Throwdowns > Closed

The Sports Sociologist said 08/21, 09:06 PM
Hello All. This is my first time on this site. I must say, I have never seen a site quite like this. I look forward to using this sight to further advance both my writing skills and knowledge of sports, why getting an insight into the minds of fellow educated sports fans.

As a student pursing a sociology degree, I often find the connection between sports, media, and society very intriguing. With the technological advances in both cable television and the internet, along with the development of social media, the connection between, Fan, Athlete, and Team is at a place we have never seen. The intersection between loyalty (The Fan), Business (The Organization), and the goal of team sports (Winning), gives us an insight into many concepts that affect human thinking on a day to day level (Competitive, Cost Benefit Analysis, Irrational Behavior of Love, etc.). I look forward to getting some of your thoughts, as well as sharing some of my own.

For my First Throwdown.

Is it our business to know what really happened between Jason Pierre-Paul and Prince Amukamara? Should they have to explain what happened publicly?

My answer is No to each.

Good Luck?

The Sports Sociologist said 08/22, 11:16 AM
What we are missing in this situation are facts. We have a short video that provides no context for the incident leaving us to speculate about what is actually going on. We can only attempt to decipher what we see in the video which I find unfair to the athletes involved.

The incident reminded me of Pulp Fiction restaurant scene with Mia and Vincent. Vincent asked her about the "foot massage" incident, in which she reveals it as a complete lie. "Why Marsellus threw Tony out that window is between Marsellus and Tony".

In theory, this could have had as much to do with hazing or bullying as it had to do with personal issues between the two. You can speculate as far as to say maybe Prince had it coming to him. If a video caught all the interaction between my friends and I, you may find our horseplay to be similar and possibly more egregious than that shown in the video. Young men do horseplay to the point of potential injury, so it's possible that this incident may be just that.

In the end, with no context, I believe this is non-issue that only concerns the Giants. My next argument will dig deeper into why this is a non-issue for those (including Goodell) not on the Giants.

The Sports Sociologist said 08/23, 10:26 AM
If you and your wife got into a screaming fight in your yard, should you have to explain what happened to any witnesses?

Yes, your neighbors could speculate about what happened, but in the end that a private affair between you in your wife. Yes, your neighbors may be curious about the facts, but by no means are the entitled to them.

I believe fans and media curiosity leads them to believe that they have an sense of entitlement to certain information about athletes, that in other scenarios in life, would be left private. We don't know why JPP threw Prince in that pool, we just really want too.

Fans watch sports for the drama and entertainment of sport, along with rooting interest in certain teams, albeit rooting for a team to win or lose. In this situation, it had nothing to do with actual wins and losses, crossing into the realm of real life. Given that I believe this is an in-house issue. No arrest or injuries; just a video of a incident between two men. Being nosy neighbors doesn't entitle us to knowing anymore than what we already do, and our speculation shouldn't force explanation solely because this video went public.

This is New York Giants business, not ours.