Pacers brawl with Detroit spectators in NBA nightmare melee

You read that right. This is the worst display of uncontrolled violence in the history of organized sport in America, according to Warner Wolf, who said as much to radio talk-show host Mark Simone. How it started, I won't recount here--I'm not sure anyone really knows for sure right now. The police, needless to say, are involved. Already four players are now suspended from play because of this, and some players and fans will likely face felony assault-and-battery charges. (Incredibly, you had players and fans joining battle at the game--a first in professional sport in America.)

Unfortunately, all the commentators are acting surprised. None of them really gets the point. The point is that organized sport, in America as also around the world, is rapidly becoming just another outlet for the discharge of violent impulses. (That never satisfies, by the way). It wasn't always like that--sport used to be a display of skill and prowess, originally a demonstration of what a warrior could do in battle. But sport today has less in common with the noble sporting matches of ancient Greece, where it all started, than it has with the Roman spectacles of gladiators (literally, "fighters with short swords") in combat-to-the-death for the amusement of the masses.

This is not to say that sport is ipso fact unedifying and irredeemable. But if we want to redeem organized sport in this country, we need to approach it with a proper Christian world view. That means, by the way, no gambling--not even on horse or dog racing. But it also means thinking very clearly of what sport is supposed to be about--a celebration of the excellence of man, and not a substitute for blood feuds between warring city-states.

This also means that every new inductee into the ranks of professional athletes needs to have his coach ask him some hard questions. When's the last time a coach ever said to a trainee,

You have great talent, and with great talent comes great opportunity--but to realize that opportunity, you have to make some sacrifices. You will have to give up your privacy, number one. You will no longer be an anonymous John Doe. You'll be a role model to every kid who ever dreams of doing the great things that you can do. That means you have to set an example for that kid, any kid, to follow. Are you up to it? If you are, then the whole world is ready to reward you. But if you aren't, then tell me right now, and we'll forget this whole thing.

That's what we need to see--or we will see more Pacers/Pistons melees.