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Bread and Circuses
Apr. 14th, 2005 09:48 amRecently on Spike TV there was a TV series called The Ultimate Warrior which pitted a bunch of guys of various fighting styles against each other with a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The UFC is popular on the pay per view circuit. The combat seems to be based on a movie called ‘The Octagon” with Chuck Norris or “Bloodsport” with Jean Claude Van Damme (Who’s name became the punch-line of a joke “What do you say to three french chefs who have dropped a soufflé?”) The combatants leave the octagon bloody and bruised. The faces after the combat are swollen especially around the eyes (a favor place to strike apparently).
Also on various TV and cable stations you have the WWE (formerly the WWF) or some form of wrestling almost every night. The crowd cheers for the baby-faces and boos the villains. I can remember when the WWF went from a “sporting event” to “entertainment event.” It was because the insurance and bond premiums for entertainment are so much less than for a sporting event. It was funny to hear the public face of the WWF saying that it was the real deal and in court arguing that it was all planned. Wrestlers make shallow cuts in their foreheads so that on impact they will start to bleed. They have to carry their own health insurance if they can find it and afford it. They are independent contractors with the WWE.
Boxing has been raked over the coals recently for shady practices by managers and the young men who go out there to knock the other guy down for the chance of becoming one of the few who can earn money at it. There were two “reality” shows based on the hopes and dreams of a way out by boxing. They try to turn the matches into human interest stories with the background on the fighters, but once in the ring the commentary is all about who punched the best and has the best of the fight. Najai Turpin commited suicide shortly after the finish of taping of one of the series. There are still questions as to why he did it but they aired his episode anyway.
Football is another arena sport. The fans gather to watch their team “beat the snot” out of the other team. College football fans can get especially nasty with one and other. Schools earn a lot of cash off these students and their games. On the professional level the phrase seems to be “die hard’ fan of. These fans fill the airwaves of sports talk shows with their compliments and complaints about their team.
During the off-season of Football is Arena Football. This is sort of like the XFL where it is played indoors in a field half the size of a normal field. The promise of heavy hits and lots of mayhem with a fast played game brings in the fans. The fans scream as these teams fight it out on the field.
Al Lucas (#76 for the LA Avengers) died this past weekend. He suffered a bizarre spinal cord injury which lead to his death. He leaves behind a wife, De-Shonda Lucas, and a daughter, Mariah. Most of the information I could find about him in the papers was a pargraph or may be two buried in the main news section of the paper with a mention in the sports section. Al Lucas was trying to do right for his family and support them. His biography shows how hard he worked and how much he loved football.
What I find disturbing is that the game continued. The teams didn’t know how bad it was until after the game. The audience hadn’t a clue that someone had just died for their entertainment. And that is exactly what it was, entertainment. My prayers and best wishes go to De-Shonda and Mariah in this difficult time. I hope that the folks at Arena Football do the right thing by them because right now it feels very much swept under the rug. I find it kind of ironic that the word “arena” was used. Al Lucas was a modern gladiator who died in the arena. Hail Ceaser, we who are about to die salute you.
I am grateful for any coverage this story got especially if it helps the family.
Also on various TV and cable stations you have the WWE (formerly the WWF) or some form of wrestling almost every night. The crowd cheers for the baby-faces and boos the villains. I can remember when the WWF went from a “sporting event” to “entertainment event.” It was because the insurance and bond premiums for entertainment are so much less than for a sporting event. It was funny to hear the public face of the WWF saying that it was the real deal and in court arguing that it was all planned. Wrestlers make shallow cuts in their foreheads so that on impact they will start to bleed. They have to carry their own health insurance if they can find it and afford it. They are independent contractors with the WWE.
Boxing has been raked over the coals recently for shady practices by managers and the young men who go out there to knock the other guy down for the chance of becoming one of the few who can earn money at it. There were two “reality” shows based on the hopes and dreams of a way out by boxing. They try to turn the matches into human interest stories with the background on the fighters, but once in the ring the commentary is all about who punched the best and has the best of the fight. Najai Turpin commited suicide shortly after the finish of taping of one of the series. There are still questions as to why he did it but they aired his episode anyway.
Football is another arena sport. The fans gather to watch their team “beat the snot” out of the other team. College football fans can get especially nasty with one and other. Schools earn a lot of cash off these students and their games. On the professional level the phrase seems to be “die hard’ fan of
During the off-season of Football is Arena Football. This is sort of like the XFL where it is played indoors in a field half the size of a normal field. The promise of heavy hits and lots of mayhem with a fast played game brings in the fans. The fans scream as these teams fight it out on the field.
Al Lucas (#76 for the LA Avengers) died this past weekend. He suffered a bizarre spinal cord injury which lead to his death. He leaves behind a wife, De-Shonda Lucas, and a daughter, Mariah. Most of the information I could find about him in the papers was a pargraph or may be two buried in the main news section of the paper with a mention in the sports section. Al Lucas was trying to do right for his family and support them. His biography shows how hard he worked and how much he loved football.
What I find disturbing is that the game continued. The teams didn’t know how bad it was until after the game. The audience hadn’t a clue that someone had just died for their entertainment. And that is exactly what it was, entertainment. My prayers and best wishes go to De-Shonda and Mariah in this difficult time. I hope that the folks at Arena Football do the right thing by them because right now it feels very much swept under the rug. I find it kind of ironic that the word “arena” was used. Al Lucas was a modern gladiator who died in the arena. Hail Ceaser, we who are about to die salute you.
I am grateful for any coverage this story got especially if it helps the family.
