Hockey as Acceptable Violence?

Saturday night I attended a local hockey game for the Syracuse Crunch. A friend from work had invited me along and I jumped at the chance since I had enjoyed watching hockey back in my college days. These teams are in the American Hockey League (AHL), or the stepping stone to pro NHL careers. We played the Albany River Rats that night, a big rivalry, so it was sure to be an exciting game.

For me, I love the fast pace and the tough guys on ice skates who are so graceful and forceful at the same time. The place was packed and to my guess the seats were probably 90% full filled with men, women, young boys and girls from 3 years to 16 years. It seemed like quite the family outing. I enjoy it when they smash into the glass in front of you, but that's about as violent as I like. What I wasn't used to was the fighting and more importantly, the audience's reaction to a fight between players. Back in college, there was no fighting allowed, but here, fighting is part of the (gasp) entertainment!

Picture the Colosseum...wait, I mean the War Memorial in Syracuse. Two players are pushing and shoving each other. The Crunch guy trips the River Rat with his stick and he falls hard on the ice. Next thing you know the River Rat is up, gloves and helmet are off and the Refs are surrounding the two players. They keep the teammates away and blow their whistles to commence the fight. These two guys punch each other until one falls (then the fight is over, the guy who fell first the loser) or until the Ref's feel they need to break it up.

My attention was quickly taken from the fight to the reaction of the crowd. It was incredible. People were standing up, pounding their own fists into the air and yelling for their guy to win. By win I mean violently punch and beat the crap out of the other guy. What was more appalling was the fact that the young children were jumping up and down, screaming and rooting for their player as well. I sat there in awe while two men punched each other as adults and small children egged them on. It was barbaric.

I am a people watcher, I can't help it. It seemed second nature to me to watch the crowd reaction instead of the fight and when I mentioned it to my friends, they really hadn't looked at it from my point of view before. I guess you could say that I was shocked. Sure, I watch violent movies like "Wanted", but I know those are fake. Seeing two people fight in reality is scary to me. I hate boxing and wrestling for that reason and I think ultimate fighting is disgusting.

I guess my comment on society is two-fold from this experience:

• First, we think we are so civilized with our blackberries and designer shoes, but this showed me that we are no further evolved than the Romans and Greeks with their vicious fights at the Colosseum, or even the times of crowds attending beheadings and hangings. Perhaps violence is an ingrained form of human expression, and is not something that we will ever lose.
• Secondly, this mob mentality was unsettling. Almost everyone in the stadium was in on the fight. The fact that even small children were contributing was really interesting, since they see their parents and every other adult acting this way, so they follow suit. I wonder if they really understand what is happening. I bet most of the adults don't realize it either simply because after all, it's just part of the game, right?