Large Athletes: Are They Bullies?

      Recently in the news (http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/video-flagrant-foul-no-calls-basketball-game-goes-133731387.html) there has been a cry against bullying in student athletics, and the examples of bullies all seem to be large, slightly overweight Caucasian males. As a large person and an athlete myself, I would like to shed some light on the situation from my perspective. Many sports situations cause these larger athletes to be labeled as bullies, such as knockdowns, what seems like unnecessary roughness, and just plain accidents.

      First order of business: Knocking people down. Do larger athletes knock other players down? Yes. Do they smile about it? Also yes. But why does this happen? For one thing, large athletes have a hard time slowing down after they build momentum. If a smaller person is in the way, then that's not going to slow them down much either. This type of knockdown is the larger athletes fault, but keep in mind that he is usually trying as hard as he can to come to a full stop before he hits you, and if he hadn't been, you would have been hit much harder. The exception to this being the larger athletes fault is when either he can't see you or if you have plenty of warning and the ability to get out of the way easily, and you just don't.  In most cases, it seems to the larger athlete that the smaller athlete should know what will happen, and be making an effort to move out of the way, even when this is not the case.

       For instance, when I was in high school, we were running relay races around the gymnasium with two large teams going in opposite directions. going full speed, I came around the corner and ran full force into a much smaller person running for the other team.  I didn't even realize I had hit him, and I kept running, my momentum unimpeded. When everyone realized that he should have gotten back by now we went to look for him, and found him lying on the sidewalk a good ten feet from where we had been running. The impact had injured him significantly. Another time, I was in a hurry to get to class, and was walking quickly and skirting the wall on my way there. another student was walking a couple of feet from the wall, and saw me coming, but decided not to move six inches further out, so when we met, out shoulders collided, and he was knocked down with his dislocated, while mine was just fine. While, in both of these situations I was apologetic, I do not feel at fault for either of them.

        The next type of knockdown happens when smaller athletes run into larger athletes. There are few things funnier than when a small person runs headlong into a larger person, and slams into them, falling to the ground as if the larger athlete were simultaneously made of stone and springs, but it is also the cause  of a great number of serious sports injuries. This can be the fault of either or both athletes. It is the fault of the larger athlete, when he can clearly see the smaller athlete coming, but makes no effort to get out of the way, or if he purposely stops in front of the other athlete. But, similar to the case of the larger athlete running into the smaller, the smaller athlete, here running into the larger, assumes that the larger athlete feels endangered and will move, as would an athlete of a smaller size, but this is not the case. More often than not, the larger athlete knows full well that the smaller athlete will not hurt him at all, but may hurt himself, so any effort to move is purely for the sake of the smaller athlete. The impact is the fault of the smaller athlete when he, knowing he won't hurt the larger athlete, plays rougher than he usually would, or uses the larger athlete as a barrier to make quick stops, as often happens in sports where sizes of competitors varies. In all cases, it is easy for the larger athlete to make a misstep resulting in a smaller athlete being knocked to the floor.

          There is also the issue of seeming unnecessary roughness perpetrated by larger athletes upon smaller ones, especially in non-contact sports. Let's use basketball as an example. it is a non-contact sport made nearly impossible for large athletes by the frequency and ease with which fouls are made. Some of the fouls shown in the video above, are the type anybody could make, but most are the type only a large person would get that result for. I am not defending the fouls themselves, I am just tying to explain the ease in making them, and the different results for large athletes. let's start with foul number five in the video. The foul looks terrible, and many people in the comments are asserting that it was purely intentional, and it may have been. But am I the only person who noticed that his hand did graze the ball? Large athletes do tend to be stronger pound for pound than smaller athletes, and it is very easy for a missed stuff attempt to fall on the head of your opponent instead, catapulting him to the ground because, let's face it, the smaller athlete weighs less than what the larger athlete uses to work out every day.

         The shove in another of the fouls in the video is for two reasons. First, because pushing him out of the way injures him less than running into him full speed, and second because the other athlete was backpedaling into the larger athlete in an attempt to block him. The second of those reasons does not justify a foul, but the first does in my opinion. The potential to injure another player and minimizing those injuries is something large athlete must be conscious of at all times.When you do make a mistake, other people get hurt, sometimes badly. Why do people assume, just because an athlete is large, that he enjoys hurting other players? A sizeable portion of the reason is the smile.

        The Smile. It is that "overly pleased with myself" grin that large athletes often get immediately after knocking down or otherwise roughing another athlete. The problem here is that smaller people don;t understand the origin of that smile. Often it is for the reason that the larger athlete cannot conceive of being knocked down or injured by such a light blow, and they subconsciously believe that the smaller athlete must be joking. Also, admittedly, it is a bit of pride at knowing that the "foul" they just performed, would not have hindered them at all. It is not because they are happy that they just broke the rules, or that they are twitterpated by the fact that they have just injured someone. This discrimination against large athletes is the same as racism at its core. People are scared by and mistrustful of things that are different, and condemning an entire demographic because of  bad experience cause by a minority of that demographic.

Back to it!

It has been a while. Girlfriends will do that. A lot has happened since last I posted. I moved. Twice. I got a job. Twice. I had a girlfriend. Twice.  Mostly just hanging out with good friends.

Infinity

So, I fell yesterday morning and smashed my toilet. I  spent a few hours getting a new(refurbished) one and putting it in. I hurt my wrist a little, but I guess I'm just lucky to have not hit my head. It's weird though. my friends know that  while my legs do occasionally decide to stop working and I fall, I never ever slip, or trip, or slide on ice or other things. If I do, I catch myself. So it is disconcerting to me to have slipped and fallen in the shower.
In other news, dinner last night was pretty much amazing. I cooked a pot roast, some mashed potatoes, and of course some vegetable matter. I will be eating leftovers for a couple days, and enjoying every bite.
Apparently some of my readers like "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" so the Derp of the Day will be just for them 




 

Introduction

I think I'll start by answering a few questions.
No, I'm not going to list the questions,I assume you'll be smart enough to figure them out on your own.
No, I will not update this blog every day, though that may change later. For now, twice  a week sounds about right.
No, I am not an authoritarian on anything.
No, this will not stop me from blogging about topics as if I were.
Yes, I will share random things about me and my life.
Yes, I will share things from the internet that I think are funny, and you probably won't.
Yes, some of my posts will be boring to you.
No, I am not a penguin disguised as a human. What kind of silly question is that.

So, if that is all the questions for now, I will move on to something else. How about a little about myself?
My name is Avery Smith. I am a student majoring in mathematics. I am a bit of a geek. I play D&D. I like playing sports, especially full contact ones and volleyball. I read quite a bit, and have many interests.]I like fruits, cheeses, meats, vegetables, breads, and most other types of food. I like cooking and baking. I also like eating. I am very overweight, but I'm on a diet and exercise regimen and I'm losing weight. Enough about me, I want to know about you. Anybody who reads this should leave me a fun fact  about yourself.

And now... The moment we've all been waiting for... iiiiiiit's... DERP OF THE DAY!