Do boxers have that bad a rep?
What kind of rep do you expect for someone who hits other people for fun and/or profit...oh, wait a minute...
Right, what's a little sweater sniffing between sworn enemies?
Riley ,'Sleeper'
Natter 32 Flavors and Then Some
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Frankenbuddha - Feb 04, 2005 8:31:25 am PST #3995 of 10002
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
Nutty - Feb 04, 2005 8:31:56 am PST #3996 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
Do boxers have that bad a rep?
I don't know about now, but the sport has a long rep of being a nasty (and corrupt) business.
However, I was just making a joke about him having good impulse-control outside of the ring. (And double points for refusing the nationalist Nazi trend in the 30s.)
shrift - Feb 04, 2005 8:33:05 am PST #3997 of 10002
"You can't put a price on the joy of not giving a shit." -Zenkitty
Do boxers have that bad a rep?
I think Mike Tyson skews the data. But I think having a crazy-ass, ear-biting mofo in your field would make any profession look bad. Although to be fair, I don't think many crazy-ass, ear-biting mofos are attracted to teaching, medicine, or actuarial science.
However, if all the actuaries on this board stand up and proclaim that they are crazy-ass, ear-biting mofos, I shall stand corrected.
DXMachina - Feb 04, 2005 8:34:34 am PST #3998 of 10002
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.
However, if all the actuaries on this board stand up and proclaim that they are crazy-ass, ear-biting mofos, I shall stand corrected.
Well, it was just that one time for Jon B.
§ ita § - Feb 04, 2005 8:35:51 am PST #3999 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
the sport has a long rep of being a nasty (and corrupt) business
As far as I can tell, sport is a pretty corrupt/nasty business. Got some nice people in it, but still.
Frankenbuddha - Feb 04, 2005 8:36:27 am PST #4000 of 10002
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
Well, it was just that one time for Jon B.
Well, when a man plays Theremin and wears silver pleather, crazy-ass ear-biting starts to seem mundane.
Jesse - Feb 04, 2005 8:37:43 am PST #4001 of 10002
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Based mostly on the sole example of George Foreman, I can see a lot of boxers being actually sweeties (like a lot of big, tough-looking guys I've known), but putting on a scary image for publicity's sake. Tyson notwithstanding.
DebetEsse - Feb 04, 2005 8:38:28 am PST #4002 of 10002
Woe to the fucking wicked.
I think they do, based on the "how would I feel if my daughter were dating one?" test. If all I knew about the guy was that he was a boxer, I'd be significantly more wary than if he were an actuary.
Nutty - Feb 04, 2005 8:41:25 am PST #4003 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
Well, yes, but when the Black Sox conspired to throw the World Series, nobody died as a result. Brain damage and death have a bad habit of showing up in professional boxing, and are far rarer in other sports.
Even in the NFL, when it was obvious Steve Young was getting worse and worse concussions, more and more often, people started muttering that it was time for him to retire -- they didn't tell him to keep playing. After a couple of defensive back broke their necks in compression fractures, they invented those funny collars some defensive men wear now, to protect the cervical spine from compression.
I suspect boxing doesn't have a union, either, where most pro sports do (of varying levels of power).
Frankenbuddha - Feb 04, 2005 8:41:44 am PST #4004 of 10002
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
Got some nice people in it, but still.
On a serious note, I think sports attract people of all stripes, with a common thread of competitiveness (which encompasses agression, assertiveness, etc.). Doesn't preclude a sunny disposition, but I can see how it would attract those with a nasty streak. In some cases, the nasty streak may only exist during the competition (and there may be an element of catharsis at work). But I don't know if Tyson is any more representative of boxers than, say, Ty Cobb was of baseball players.