Wow...I didn't realize that I was so passionate about sports until I started writing

I wanted to start by saying that I think that everyone who has presented has done a wonderful job on their presentations. I have learned a great deal of the presentations and enjoy the variety of topics that people have chosen. I also believe that it helps that we were able to choose something that we were passionate about. I know that I was very avid about my subject (baby abandonment) and that certainly helped me to better present the rhetoric of it. I also felt that CA and David were passionate about their topic of Violence in Sports and the media coverage of that violence.
I was one of the many people who was not even aware of that Mr. Stern had even given a speech following the NBA incident. I had seen the footage of the fight MANY times, but had yet to hear of the speech that followed it. I think that this is an important point to make because it does show how the media covers only what will draw attention. Most people wanted to see the fight, but only the avid sports fans were likely to care what action was being taken about situation. I must; however, agree with the general consensus that Mr. Stern did seem overly concerned or sincere in his speech. While I agree on his lack of interest, I do not agree that he was wrong to state that Clemson and USC should deal with their own problems.
I am of the opinion that these teams are not in his realm. He can not control their actions nor can he control the coverage of the NBA incident or how much TV the college athletes watch. He apologized for the actions of his teams and dolled out punishments as needed; however, he can not be held responsible for the actions of a college football team.
I also must disagree that the NBA fight was truly related to the Clemson vs. USC fight. I believe that there is some connection to be made; however, the connection is not between these two fights but rather between the fights and the rising tread towards violence in sports. The problem of violence in sports has been a rising issue throughout the world over the past several years. I believe that the timing of these particular fights were simply a mere coincidence. I feel that since there was only a difference of one night between the fights and during that night the Clemson and USC football players were in a hotel preparing for their game they were not likely to have known the full attention that the NBA fight was receiving. I do not believe that Bowden can attribute the mistakes of Clemson’s players to the faults of the NBA players.
Also as a side note, while most of us wish to believe that people do not go the game to see a fight, the people at the game did enjoy the fight. Everyone was yelling and was excited to see the fight. This is not the fault of the players or the media. Also the media would not cover such stories so avidly if the people did not support the coverage. Everyone rushed out to buy the articles and pictures of the events and watched them over and over on TV. If people would not show such interest in the violence in sports then the number of cases would diminish. If a great number of people would refuse to buy the newspapers or watch the coverage of such events or stopped buying tickets for teams who displayed such behavior then the players and media would have more incentive to stop the violence and coverage. I am not saying that the general audience is completely to blame but they are supporting such behavior.