Sport, to the ancient Romans, was Christians being thrown to thelions.
If blood and gore isn't the object of sport anymore, it's stilla sideshow. But the show may be coming to an end in two Americancities if lawmakers have their way.
In Boston and Detroit, councilmen are considering ordinancesthat would make athletes subject to arrest and prosecution forviolence on the playing field. Hockey is the main target, butfootball, basketball, baseball and soccer also would be subject tothe ordinances.
Boxing would be exempt.
'Everybody likes a good, spirited game,' said Boston councilmanBruce Bolling, architect of his city's proposed ordinance. 'That'snot the issue. There will be flareups in any game where emotionsrun high.
'But it's another thing when one player jumps on another andthen a whole team jumps in.'
In Detroit, councilman David Eberhard shares the same sentiment:'What this ordinance would say is we don't want Detroit to be a cityof violence, be it murder or the setting of examples by the heroes -the athletes.
'I think it's gotten out of hand. Every night you can see onthe news highlights of games with the benches emptying. We have tosay as a society that sports is not a sector that is immune to drugsor to violence or the rules.'
Boston's proposed ordinance would make any professional athletesubject to 'immediate arrest . . . upon the commission of any violentact during said competition,' a violent act being any attack on aperson, 'including assault, assault with intent to maim, assault witha deadly weapon.'
The misdemeanor ordinance would carry maximum penalties of 2 1/2years in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Detroit's proposed ordinance is similar except it would extendto amateur sports events.
The proposals may be an indication of things to come, but sportsaren't likely to lose their 'diplomatic immunity' soon.
In Chicago, for example, no similar ordinance has been proposed,according to officials in the corporation counsel's office.
'This is a sports-minded town and I don't think people would betoo happy with that,' said Phil Bronstein, assistant corporationcounsel in the legislative division.
Eberhard said the reaction has been different in Detroit.Fellow councilmen 'have been positive' and community response hasbeen 'mixed.'
'But I have a son who is a high school coach and he said they were discussing it in school andthe kids sort of agreed with the idea,' Eberhard said.
Neither city has held public hearings, but Bolling said the mailhe has received suggests the time might be right for the law inBoston.
'I've gotten letters and everybody says violence has gotten outof hand,' he said. 'To the extent fighting is becoming more dominantas a characteristic of sports, that's sending a message.'
The message has always seemed most vivid in hockey. Some ofthe most vicious episodes in sports have occurred on the ice, amongthem the near deaths in 1933 of Irving 'Ace' Bailey, a left wing with the Toronto Maple Leafs who was struck by Boston Bruinsdefenseman Eddie Shore, and in 1969 of Ted Green, a Boston defensemanstruck by Wayne Maki of the St. Louis Blues. Both men sufferedsevere head injuries and were not expected to live. Both survivedtwo operations.
In 1975, Henry Boucha of the Minnesota North Stars washigh-sticked by Boston's Dave Forbes and suffered an eye injury.The Boucha-Forbes fight drew extra attention because Boucha suedForbes for assault. The suit was settled out of court five yearslater.
A high-sticking incident in 1981 shortened the career of BlackHawk Glen Sharpley, who was struck by Washington defenseman DarrenVeitch. Sharpley's vision never was the same and he left hockey ayear later.
Other sports have had their share of mayhem.
Dodger catcher Johnny Roseboro was whacked over the headrepeatedly with a bat by Giants' Juan Marichal when the volatilepitcher was at bat and thought Roseboro was making his return throwstoo close to Marichal's head.
Cub pitcher Jim Brewer had his cheekbone broken on Aug. 4, 1960,when Billy Martin, then with the Reds, slugged him while Brewer wason the mound. Martin thought Brewer was throwing at him.
Last season, the Bulls' Jawann Oldham and Washington's ManuteBol squared off in a battle that required nearly all their teammatesto separate them.
Chicago's other bruisers, the Bears, were fined heavily thisyear as were their sparring partners, the St. Louis Cardinals, for afight that broke out during their Aug. 23 pre-season game at SoldierField.
Officially, the professional leagues have nothing to say aboutthe attempts to legislate peace. The legislators, though, wouldprefer that the leagues clean their own houses.
'So many players make a million dollars, so what is a $2,500fine?' Bolling said. 'I don't think the punishments fit thesituations. They're totally disproportionate to the violence that occurs.'
The politicians recognize the pitfalls of their proposals.For instance, would police would be assigned to every sports contestwaiting for player fights to break out?
'The law would give the authority to call police if adisturbance breaks out,' Eberhard said.
Neither Bolling nor Eberhard subscribes to the legal argumentthat existing criminal statutes apply to athletes as well as thepublic, making separate ordinances unnecessary.
At least one legal expert, Harvard law professor AlanDershowitz, agrees with them.
'I don't think you should take old statutes not designed forthis and try to apply them,' Dershowitz said. 'I think reform is needed within the leagues themselves,particularly in the National Hockey League. You know, a lot of thisstarted with Keith Magnuson, the Black Hawks defenseman who tookboxing lessons.
'But if there is going to be legislation, it should be veryspecific and different sport by sport. You can't have the samerules for hockey and football or hockey and basketball. I think youneed very specific legislation tailored to the problem.'
To their detractors, Bolling and Eberhard insist their intentsare genuine. 'I have no illusions about the ordinance,' Bollingsaid, 'but I don't think the leagues have addressed this issue. Ifit is enacted, it will be enforced.
'Everyone you talk to will tell you violence (in sports) isescalating, and escalating dramatically over the last few years,' hesaid. 'Violence isn't designed to be part of the game. It sendsnegative messages to the people watching, so what do you do?
'You say that if pro teams are going to engage in competition inBoston, they shall be subject to immediate arrest if they engage inviolence.'
'This is a statement more than anything else,' Eberhard said.'It's to say we don't condone this.
'People say `why don't you worry about more important thingslike crime and murder?' Well, sports sets the tone of the community.How far are we willing to let it go?'
