Thursday, February 23, 2012

lacrosse

An aspect of high school/college lacrosse of late has come out in the UVA murder trial. A thuggish culture I've heard of directly from parents effected by its bottle-throwing bullying, kids from privileged schools, aggressive, destructive, an eagerness to humiliate any and all in a team's way. The events resulting in the murder trial of a young man who found his lacrosse player girlfriend was dating a player of a rival team reveal, perhaps, a cultural milieu. Where lacrosse teams have acted with arrogant impunity, with parents supportive and powerful enough to enable the worst behavior, now, perhaps, some light will be shed on the violence and aggression that is part of this 'sports culture.' One can hope more accounts of such will surface.

Now of course this is not true of all of high school and college lacrosse. But...

As a necessary afterthought, to say this is of course a complete and gross overstatement.  It should not be applied as a blanketing statement.  Sports are beautiful and good for people, and it is through them that we learn sportsmanship.  At issue is the sense of self-entitlement that certain attitudes might engender.  Lacrosse is not the issue, and events that happen are most likely unrelated.

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