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Danger is Inherent in "Sport"
I recently watched an episode of “Bones” where the two main characters engaged in a running discussion over “what is a sport?” Basically they were separating “sports” from “games” a theme that embellished Hemingway’s famous comment that only mountain climbing, car racing and bullfighting were “sports.” The point of distinction, according to one character, is that to qualify as a “sport” there must be a risk that engaging in the activity carries a risk of injury to its participants. Think about it. Watching an injury occur appeals only to the psychotic and is not the reason we follow sports. The appeal is to watch athletes compete at a level that approaches the maximum of human potential.
Facing the 100 mph fastball, entering a corner at 200 mph, “going over the middle” to catch a football, etc. Athletes that face these challenges must conquer them to be successful---and in order to get us to watch! After all I can get mediocrity at any time, simply by deciding to go out and play a round of golf! We all watch sports to see talent at its best, a point on which we all seem to agree. What confuses me, however, is that the physical danger inherent in sport and the resulting injuries, seem to be a consequence acceptable to the fans/media/political class in every sport but NASCAR.
The cars themselves are remarkably safe, notwithstanding that their 3400 pounds of mass travels at 200 mph. In fact NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers have the lowest injury rate of all the “contact sports.” The last injury in NASCAR Sprint Cup that caused a driver to miss a race was in 2003!! Compare that to the injuries caused when 250 pounds of mass collide at 10 mph (football). The NFL in 2009 had over 400 players on “injured reserve” at the end of the season, a statistic that encompasses less than all of the injuries sustained. In that same period NO driver missed a race due to injury.
The US Department of Labor says the injury rate for an NFL player is eight times higher than any other commercial sports league. And, other authorities claim that the life expectancy of an NFL player shortens by 2-3 years for each year played! And, yet, I have never heard of anyone suggesting that the NFL limit the physical contact that leads to these injuries, even though the danger is inherent in the activity. On the other hand, I watched a number of television journalists decry the danger involving a “3400 pound car going 200 mph” following Carl Edwards’ recent effort to encourage Brad Keselowski to yield a little more racing room to Carl. These same people, who often are quite proud to publicly endorse their favorite football team, want to pound NASCAR for “allowing” any “danger” to exist.
The fact is that both the NFL and NASCAR work hard in their rules structures and with their equipment (like cars and helmets) to make their environments safer. The fact also is that if professional football was “touch” and not “tackle” there would be no fans but fewer injuries. And, if NASCAR slowed its cars down to 55 mph no one would watch either. It’s dangerous to drive an 800 horsepower car against 42 other people for 500 miles, and do so at the limit of your skill and the limits of the car. That is exactly the contest people want to see and why NASCAR released the drivers to “have at it boys” in an effort to minimize fan complaints that NASCAR was becoming the unexciting equivalent of touch football.
Let us together celebrate true “sports”. Applaud the athletes who risk life and limb, empathize with and lament those that are injured in the process, and encourage the sports leagues to work diligently to reduce the risks. And let’s celebrate that most countries still let free people engage in these activities, and let other free people remain glued to the prospect that each week we may observe the limits of human endeavor trying to meet and overcome the challenges of competition.
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