I understand why athletes equate what they do to war. Essentially, it is war without the napalm, AK-47’s and prisoner of war thing. You have to opposing forces/individuals who pose as obstacles. This is particularly true with football and boxing. Although boxing is now a dead sport outside of a Mayweather v. Pacquiao fight.
But this morning I read an article regarding the brawl that took place at the Xavier/Cincinnati basketball game.
Holloway said. “We got disrespected a little bit before the game, guys calling us out. We’re a tougher team. We’re grown men over here. We’ve got a whole bunch of gangsters in the locker room – not thugs, but tough guys on the court. And we went out there and zipped them up at the end of the game.” source
I have a serious problem with Holloway using the term, gangsters. Are these not college kids? Are these not college kids with scholarships? I don’t know the kid’s background but words do matter and the word a person uses is an indicator of a mentality.
So often we see professional athletes get themselves in trouble because they do not leave the streets behind (see Michael Vick) and it can cause serious problems. Yes, they are men and Cincinnati did disrespect them but that’s why you play the game. Hopefully, the coach of Xavier will point this out to the young man and set him on the proper course on how to speak differently.
James is the founder of Mass Appeal Media and is a writer and designer living in the Chicago area.
