The problem with "the sacrifice play"
With
hockey comes a lot of sacrifice playing.
Actually with ALL sports comes sacrifice playing. & tumblr has finally begun some quality
discourse on it. The thought process
bellow started with this post:
i know we
all worship players who continue to play through injuries
but
there are
so many players who, for example, have played through mild concussions and then
ended up making them a lot worse
there’s a line between toughness and stupidity and i don’t think enough sports fans realize that
It’s
liteweight & it only dances on the surface of the issue, but it got a lot of
face time. & it used the term “worship”
which was the perfect word to describe what happens irl & on the interwebs.
Next
came the POV of a sportstrainer & a person that I personally follow on tumblr
This take focuses a lot more of the medical sides of things & gives detailed
examples of known cases of playing through injuries. She gives three tips for players out there:
Tip #1: IF
YOU GET HIT IN THE HEAD, FUCKING GO TO THE DOCTOR. TALK TO YOUR TRAINER, GO GET
YOURSELF LOOKED AT.
Tip #2: IF
YOU STILL FEEL SYMPTOMS OF THE CONCUSSION, NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS, DO NOT
PLAY
Tip #3:
STOP IDOLIZING ATHLETES LITERALLY KILLING THEMSELVES FOR THE SPORT (I.E.
PLAYING WITH CONCUSSIONS)
I'm
going to focus primarily on the last tip, but this entire post is a+ please
read. I’ll even post the link again
& with a screenshot:
Tip
#3: STOP IDOLIZING ATHLETES LITERALLY KILLING THEMSELVES FOR THE SPORT
During
my eye-opening first semester of college [yeah even @ a community college I was
able to get some quality learns on], I took a class called Sociology in
Sports. It utilized a book called Sports in Society [Jay Coakley, 10th
edition] & fucking christ it’s one of the better textbooks I’ve ever had in
my fucking LIFE.
Chapter
6 goes over deviance in sports in relation to what Coakley labels the “sport
ethic”. What our society commonly labels
as deviance are things falling “outside their normal range of acceptance in a
society” (157). That’s easy to
understand. But the sport ethic is
something else entirely. In a very basic
& disgustingly watered-down sentence, the sport ethic is a specific set of
standards & norms coaches, athletes, & the media use to govern the
sports community. & every time you
make posts like this:
patrice bergeron playing in game 6 with a
separated shoulder, torn muscle and cartilage, broken ribs, and a punctured
lung. if that isn’t dedication i don’t know what is.
you
uphold this problematic, multi-faceted, & potentially deadly mindset.
The
sport ethic is constructed of 4 standards / norms
1.
Athletes
must dedicate their lives to “the game” above anything else
You
hear this kind of rhetoric all the time.
To be a “real player” the athlete must value THE GAME or playing the
game above any monetary reward. Your
life, not just your sports life, is utterly DETERMINED by the love of the
game. It is ingrained in every sports
movie, every pep talk, & every meticulously constructed interview answer. As an athlete you are conditioned to value
the game above all else – even your physical
health. Even your mental health. Even your life.
2.
Athletes
pursue distinction
Athletes
chase the ideal, the perfect accomplishments of the sport. “Winning symbolizes improvement &
establishes distinction; losing is tolerated only because it increases the desire
to win” (164). Athletes commonly say
that they want to push past the limits of the human body & the sport. & they back such statements up with “no
matter what it takes.” Athletes push
& push, even if it means shredding
your body in the process.
3.
Athletes
participate in the culture of risk
This
is the most dangerous norm with sometimes fatal repercussions. “Athletes are expected to endure pressure,
pain, & fear without breaking down” (164).
There is the stifling pressure to play through the pain & accept any
permanent consequences all for “the game.”
Athletes rationalize their behavior with a simple “this is part of the
game.” Playing with a separated shoulder
is just part of the game; ignoring a concussion is part of the game; continuing
with broken ribs & internal bleeding is part of the game; refusing medical
help just to continue playing is just part of the game. This culture of risk, the athlete’s
willingness to subject their body to danger, is the “mark of a true athlete”
(164).
& you find graphics &
posts upholding this kind of problematic behavior all over the internet. These gladiators, heroes, gods among men that
bite the bit & ignore their limits are put on pedestals, examples for
everyone to follow blindly.
4.
Athletes
pursue excellence & success in sports above all else
No
obstacles, no excuses, no blinders; athletes live for “the dream” & the DREAM
only – you’ve heard this rhetoric before.
You pursue that dream at all costs. You pursue it because you want to be one of the
elite, the revered athletes that go down in history. You want to be the greatest that ever was. You
want to be immortal. But at what
costs? Athletes live only in the moment
of the pursuit – only running for the thrill of it, never actually stopping to
question the path they’re running on, how they’re running, or what they’re
actually running for [yeah there’s a Walking on a Dream reference in
there.] They don’t stop & realize
that upholding the sport ethic, obeying all of these standards to the point of
sacrificing your body & mental health for “the love of the game” or “the
dream” or “distinction,” is deviance in & of itself.
But
the deviance we as a fanbase [& really as a society] crack down on is a
specific type of deviance – deviant underconformity. This is the lightweight shit we see on the daily. These are the players that we view as lazy:
they don’t obey their coach; they don’t show up to practice; they complain
everyday & never give their 100%, just half-assing through practice or even
worse, the actual game / event. We as
fans, & as participants in the media & in sports themselves, fail to
recognize the overconformity to the
sport ethic – the dangerous effects of athletics:
Media
stories glorify overconforming athletes who play with broken bones & torn
ligaments, endure surgery after surgery, & willingly submit to injections
of painkilling drugs to stay in the game.
Spectators express awe when they hear these stories, even though they
realize that athletes have surpassed the normative limits that are normally
used in society as a whole. But people
allow deviant overconformity in sports because they can use it to reaffirm
values such as dedication, hard work, & achievement; @ the same time, they
condemn deviant underconformity because it threatens their values. Therefore, most athletes avoid asking
critical questions, even though their overconformity to the norms of the sport
ethic creates problems, causes pain, disrupts family life, jeopardizes health
& safety, & shortens their life expectancy. (166)
The
first time I read shortens their life
expectancy… it was in the midst of the “epidemic” of hockey players taking
their lives… & I broke down. There
have been plenty a discussion on tumblr about quality of physical & mental
health because of “the game,” but not
enough. We uphold the culture of
risk & overconforming to the sport ethic.
& this entire chapter hit so close to home for me because I have participated in the culture of
risk. EVERY athlete has @ some point in
their lives. & because I have, I
STILL find myself upholding it, despite the damage it’s done to my body, my friend’s bodies, & the
bodies of people I adore in sports today.
It’s something that’s been so conditioned into me that it’s almost
impossible to fully remove myself from it.
@ times I lapse into periods where I still defend it – because yes,
being an athlete is something that I cherished.
Putting my body on the line for my team was something that I thought
made me a better person, putting the
needs of the team & the many over the needs of the few – me & my body. & it was something that most people weren’t
willing to do & that’s what made me special: “only other athletes understand
this” (167). Sacrifices make special
bonds, separating you & your team apart from “normal people.” Being part of an elite group is something
that we all want to hold onto, but I have to let it go.
But
letting everything go can be a very painful process. When I first read the
subject matter of this chapter 2 years ago, I started hysterically
sobbing. Because I FINALLY realized how
UNHEALTHY & WRONG this mindset was.
Even though it was celebrated by my coach & my team, it was
literally ruining me & my body. &
even now when I go through all the quotes of all the athletes in my book,
putting their bodies on the line just for a FUCKING GAME, I still tear up. It’s SO ridiculous to nearly kill yourself
for a sport… yet… it’s so normalized & it’s so hard to undo, especially the
older you are.
It’s
hard to undo if you value the GAME & playing the game so much, you find yourself
doing ANYTHING to stay in the sport, whether you’re a veteran that just won’t
say no after 20+ years in, or the kid on the bubble fighting for his spot to
even MAKE the team.
But
the psychological investment is the
biggest. Pressures to overconform aren’t
always external, but internal. Athletes
with low self-esteem, who depend on outsider’s views of their worth on the team
& as a person, are especially susceptible.
& it becomes especially dangerous when players “link their
identities as athletes & as [people] so that being an athlete & being a
[person] become one & the same” (166).
& that’s not good – especially when you’re abruptly taken out of
sports [sometimes permanently] & now you’re forced to make decisions about
the rest of your life. But since you’ve
dedicated your life to primarily sports & maybe didn’t go to school for
anything else / didn’t value learning other skills outside of sports, you have
no idea what other job you might be interested in. You might not know how to use your money
wisely when it comes to investments, medical bills, real estate, whatever. You might have an entire mental breakdown because you equated yourself so much with being an
athlete… you don’t know what else to do
with your life anymore. [A huge
section of a chapter was dedicated to this & it’s another rant entirely.]
I’ve
been going on & on for hella days now, but the end of the chapter ties in
performance-enhancing-substances into the overconformity of the sports
ethic. I’ve actually ranted extensively
on this subject here, & here are some excerpts:
we’re
encouraged to cheat in so many ways in our society, not just in sports
there’s a
cheating spectrum & it’s upheld for the most part
so if you
REALLY want to dispel cheating, system, you gotta start with yourself
you gotta
start with how we teach our kids to play “the game," down to the smallest
levels of little league
because
even then they’re conditioned into all these superteams to win win win win
& sacrifice their bodies & theirselves for the good of the team [i mean
shit sometimes i wonder if they’re even having any fun any more with all the
set plays & specialization that those expensive ass travel teams
incorporate. & then all these child
athletes grow up with is sports sports sports sports - wtf happens when the
sports career ends & they haven’t learned anything else about life? oh wait i actually know the answer to that
question, but that’s another rant]
we love
those sacrifcing plays - the hockey players taking “one for the team"
& playing with dislocated scapulas, knees shot to hell, concussion-like
symptoms that nobody even knows about, & broken ribs - we laud them as
heroes, but @ the same time they’ve learned not to value their own bodies; they
learn that they are disposable unless they do what’s best for the team
it’s okay
if they end up paralyzed - because they helped the team win & that’s all
that matters to them
so of
COURSE they’ll cheat, all to help their team win because that’s what’s been
hammered into their heads - you are nothing unless you win; you are nothing
unless you win; you are nothing unless you win
even
mediocre high schoolo athletes feel this pressure - what good am i if i can’t
contribute? what’s the point if i can’t
help the team win?
…
&
there’s nothing WRONG per se with wanting to win & wanting to do well - we
ALL want to win & want to well, but then drugs are supposedly BAD but then
the drugs are helping you get your goal but then drugs are bad & you’re a
horrible person but then how else are you supposed to attain the ungodly
numbers that everyone wants you to get?
or keep up those unfathomable numbers for a sustainable period of
time? what the fuck else are you
supposed to do?
We
have been conditioned to value overconforming – attaining sports perfection @
all costs to the point of sacrificing EVERYTHING - & yet we somehow DON’T
value substances that promise exactly
that? Where is the logic? What kind of slippery slope morals are we
operating on here? & how come the entire spectrum that allows athletes to
perform above their limits to unfair degrees isn’t under scrutiny? Because
there is an ENTIRE spectrum that allows players to push past limits they wouldn’t
normally; an entire spectrum that encompasses foreign bodies, unnatural substances,
abnormal behaviors, artificial advantages, & dangerous combinations on a
spectrum of social acceptance to criminal deviance.
What
about cortisone shots that players LITERALLY would not be able to play without? Players can shoot unnatural & artificial cortisone,
but fill those with steroid substances & it’s suddenly not okay? What about those painkillers the players pop
non-stop? Players can pop painkillers
they’re dangerously dependent on, but any other PED / HGH form in a pill is
just unacceptable? Players can
abnormally deprive themselves of food to perform & take such extreme
measures to keep off the weight, but when an athlete undergoes any other
strategy it’s deemed abnormal & accolades are stripped? (181)
And what
is normal about 12 year-old gymnasts taking multiple anti-inflammatory pills
every day so that they can train through pain?
Are they different from hockey players who pop multiple Sudafed pills
(containing pseudoephedrine) to get “up” for a game, or from baseball players
who have long used nicotine (chewing tobacco) & various amphetamines to
stay alert during 4-hour long baseball games?
(181)
The
author goes on & on & so could I so I’ll force myself to end it
here. But if you want to converse with
me more about the fuckery of sports & society, feel free to~
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