Monday, April 7, 2014

And the gloves are off

It's been a while since I've blogged, but I keep seeing trends that puzzle, concern and, I have to admit, somewhat amuse me. Now my rant.

I just read an article describing the all-out brawl that took place at a hockey game at Nassau Coliseum.
That itself is surely a common occurrence, in a sport which glorifies fighting (a topic meriting its own blog post). What was unusual about this particular brawl is that it was at a charity game between New York's greatest heroes, the police and fire department (I use the term heroes quite literally. I have massive gratitude and respect for the members of both these groups). NYPD won the game (they have more experience shooting), but not before a  fight taking several minutes took place.

Just explain something to me please.  When did it become acceptable in society for adults to fight in anger (as opposed to competitive fighting which I have no problem with).  I get it that in an intense moment during a game a temper may flare. It's unfortunate, but I can even relate to a hard check or tackle (depending on your sport) in the heat of the moment.  But please explain how, according to the article, "players from both teams grappled with each other for several minutes as the crowd roared their encouragement."

SEVERAL MINUTES?  CROWD ENCOURAGEMENT?  I'm sorry. 
Sometimes a kid wets his bed. I've never cheered for that.   Have you?  

Ok, so cops and firemen, while doing really, really valuable, important jobs are fallible. Imperfect. I can get over that. They embarrassed themselves and the city they represent. Reprehensible but not 'world ending'. How do you roar your approval for an adult having a tantrum?
Am I missing something?

And make no mistake, every child in that arena got a clear message: "if you're angry, go ahead and tantrum, go ahead and lose your self control, it's ok to quit acting civilized. We'll cheer for you.
We'll shout our encouragement.

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