Last week we saw a brawl between Nascar stars Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick among others and crew pit members. The specifics of the race are irrelevant, let’s call it a difference of opinions. We’ve seen plenty of athletes “lose their cool” over the game per se. What I did find interesting was the term’s used on different sports cites and outlets to describe what took place. It’s fortunate nobody was seriously injured 1st of all and it appeared to be not much more than a scuffle between grown men. That’s exactly how I heard it referred to. A scuffle or light brawl. I’ve seen plenty of NFL and NBA scuffles and those players instantly became thugs. Feelings and emotion are no doubt linked to sports. However it’s almost as if people of color should remain emotionless or forced to become associated with hyper aggressiveness or bad intentions. Thinking back to that infamous interview with Richard Sherman makes wonder how it would have been widely viewed had JJ watt said the same thing after making a game saving play? Or what if Kirk Hinrich pushed an opposing player instead of Jimmy Butler? I’ve seen both take place they just get covered differently. I don’t feel the men in Nascar should be talked down upon nor do I feel it should have been covered differently I’m just asking the question why aren’t other occurrences covered the same way?
