Discussing the place that profanity has in sports

I am not even talking about racism or homophobia. I am talking about simple, common profanity in sports and how it offends and turns away potential fans and makes light of a part of American vocabulary that should only be used in very select situations. Throughout the wide array professional and recreational sporting leagues set forth in our country, there are words said “in the heat of the moment,” that would otherwise be frowned upon. Those words are at once tabooed and widely used aspects of Americanized English, the line between where they can be used and where they are most offensive is hard to draw. But regardless the field in which such profanity is used the most publically is that that takes place on the field. Whether it be hockey, football, basketball or baseball, trash talking and curse words are thrown around nearly as much as the ball or puck. Their constant repetition makes them seem like crucial parts of the games. But after all, what would sports be without profanity? Would they really be that much worse? Would they be at all worse in fact?

Recently, a local street hockey league set up in Hudson Massachusetts set forth new rules regarding the use of profanity in its games. The league, which divides its 100+ players up into four age categories had seen an uptick in profane language in its top two age groups in the past few years. The uptick was shocking enough to solicit anger from parents and an eventual amendment to the rule book that set forth a “three strike system” for discipline regarding profanity. The first time the referee spoke to a player about swearing, they would be given a 1 minute minor penalty. The second time, the player would be ejected from the game and suspended for the ensuing one as well. On the third offence, the player would be expelled from the current season and forbidden from competing in the next one. This league was not kidding around.

Making rules like these are important because unfortunately, many members of society make it seem like it is “cool” to swear. For many, the only thing that keeps them in check is parental bans on swearing. But how effective are those bans when a child is allowed to swear so angrily in a sporting event? When referees let 14, 13 and even 12 year olds curse at each other or themselves when they miss a pass, a shot or a catch; they devalue self-control that keeps someone from swearing to a teacher, a parent, a boss, etc. Furthermore for student athletes that treat sports as one of the biggest parts of their lives, being allowed to swear by a referee or coach makes those parental and teacher mandated bans on profanity seem like afterthoughts.

But why is this a problem? Why are 12 year olds swearing so much that a tiny street hockey league has to institute these groundbreaking rules? Those facts are strange and hard to comprehend but not impossible to understand. Obviously due to movies, television and social media, swearing has been slowly glorified and made mainstream even for toddlers and elementary students. You see Facebook memes of a new born accidently extending his middle finger or laugh when America’s Funniest Home Videos shows a bleeped out version of some adorable voiced 2 year old cursing at something. People laugh at these things and share them. Sometimes they slip letting younger and younger people hear words that they should not know. And thus you are given a youth population who know what an a** is before they know what a verb is.

But beyond the multimedia distribution of profane vocabulary to all, the sports loving children are taught curse words by the sports figures they idolize and the sports stories and videos they read and watch. When those sports figures swear they are celebrated and showered in phrases like “oh my god, I can’t believe he/she just said that, he/she’s so cool.” Younger children see that and take that as a license to do the same in their own games. After all, they just want to be like their idol, right?

So it is shown how, while it is generally more okay for adults to swear, but still, when those adults are role models to 7 year olds the words they say have only that much more impact due to their importance to the fan. 

As a result the debate is open regarding whether or not spots players should have to eliminate swearing from their vocabularies just because some 1^stgraders are going to hear? The answer to that one is simple. These players are paid 10 million dollars per year to do what they love. They ought to simply just embrace the idea that the title “role model” goes hand in hand with the title “professional athlete.” But at the same time, there remain moments where, though detrimental to the youth population’s innocence, sparkly placed profanity memorializes a moment worth remembering.

One of the strongest, most controversial examples of that occurring took place in the first Red Sox home game following the Boston Marathon Bombings. David Ortiz took the microphone during a pregame ceremony and, at the conclusion of his speech about local pride and resilience belted out the words “this is our f*****g city! And nobody is going to take away our freedom!” The moment was highly controversial. It was defended by people saying that he spoke of a hard time using dramatic words that called attention to his closing statement. At the same time though it was attacked and slandered by those who pointed to the fact that he swore on live television. They said that no matter the situation profanity is not okay.

 After all is it? Again I am not talking about slurs. I am simply looking at the use of profane, exclamatory words in the run of play or on the bench. I am talking about words whose usage is defended by the claim that they were “said in the moment”. I am talking about words that stick in the minds of 7 year olds and suddenly flood out when they miss a pass in a 12 year old’s divisional game. 

These words are bad, they sound wrong and strange coming out of a 6^th grader’s mouth.

So how do we keep rules like the ones made in the recreational street hockey league from being needed? We get sports players to stop swearing in press conferences, we get them to stop swearing in speeches but we compromise and let them keep the foul mouthed speech on the ice. Honestly, these players must find a happy medium in which they recognize their freedom to get caught up in a physical game and express anger while also understanding that children are watching and they will hear the words they scream into a microphone.