This Sporting Life

A prominent NPR morning host said something over the weekend that brought me up short. The big topic under discussion on his radio show, as one would expect, was domestic violence in the NFL and how slow the league was to deal with it. Finally, when they got to talking about the weekend schedule, the host, who is something of a sports fan, said he couldn’t watch NFL games anymore. The domestic violence issue was the final straw. Earlier straws for him included the NFL neglect of players after they leave the sport, suffering from often-debilitating injuries acquired during their careers, which have led some to suicide.

Wow, I thought, could I adhere to such a strict moral standard as that radio host?  I have a running joke intro that goes, “I’m not a sports fan, but…” I am surrounded by sports fans in life, and will watch at least part of an NFL contest if there’s some emotional connection, like a home team in the playoffs. Most important for me is that I can at least understand the game and speak the language with those who really do care about it.

I must confess I actually like boxing, often called the “sweet science.” Of course, there is very little about it that’s sweet. The object is to hurt another human being. Clearly, I don’t want to see anyone maimed or killed – I think most of us who are fans are attracted to the boxers who display the skill,  “science” in that phrase, to win. And modern referees are trained to call fights when one competitor is obviously losing and unable to effectively respond to the punishment he is taking. But maiming and even death can still occur.

You could apply this principle to other things, and many of us have. Many drink only fair-trade coffee. They refuse to buy an athletic shoe or a smartphone if they’re told it’s made with child labor. They eat organic, not only for health reasons, but because the farmworkers who picked the crops aren’t exposed to pesticides. Or they stop eating beef because its production uses precious resources and contributes to climate change. They don’t shop at store chains known for underpaying their staff.

So what’s the matter with me? If I consume any of the things above, does my moral compass need to be sent back to the shop for repair?

I have nothing to say that will provide much of a defense, except this: I think most of us make compromises in these areas all the time. If we didn’t, a lot of babies would be going out with a lot of bathwater (which we have to be careful of here in drought-stricken California). In the case of the NFL, the league leadership is responding to public pressure by implementing policies to deal with the domestic violence issue. These pressures do work. If a sport or an industry or a public institution is at least making an effort to clean up its act, is that good enough, or do we have to stop buying tickets to the act altogether?

I think I’m going to have to get back to you on this one.