“The Colosseum was used for entertainment for 390 years. During this time, more than 400,000 people died inside its amphitheater. It’s also estimated that about 1,000,000 animals died in the Colosseum as well.
Modern Day Gladiators
Violence is integral in our enjoyment
of various genres of sportive employment.
Boxing and football are tops of their ilk,
wherein bloodshed and violence are mother’s milk.
It doesn’t take hindsight. Who couldn’t guess
that among all that brutal and terrible mess
of scrimmage and tackling and hitting and pounding
there wouldn’t be bone-breaking injuries abounding?
What is it in us that loves and enjoys
for mothers to sacrifice beautiful boys
for the vicarious pleasure of stove-up old men
who bask in the light of what they might have been?
Dressed up with cheerleaders, bands and cold beer,
hot dogs and ice cream and the wild cheer,
we’re convinced it is festive, patriotic and fun,
then shake our heads sadly when injury is done.
Today college bigwigs and corporate scions
don’t fill colosseums with Christians and lions,
yet they send players to slaughter for our amusement,
and the logic of this is a source of bemusement
to rational humans who see the results
of blood sport on players—kids or adults
assigned to give glory to parents, team, country.
Their brutal sacrifice seems an effrontery.
Here is another post I did on statistics regarding football-related injuries and deaths: https://judydykstrabrown.com/2019/02/03/some-statistics-on-football-related-injuries-and-deaths/
The prompt words today are gridiron, integral. tricky and hindsight.
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2019/02/03/rdp-sunday-gridiron/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2019/02/02/integral/
https://onedailyprompt.wordpress.com/2019/02/03/your-daily-word-prompt-tricky-february-3-2019/
https://fivedotoh.com/2019/02/03/fowc-with-fandango-hindsight/
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
So very true.
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I totally agree. You’ve scratched the surface of a major “passion” in our society: the desire to witness some sort of violence. And it starts so young!
Thirty years ago one dad’s glance fell on the comic book his boy was reading and he was shocked. He went through half a dozen and was horrified, so he protested through a Press news article. He was informed that witnessing the rape, torture, and murder of young women by some psycho had no effect whatsoever on the minds of young boys. “the kids don’t absorb it,” he was told. 😦
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And it has gotten worse.
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Sheesh, Judy. Are you trying to load a guilt trip on me for wanting to watch the Super Bowl today? 😉
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Yes. That was my total intention ;o)
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That is a fantastic poem and it makes an excellent point, one I thoroughly agree with. I don’t really enjoy sport at all, and bloodsports least of all. It panders to a human trait that needs to be weeded out and not encouraged.
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Love this! You hit the nail on the head (so to speak). We need to hear more like this.
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We’ve actually done a pretty good job at lowering the violence of modern sports. Now, if ONLY we could make the guys on the news lower the volume and member that really, there are other things worth noting on the news!
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Pingback: Some Statistics on Football-related Injuries and Deaths | lifelessons – a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown
I cannot agree more, Judy.
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We seem to agree on a lot, Dolly.
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I see to remember a La Fontaine fable about a rooster and a cuckoo bird…
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I don’t know that fable.. Which am I???
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It’s the one where the cuckoo bird praises the rooster because the rooster praises the bird, and it doesn’t matter which is which. I am in it with you!
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Ha..The rooster crows first. The cuckoo mimics.
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Yes, but if you believe La Fontaine, they still praise each other at the same time. I don’t care which one I am, as long as you realize that the praise is sincere.
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