JOUR 420: B#7

Lions and Tigers and Bears, (and Dogs and Cocks), Oh My 

I can tell you right now that I'm definitely not talking about Kansas. And this isn't Oz either. Nope, I'm gonna take you back, way back...back into time of England and Great Britain.

Within the first two chapters of Sports Spectators, Allen Guttmann explained the violent world of blood sports, where athletes would fight for survival rather than just fame. All of this would be done in a coliseum as a form of pure entertainment. Some would be put in a ring with lions and tigers. The more bloodshed the better. These sports were simply barbaric.

In chapter three, Guttmann discusses Englishmen and more modern times in sports. One of the sections in this chapter that I am going to focus on most is animal sports. Compared to the book's beginning chapters, we see a sharp change in sports and what was considered moral...we made a change for the better...kinda...well not really.

Bloodsports for entertainment remained, just not as much with humans. Instead of people finding excitement and pleasure in seeing other people murder each other, they found it in watching animals murder each other...which to some people, may actually be worse than people vs. people violence.

Some of the most popular sports in England from the 1600's-1700's included dog-fighting, cock-fighting, bull-baiting and bear-baiting. Although know what dog-fighting and cock-fighting is, as these activities still exist today, bull and bear baiting was the act of capturing either a bull or a bear, and then sending dogs to attack the captured predator. The end result of each of these sports was a fight to the death.

Even Queen Elizabeth was a noted fan of the barbaric animal death rings. "All in all, it was a rude and dirty past-time," Guttmann writes. "Although the middle classes were the first to turn away from the 'butcherly sports,' there were plenty of middle-class Englishmen who relished them." (Sports Spectators, p. 55).

Yeah, this wasn't a whole lot better from those barbaric Roman gladiator days.

The view of these sports have changed greatly since. What used to be entertainment and sport for kings, queens and royalty, is now considered animal cruelty and is an illegal activity.

Seeing anyone take part in vicious activities such as this are rare to hear nowadays. One of the most controversial stories involving dog-fighting and a celebrity athlete happened about a decade ago.

Former Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick

Former Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick was indicted in July 2007 on federal offense and state felony chargers, for his involvment in an illegal interstate dog fighting ring known as "Bad Newz Kennels." Vick was involved with the criminal enterprise for six years.

Vick, at the time of his dog fighting scandal, was one of the most explosive and talented athletes in the NFL.

Vick's 15-acre property in Virginia, which housed over 70 pit-bull terriers, was seized. Vick pleaded guilty and spent two years in federal prison before making his return to professional football.

Vick walking with his lawyers during the 2007 trial process.

The now recently retired QB seemed to have come out of prison as a changed man, deeply regretting the activities he took part in beforehand. However, people never forgot about his actions. Some quickly decided to forgive Vick for his actions, believing that the QB deserved a second chance. while others, such as animal right activists, protested his return to pro football. Many still have not forgiven Vick for his actions to this very day.

Unfortunately, these activities continue to happen all of the time today, not just for entertainment, but for greed and money which comes from betting on certain animals. In the same way how one can find ISIS and graphic terrorists video's online which include blood and death, there are also many video's and photographic evidence of dog fighting, cock fighting, and bear / bull baiting. 

Although these "sports" may not be talked about much today, they still exist, and that's one of the saddest things to know, that so many people continue to participate in these activities. There are many athletes and spectators who dispute the violence in today's professional sports, but they do not compare whatsoever to the brutality of any bloodsport.