But hay.. All's fair in the name of the Global Warming con... :D
Michale
?Take away the helmets and armor from football and you get back to rugby, which is a full contact sport that is fun to watch and a lot safer to play
But being "full contact" it's still "dangerous"...
So it's still a no go with the namby pamby snowflake Left Wingery...
Michale
Gonna go out on a limb here and say I honestly doubt there are ANY Weigantians that are boxing fans.. :D
Indeed.
heh
:D
Michale
And, with Trumps new friend on the prowl on the campaign trail, 2016 can't help but be hotter yet.
Ya caught that, eh?? :D
I am laughing my ass off about that.. :D
Looks like the GOP establishment is finally coalescing around Trump...
Who called it!??? :D
Michale
Liz -3
The previous record holder being last year! Comparable records going back to 1880.
But, as always when Palin is mentioned, I have to give credit where credit is due..
Bashi called it many many years ago when he said for the record, that Palin had achieved the highest political office she was every going to achieve... :D
Michale
The previous record holder being last year! Comparable records going back to 1880.
ONLY the records that support the agenda...
The records that don't support the agenda are ignored...
Funny how that always is, eh?? :D
So much for "science"....
Michale
Global WARMING
I am sitting in front of my computer and it's 48 degrees..
Global WARMING my left arse cheek!!
Michale
M-1
"Robot fighters... :D Ever see REAL STEEL?? You really should, if you haven't.. Great Hugh Jackman flick..."
You are probably old enough to remember Rock'em Sock'em Robots. Great rec room fun, but my Blue Robot had a softer jaw than the Red.
You are probably old enough to remember Rock'em Sock'em Robots.
I am indeed.. :D
Great rec room fun, but my Blue Robot had a softer jaw than the Red.
probably because yer opponent slipped a little bit of sewing machine oil into the gears... :D heh
Michale
Looks like the GOP establishment is finally coalescing around Trump...
Who called it!??? :D
Donors changing tune on Trump
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/266389-donors-changing-their-tune-on-donald-trump
Looks like the Democrat Party candidate is going to face a well funded and United Republican Party...
Woot!!! :D We gonna have a battle!!!! :D
Michale
Hillary’s EmailGate Goes Nuclear
Does the latest release of Hillary’s State Department emails include highly classified U.S. intelligence?
http://observer.com/2016/01/hillarys-emailgate-goes-nuclear/
The absolute WORST thing that can happen to the Democrat Party is that Hillary wins the primary...
Michale
MIchale, you must be on fire! 48 degrees!! Whoosh!
Oh, wait ...
M-10,16
since when is 0.3 written o.oooo3?
The 2015 avg. is 0.3 F higher than 2014. Apparently what's getting ignored is decimal places, by you!
TS,
I was being facetious...
Every since NOAA and NASA crowed and crowed about the Sat Temp system they were putting in orbit, how hyper accurate it was going to be and how it would prove once and for all the temp record...
And then, when the system came online, NOAA and NASA ignored that science because it didn't support their Global Warming con....
Every since then, I ignore anything coming out of NOAA and NASA...
When it comes to their con, they are nothing more than propaganda mouthpieces...
Once we swear in President Trump, those organizations will be relegated to the dust bin of history, insofar as their Global Warming con goes..
And good riddance...
Michale
To put simply...
Belief in the global warming con is no different than the belief in god, santa claus, the easter bunny and the belief that the earth is flat...
It's really that simple...
Michale
Michale [1] -
Every so often you surprise me. You do indeed have the answer: Rock-Em, Sock-Em Robots!
Heh.
TheStig [6] -
That is an interesting angle, and one I hadn't considered.
TheStig [8] -
Well, I'd argue "rugby with the forward pass"... but you do indeed have a point. Interestingly, international rugby players have adopted one piece of protective gear: the same leather-style football "helmets" (they were really just headcoverings) as old-time football. It's to prevent cauliflower ear, more than to protect the head.
Michale [11] -
YEah, it's still dangerous. Remember the old bumpersticker slogan: "Give blood -- play rugby"?
Michale [13] -
You can call Palin lots of things (and many do) but being part of the GOP establishment just ain't one of them...
TheStig [18] -
Ah! Great minds think alike! I never had one, but my friend did and we had lots of fun with them...
Michale [20] -
Oh, OK, that's a better cite than Palin... heh...
LizM [22] -
Heh. Dunno how many other people will get that Canuck, "we use the same system as the rest of the world" humor, though.
I learned an easy way to convert, living in Europe. You just have to remember the ratio 5/9 and the fact that -40 is the same in both.
48 + 40 = 88
88 / 5 = 17.6
17.6 * 9 = 158.4
158.4 - 40 = 118.4
Wow! You're right! Michale is roasting in the middle of the Mojave!
:-)
Michale [25] -
Got beachfront property in Florida? Well, just wait a few years, you will...
Heh.
-CW
Got beachfront property in Florida? Well, just wait a few years, you will...
Yea, they have been saying that for 20 years..
Just like they have been saying that the Arctic would be Ice Free by now...
Like children of this generation wouldn't know what snow is..
And so on and so on and so on..
I would be a LOT more sympathetic to the Global Warming if they weren't such blatant fear-mongerers and actually had ONE prediction or model that was ACTUALLY accurate...
But they don't so I'm not... :D
Wow! You're right! Michale is roasting in the middle of the Mojave!
Funny you should say that.. I actually LIVED in the middle of Mojave! :D
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0408913,-118.1753055,13.75z
Michale
You can call Palin lots of things (and many do) but being part of the GOP establishment just ain't one of them...
Trump and Palin are slowly BECOMING the Republican "Establishment" :D
Michale
You DO realize that, when Trump wins in November, I am going to be insufferable, right?? :D
Michale
"And, then ... ?"
M-29
No need to wait 'till Nov, you already insufferable.
M & CW-
It's nice to know the Rockum Sockum Robots are remembered so fondly. That got me to thinking about 3 other vintage toys of my childhood.
The Bull Dog Tank: A green, battery powered, very low geared, rubber tread monster that could climb a 45% slope at a speed of about 4" a second. It fired plastic shells and ejected brass casings, all of which were lost in about 10 minutes. This tank extended the useful life of your preschool wooden blocks, which made good rubble for the tank to climb.
Plastic Bricks: Sort of like loose Lego, they only built realistic looking brick houses with working windows and doors. Plastic army men could take cover in them, and the buildings could be realistically rubbled using rubber bands and marbles as "artillery." This would probably be frowned upon today. Nice synergy with the Bull Dog Tank.
Water Rockets. A a blue and red plastic rocket, a plastic air pump, and plastic funnel to get water "fuel" into the rocket. If you pumped until you could pump no more, the rocket would go straight up 100 kid feet, which in real units is somewhat higher than a two story house. Water rockets made good "bazookas" for attacking tree houses. If Google Earth had been around when I was a kid, satellite images would have shown nearly every house in my neighborhood had water rockets and Frisbees stranded on the roof. Little known fact: a water rocket fired with its nose just barely beneath the surface of a swimming pool goes twice as high! The physics of this phenomenon are still poorly understood, but it probably has something to do with the water confining the pressure wave from the escaping water fuel.
"And, then ... ?"
No need to wait 'till Nov, you already insufferable.
Ouch!
"And the ref takes a point away!!"
-Jim Carrey, LIAR LIAR
heh
Michale
"And, then ... ?"
And then... Imagine the bat shit crazy hysterics that will eminate from the Left Wingery about President Trump.. :D
Trump Derangement Syndrome will make Obama Derangement Syndrome seem logical and rational by comparison!!
It's going to be fun to see the Left Wingery's heads explode on a DAILY basis!! :D
Michale
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/01/20/blizzard-watch-severe-snowstorm-likely-friday-through-sunday/
Nothing to worry about..
Global Warming is in play.. Children will never even know what snow is!!
It is to laugh... :D
Michale
Cough Cough.....EXXON....Cough Cough.....
Maybe the point isn't to inflict brain damage. Maybe the point is to inflict enough injury to render the opponent unconscious.
There's a way to test this premise: add swords. Swords can be designed with cross-pieces so that they only make shallow cuts, and protective gear can be designed so that nothing vital gets even a shallow cut. Once a fighter collapses from blood loss and is unable to stand for a count of ten, they could be given a transfusion. Fans could be encouraged to give blood, so that the whole activity would be a net benefit to the medical system.
Barbaric? Sure. Less so than boxing, though.
dsws,
I bet yer a blast at parties!! :D
Michale