Violence: Exertion Of Physical Force

Jonathon Mills

Lauryn Kelly

AIM 102

October 29, 2015

Instinct

Violence is the exertion of physical force with an intent to injure a person, place, or thing, and a sport is an activity involving physical exertion and skill by an individual or group of individuals to compete. Contact sports become violent when they are taken to an extreme, so American football, ice hockey, rugby football, lacrosse, soccer, boxing, mixed martial arts, wrestling, and water polo are contact sports in which you should be able to control those extremities.

Banning violent sports remains a highly debated topic in today’s society. Throughout history, sport and violence have been synonymous. Sport was originally a form of military training, used as a method to

Some fans and spectators see sport as a social activity, bringing communities together through fair play and friendship, whereas for others, sport represents a celebration of a community’s rich cultural history. Overtime however, we have seen an increase in the commercialization of sport. Sport has become a commodity; one that allows players to be traded in the market place for the highest price, and athlete and team branding have become the norm. In the US alone, the Sports Industry generated over $400 billion in gross revenues during 2010, with the four big leagues generating almost $22 billion (Plunkett Research, 2010). We can see from the figures below that it is not only the US that are

It is highly regarded as one of the most violent sports played today, unofficially and officially allowing various forms of violence. The Economist (1975) suggests that Ice Hockey is the only all-human sport that allows physical intimidation as a customary tactic, outside of the rules. The players’ rules deem fistfights as legitimate violence, in which opponents are expected to drop their gloves and sticks, showing a willingness to engage in a fight. Assaults with the stick however are deemed to be illegitimate and carry penalties if carried out. Many fans and spectators regard fistfights as ‘a part of the game, ‘in which opponents establish and re-establish their honor and respect (Colburn, 1985). Research also suggests that as violence amongst teams increased, attendance at National Hockey League (NHL) games increased, giving teams an incentive to keep the violent aspects of the game, despite the numerous penalties and punishments given to