Sunday Morning Soapbox: Humanity and the disturbing portrayal of sports personalities

[Guest Phailadelphia]

Jim McElwain's actions last night bothered me, so here's a rant.

 

Saturday night during a game against East Carolina, Kevin Taylor, a runningback for the Florida Gators, scored a 15-yard touchdown and celebrated with a throat slash gesture. That gesture resulted in a 15-yard penalty to the Gators which set up an eventual score for ECU. Upon returning to the sidelines, Taylor was lit up verbally by his head coach, Jim McElwain. Video of the incident can be seen here:

@https://twitter.com/MoeRonga/status/643041585253498882/video/1

 

The altercation went viral on Twitter immediately with arguments both for and against McElwain's actions. The arguments in favor of McElwain ranged from the true ("Taylor made a selfish play that hurt the whole team") to the absurd ("if Taylor doens't like it he can quit or transfer").

 

The problem with the ensuing debate on Twitter is that it largely failed to hold the coach accountable. It's *highly* ironic that we would make the claim that Taylor's mistake was "selfish" and then make excuses for McElwain's rant after he gathered the entire team around Taylor and then belittled him and yelled in his face.

 

That kind of behavior from McElwain is inexcusable. It's not conducive to productivity and it only serves to embarrass both Taylor and his teammates. Watch the video and look at how uncomfortable his teammates and assistance coaches are. There isn't a soul on that sideline in agreement with the head coach.

 

But because this is sports and we hold undying allegiances to our teams, we make excuses for McElwain's behavior. Extract the context of this scene and put it in your own place of work. Would you let your boss yell at you like that in front of all of your coworkers? Would you even let him do it in private? What about your friends and family? Would you allow them to talk to you like that? Just because we're watching a football game where emotions run high does make that type of behavior acceptable.

 

We make these excuses for players and coaches in every sport. People have become to passionate about their teams that any semblance of humanity is thrown under the bus or, at best, comes secondary to winning. It's cognitive dissonance to an extreme. People look past these flaws because they so desperately want their team to be great. The *only* time we find this behavior unacceptable is when there exists a widespread belief that the particular individual is harmful to the team's greatness. In that case, it's not inexcusable behavior but rather another reason we should let that individual go. Performance and contribution to the team take precedent and all other attributes are thrown to the wayside.

 

And I don't intend to pick on McElwain here. The Cowboys signed a woman beater to their roster this offseason, a move that makes many (me included) uncomfortable. Floyd Mayweather is a notorious woman beater, yet his fights are almost always sold out and he continues to make gobs of money from them. Will Muschamp acts in much the same way as Jim McElwain and while he did lose his job last year, it wasn't because of his temper but, again, because of his team's performance. Karl Malone fathered a child with a 13-year old girl but we never really talk about it. The NFL has actively worked to cover up or disparage anyone who tries to bring to light how bad the concussion problem really is. Sports figures do truly inhumane things and we let them get it away with it for no other reason than because they are sports figures.

 

So my question is this: Why do we allow this kind of behavior in sports? You know exactly what it's like to deal with these types of people personally and professionally, and you always (I hope) work to cut them out of your life completely. But when it comes to our sports teams, we have this undying allegiance to the team and more respect for these players and coaches because they're so good at what they do that we're willing to overlook the shitty things that truly define their character so long as our team is winning. People have likely never met those they see on the sidelines, but will defend their team's awful personalities as if they're close friends or family with that individual. It's disturbing.

 

Discuss...

[RazorStar 4,025]

You can't see people's flaws from the pedestal you put them on. That's just common sense, and basic optics. It's not so much that we idolize people because they are assholes, but that the kind of people who get idolized are wired a certain way, so that most of those people tend to be assholes in one or another. The reason why no one really cares about the character flaws of winners is because they win, and people love those who win. They make you feel good when they triumph, and if you have loyalty to them a fan of the team, you'd rather see your team win than lose, even if your coach is a scumbag, or your QB is a broken shell of a man. Entertainment in particular is basically the primary source of people's happiness nowadays, and people will generally prioritize their own feelings over those of others.

[Piggly Wiggly 960]

He made a dumb fucking gesture and it cost his team points. He deserved to get chewed out and be taught a lesson by McElwain.

 

Seems like you're one for supporting the pussification of America, Phail.

[Guest Phailadelphia]

YThe reason why no one really cares about the character flaws of winners is because they win, and people love those who win. They make you feel good when they triumph, and if you have loyalty to them a fan of the team, you'd rather see your team win than lose, even if your coach is a scumbag, or your QB is a broken shell of a man. Entertainment in particular is basically the primary source of people's happiness nowadays, and people will generally prioritize their own feelings over those of others.

 

Right, and I acknowledge as much in my OP. I'm trying to get a deeper understand of the "why" of it.

[BwareDWare94 723]

The truth of the matter is that we simply don't know any of these people personally, and when it comes to people like Hardy, extortion is on the table as far as possibilities are concerned. Floyd Mayweather has had multiple incidents--he's a different story, much like Ray McDonald. We know these guys are assholes. When it comes to individuals who abide by the law when they aren't between the bleachers, we simply don't know enough to judge, most of the time. I do agree that McElwain and Muschamp are fucking nuts and don't belong in college sports. There are guys in professional coaching who chew their players out but are universally loved, anyway--Mike Zimmer, but these guys don't gather the team when they chew someone out. Think about SteVo's final chapter to this year's KoA--Wilkes was selfish and cost the team big time, but Harden addressed him personally. That's how you be critical. You don't air things out in front of the team or in a professional setting--the office or whatever your workplace seems to be.

 

Now, I take no issue with bosses who berate useless people--people are who always late, don't work hard at all, etc., but productive people should never be berated when they make mistakes. They should be approached individually and have things explained to them.

 

Anyway, in the context of sports--yes, people look past way too much. As a Vikings fan, you'd never believe how quickly people defending AP after he turned his kid into mince meat. It was sickening and embarrassing.

[DBR96A 87]

I admire athletes for their athletic accomplishments, and the way those accomplishments represent the city, state or country they play for. Beyond that, I don't necessarily admire them for their personal lives, and I'm actually critical of their personal lives in many cases. I've even been critical of Michael Phelps despite the fact that he's done something that no other Olympic athlete ever has, and represented the United States while doing it. The amount of admiration that athletes get for their athletic accomplishments often goes to their heads, and they become very arrogant as a result, which can create chaos in their personal lives if they have sociopathic tendencies to begin with.

 

This discussion hits very close to home for me, because lately I've been left dealing with the mess created by a segment of Steeler fans who, over the years, have somehow conflated "the Steeler way" with some holier-than-thou competition of personal righteousness. They were the ones who were busy casting stones at Michael Irvin, Nate Newton, Ray Lewis, Jamal Lewis, and various Bengals during the mid-2000s, but went scattering for the hills when James Harrison had his domestic dispute, and Ben Roethlisberger had rape accusations made against him. And that's left all of us who have known better all along to withstand all the fans of other teams casting stones back at us, and being uniformly labeled hypocrites because of the bigmouth idiot contingency's flawed interpretation of the Steeler way. Any Steeler fan with a clue should have known that the Steeler way was never about being a Boy Scout the moment Ernie Holmes -- a beloved Steeler among many older fans -- fired shots at a police helicopter on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and managed to stay with the team after spending time in a psych ward.

 

Ultimately, I think that if there's a moral aspect to the Steeler way, it's in redemption, though replaceability undeniably plays a factor too, given both the business and competition aspects of the NFL. The Rooneys are generally good judges of character, but given the troubled backgrounds of so many young football players, there are bound to be some who go astray for any team. The Steelers have kept their fair share of athletes who have behaved badly, and performance on the field has played a factor in whether or not a player stays or goes, but also a factor is whether or not they believe the player can redeem himself. It's why Santonio Holmes was traded away for a relatively minor transgression, and Ben Roethlisberger was not traded away despite the gravity of the accusations against him. No doubt replaceability played a significant role, but given the positive changes in Roethlisberger's personal life versus Holmes becoming a locker room cancer elsewhere, redemption had to have played a significant role as well.

 

One reason why I don't get super-emotional over sporting events anymore is not only because I'm older and better able to control my emotions, but also because I'm wiser than before. I'm genuinely happy when my favorite teams win, but I'm not euphoric about it, nor do I become upset or depressed for days after a loss. Whenever the media does a human interest story about some athlete's charity, I always remember that these athletes are probably doing things that aren't so charitable on Friday or Saturday nights. Conversely, I don't call for fire and brimstone whenever an athlete is caught in a shameful act either. As despicable as Jerry Sandusky's behavior was, simply removing him from polite society is punishment enough. There's no need to cut his balls off and feature him get gang-raped in prison on pay-per-view. There's a fine line between justice and revenge. I also don't believe in punishing a person beyond the legal system. If Michael Vick still has what it takes to play football, then he can still be hired to play football now that he's paid his debt to society. If a plumber goes to jail, he can get back to plumbing when he's out of jail.