Published: August 12, 2008 07:24 pm         

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Enthusiasm in the sports world

My daddy was a big wrestling fan. Those were the days when you went to a big hall and paid to sit in a jam-packed space with others watching two big guys knock each other around. Several times he took me, his little girl, to see these shows.

Much later, when television was in its infancy, wrestling became one of the neighborhood attractions. Those who had this new appliance invited their neighbors in to watch those shows. I never caught my daddy’s enthusiasm for the sport but a short interview with one of today’s wrestlers caught my eye.

John Cena has been with World Wrestling Entertainment since 2002. Once nicknamed “Mr. P” and “The Prototype,” he also starred in the movie The Marine and another film, 12 Rounds, will be released next year. I learned a few things about this brutal sport in this interview.

Cena was asked since he called himself the Doctor of Thugonomics where did he get his degree. It was given during an impressive ceremony at Springfield College, Massachusetts. He studied thugonometry there for two-and-a-half years. He said it took four years before he got hit with a chair and he added that it hurt quite a lot.

Of his job Cena said, “What we do is entertainment, but it’s extremely, extremely physical. The amount of brutality is overlooked.” Recently he has added another credit to his resume. Gillette has signed him as their spokesman. Shaving is more gentle than getting beat up in the ring.

As long as we’re talking sports what do you think of the NFL’s Code of Conduct? Just announced this week it is not for the players but for the fans. It covers intoxication that results in irresponsible behavior; unruly, disruptive or illegal in nature behavior; foul or abusive language or obscene gestures; interference with the progress of the game and verbal or physical harassment of opposing team fans.

For those of us viewing pro football from the comfort of our homes just reading this list of no-nos comes as a shock. Occasionally a commentator mentions an incident in the stadium but the situation must be bad for the powers in charge to issue a Code of Conduct. Even worse is that it is aimed at adults.

As I thought about this development in big time football I searched my memory. Had I ever been in a crowd where I wished there had been a Code of Conduct? Immediately I remembered the last high school graduation ceremony I attended.

Granted graduation is a happy time for most and for some there are mixed feelings as they move into the real world. Not only the graduate enjoys this final act but their whole family feels pride in their accomplishment. There are speeches which often are dull and for a generation with short attention spans those can be boring. However, it was a shock when I saw a number of people using cell phones during some of these talks.

The worst was yet to come. As the graduates walked across the stage to receive their diploma each time a popular student came in view their fans screamed, rang cowbells or blew into air horns. Those students just ahead or behind them were denied their moment in the sun because no one could hear their name as it was read.

No Code of Conduct would cover this behavior. The only solution I see is that the one who reads the name as the diploma is handed to the student must be strong. Strong enough that when the audience becomes boisterous the scene on the stage is frozen. Once quiet reigns the reader pauses a few more seconds until the silence gets uncomfortable and then he says, “I will repeat the name of the graduate whose recognition was drowned out by noise.” Whether that would work is a question but it might be worth trying.