Integrative Health Consultant and Educator
Integrative Health Consultant and Educator

You Got To Know When To Walk Away….

The other Kenny Rogers (Texas Ranger pitcher) with arguably the best first half of the season in the American league lost his composure if not his mind before a game in Arlington, Texas on Wednesday, June 29, 2005. Footage of him pushing away TV cameras, knocking down a cameraman and kicking the camera dominated the national news today. One of the cameramen was evaluated at a local hospital and is reporting injuries to his neck and back.

What pushed the most valuable player on the Rangers to join the ranks of Bobby Knight, Ron Artest, and other notorious athletes with violent tempers? Is it the intense competition that has driven their success since childhood? Is it the constant media pressure and scrutiny? Is it the fault of a social system that elevates our sports heroes to positions loftier than us mere mortals with their multi-million dollar a year salaries? Is it the fact that if they don’t continue to perform they are history? Is it the fact that they are really just commodities that can be traded away? Is it because overnight they can lose a team mate who has been traded? Yes, to all of the above plus sometimes you can add in performance enhancing substances including but not just steroids.

The biggest problem is that we are not learning from experience. The Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association lost their star player, Ron Artest, for the season after he charged into the stands during a game with the Detroit Pistons in the fall of 2004. The Texas Rangers were aware of Kenny Roger’s temper and his progressive loss of control during the prior month but they apparently took no action.

What causes this behavior from a biological, psychological and cultural perspective?

Related Article: Violence in Sports …

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