Jewish World Review Dec. 2, 2004 / 19 Kislev, 5765

Robert Robb

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Sportsmanship? What's that?


http://www.jewishworldreview.com | Given the oversized role of sports in American culture, the Indiana Pacers-Detroit Pistons brawl was bound to become a national Rorschach test. This disproportionate absorption of the nation's time and resources is sometimes justified by the assertion that sports develop character.


In some youth leagues, that's probably still the case, where there is a coach who tries to make it so and a critical mass of parents who refrain from acting as their child's manager or agent.


But, interestingly, the character-building attribute of sports seems to dissipate as the skill level progresses.


While there are many admirable professional and college athletes, it would be hard to make the case that, as a class, they exhibit superior character. An alternative rationale is that sports reveal character. But even this seems increasingly doubtful.


I suspect that boorish fans and athletes actually tend to behave better outside of sports than when watching or participating in them.


Sports have become, to a remarkable degree, a release for anti-social behavior, particularly for young males. Spectators and athletes alike tend to indulge in and rationalize behavior that, outside of sports, they would recognize as reprehensible.


In the wake of the Pacers-Pistons melee, NBA Commissioner David Stern said he would try to enforce a higher standard of conduct among players and forge a new social compact with fans.


That's an admirable endeavor. But it will have to overcome the phenomenon Daniel Patrick Moynihan identified in a 1993 essay as "defining deviancy down."


Moynihan's thesis was that a social organization could regulate only so much deviation from behavioral norms. If deviancy began to exceed that capacity, the organization would change the standard, accepting behavior previously found objectionable.

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Moynihan was referring to the acceptance of levels of criminal violence that in previous eras would have been shocking — much more serious stuff than sports. But his observation helps explain what's been happening in sports, on the field and in the stands.


Profane language has always been part of sports. But relatively private expression has become a public cheer, as crowds frequently respond to what they perceive as poor officiating with a unison chant of "bull____!"


Booing is now regarded as a fan prerogative. But what moral or ethical standard deems booing an appropriate way to show disappointment in your team's performance or contempt for the other team? For that matter, what moral or ethical standard approves showing contempt for the opposition in an athletic contest in the first place?


It used to be the norm in basketball that if you knocked someone down, you helped him back up and asked whether he was OK. Now that's regarded as weakness.


That minor erosion of sportsmanship transgresses rather easily into trash-talking, taunting and in-your-face celebrations.


I doubt that there's a scintilla of evidence that a callous disregard or contempt for your opponent enhances athletic performance. Yet it has become the norm.


Flopping — deceiving an official into believing that a foul has been committed when it hasn't — is now a valued basketball skill and actually taught.


Even the rules of the game have defined deviancy down. Largely ignored in the finger-pointing following the Pacers-Pistons brawl was the actual triggering cause: NBA rules that provide incentives for hard fouls to the body.


Ron Artest may have violated a social norm because of when he put a hard foul on Ben Wallace, way behind with little time left in the game. But such hard fouls are not only acceptable, in most circumstances they are regarded as compulsory.


In a NBA playoff game, the homicide squad will be called out before a cut to the basket will decide the outcome.


From a marketing perspective, the lax enforcement of the rules during playoffs has always perplexed me. When the NBA has its largest audience, it puts on its worst show. And officials determine outcomes as much by not calling fouls as by calling them.


But from the standpoint of regulating player behavior, providing incentives for hard fouls will inevitably lead to confrontations. Which begins the process of defining deviancy down.


This may seem like a lot of prissy moralizing. For many sports fans, attitude is what gives the game its edge, its excitement.


But Moynihan's lesson is that if you don't want beer thrown on players or players fighting in the stands, you have to draw the line well short of the behavior you seek to avoid.



JWR contributor Robert Robb is a columnist for The Arizona Republic. Comment by clicking here.

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