The Knockout Game

On Youtube, there's a viral sensation going on in the world currently, though I wouldn't necessarily call it a sensation, since usually that label is saved for something positive.  The thing I'm talking about is knockout videos, which have to do with The Knockout Game.  I don't know much about it myself, but from what I've heard, a person or group of people wait for an unsuspecting person and then punch them in the back of the head, resulting in a knockout.  This type of behavior is cruel in itself, but the fact some people find it amusing sickens me. 

Now, some will try to justify the game, saying it's just people having a little fun, but that's what everyone says before something violent happens like dares or drunk driving.  They start out harmless, but then the ramifications come.  Case in point, a couple of days ago, I heard that someone knocked out a guy, only to be shot by him right after.  You can feel however you want to about that, but anyone who instigates that in the first place is stupid, especially if they didn't know what they were getting themselves into.  There are games in real life, but the Knockout Game is not one of them.  If you want a real one, play a board game, or buy a game system.  Don't play this ridiculous game because you're hurting both the person and yourself by bringing violence, and just being a bully, which the world already has enough of. 

Richard Sherman

The rant seen around the world

It's almost been a week since Richard Sherman, the CB for the Seattle Seahawks, made his now famous rant insulting and taunting WR Michael Crabtree.  When it happened, media and news outlets went crazy reporting the story, and it became a hot topic for discussion the whole week.  At first, Sherman didn't regret anything he said, but after a day or two taking a beating from the media, as well as other players, he changed his mind and apologized.  And while I wish I could believe he meant it, deep down, I know he didn't since that emotion he showed is the type of person he really is.  I know this story is old now, and he's moved on, but I can't let it pass without giving my two cents.

From what I heard and read from people, it seems like a majority of people feel two ways.  They either love Richard Sherman for being emotional and truthful (not giving cliche interviews), or they hate him for disrespecting his opponents and putting himself first.  I understand both sides of the argument, but I like Sherman more than I dislike him.  Yes, he can be disrespectful and pompous at times, but that seems related to football mostly, where many players do the same.  Plus, he's one of the few players at his position who can back up his talk.  Also, he was interviewed right after making one of the best plays of his life.  Obviously, he's going to be emotional, especially with the amount of trash talk he and Crabtree had.  Everyone is mad because of what he said, and while I understand why, at least he said something.  It might not be great sportsmanship, but at least he said something compared to players who don't shake hands or walk off the court/field like Isiah Thomas did many times.  I think something like this is all based on perspective.  It's bad, but when you compare it to others postgame rants, it's not that bad and basically a non-story.

One thing that bothers me though, is what Richard Sherman said about the word "thug".  No one likes getting called it, just like any other negative word, but I don't agree with him when he says it's a substitute for the N-word.  As I learned from ESPN and other reports, the N-word is still quite alive in everyday culture, especially in locker rooms.  It's sad, but it isn't my place to judge; I don't know all the facts.  He things being called a "thug" is a race issue, but it isn't.  If any player did what he did, they'd be called a thug just as much, if not more.  Sherman was called a "thug" because he is a bully and doesn't respect a lot of people besides those on his team.  It has nothing to do with race; it has everything to do with attitude and how you treat others.  I might like him, but I wish he wasn't so egotistical all the time.

So that's my two cents on the issue that wasn't really an issue.  To think, all of this could have been avoided if Richard Sherman was a little more quiet, but you can't change what happens.  You can only accept it and move on, which everyone is going to do.  I have no idea who will win the Super Bowl, but if I can, I'll be watching to see what happens next.

Bullying and Hazing

In my Psychology and Women class a few days ago, I handed in my project I had to do for the semester, which was a portfolio based on a topic that related to women.  It was very hard to pick a topic at the start of the semester since there were so many things that interested me.  But in the end, I decided to go with hazing in Greek life because I had always been interested in the topic, and being someone who was bullied themselves, there were some similarities.  Of course, after doing research, it's safe to say there more similarities than I expected, which was interesting, but also very unfortunate at the same time.

Time to get to the elephant in the room or the sports world though, which is the Richie Incognito story, where he bullied and hazed one of his teammates to the point that he had to leave the team because of an emotional breakdown.  I won't get too much into how I feel about it because I feel the same way everyone publicly feels, which is outraged something like this even happened.  When you're in a group of any kind, whether a fraternity, sports team, etc., you're supposed to stick together, which is why it's a shame this happened.  People let it happen.  And worst of all, the players are using the "Blame the Victim" theory, which is completely ridiculous.  Any person would realize that something wrong is going on, but of course, football players don't know better because of some code of being macho.  I usually try to defend men when the situation calls for it, but when I see dumb stuff like that going on, I don't think there's anyway they can be helped. 

Hopefully in the end, the victim can be though.  And someday, I hope bullying and hazing can be reduced/solved.

Bullying

Being older, it seems that one thing that has died down is bullying, but in hindsight, that really isn't the case.  All I have to do is turn on the TV, or read the newspaper, and there's a story about a child being bullied.  I suppose it wouldn't be that bad if the situation got resolved, but there's an old saying said about the media: "They only report what's negative", which is why you sparingly hear about happy things that happen in the media; they usually only talk about negative news, which is why whenever I hear about bullying, I know it's unfortunately tragic.

When it comes to bullying, it's a touchy subject for me because I was bullied a lot as a child from elementary to middle school.  I wasn't sure why, but I think it had to do with how I looked, my weight issues, or the far fetched idea that somebody liked me (I know, ridiculous).  I won't get into the details of it, but the bullying was so bad at one point that I had to get transferred from the class I was in just to get through school.  That worked for awhile, but in middle school, the same thing happened.  Even when I tried nice, or did what they wanted, nothing changed, and it scared me.  Worst of all, all of my bullies were girls believe it or not, so whenever I complained, sometimes teachers believed me, and other times they didn't. 

Now, I'm not hear to blame the school, or even the people who bullied me since that was a long time ago, but bullying is still something prevalent now.  You may not think it is because you aren't exposed to it, but it's happening at school's, and even online (which I think is worst).  Children are being picked on for no reason, and it unfortunately ends in suicide most of the time.  Suicide is a terrible thing, but it can be avoided if the person being bullied has someone to talk to, a parent, sibling, anybody.  I wish as a child, I spoke up more, but I didn't and still deal with the effects.  That doesn't have to happen now.  You can be there for someone in their time of need.  All you have to do is be there, or seek professional help when necessary.  It doesn't matter if you're the person being bullied, or the person helping.  You still matter, and you have a voice to make a difference.

In light of this subject, I found an episode of Arthur online that deals with this subject.  It's from season 16, so the animation is different, among other flaws, but I think this episode shows a good example of how bullying can affect a child's mind, while at the same showing how it can be fixed by talking about it, or taking responsibility.  Yes, I know Arthur is a children's show, but as they've shown with the cancer episode and fire one, they aren't afraid of tackling adult subjects.  And while bullying usually happens to kids, it's something that shouldn't be ignored.

(Couldn't get the video posted since the episode is so new, but here's the link.  Sorry you may have to paste it.  I'm still getting used to this blog)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou0t-3hk5eM