EDITORIAL
Violent fans prove
sports too important
The Wide World of Sports hits always been a brutal
place.
Week after week, millions of Americans tune in to watch
formalized violence. Sure, violence isn't usually the objec
tive of sports — boxing being a notable exception — but
it is an accepted element o( many of the most popular and
most revered athletic activities wo take part in.
However, the biggest news story in sports those days
has nothing to do with the traditionally violent games of
football and hockey. Instead, it concerns the attack last
week on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, which left her
unable to compete in the Olympic trials against rival
Tonya Harding.
The now wrinklo in the story, however, is the link that
drawn between that attack and Harding's husband and
bodyguard. The FBI is investigating charges that the two
men hired an Arizona "hit man" to injure Kerrigan in
order to ensure Harding's national championship.
No evidence so far has surfaced to indicate that Hard
ing herself had any knowledge of the alleged plan, but
even if the two men acted alone, it darkens the world of
sports just the same.
Sint e ii broke, the Kerrigan Harding story has been
compared to the slabbing of tennis slat Monica Soles at
a tournament last year. In that case, the guilty party was
,i psychotit fan of Steffi Graf, who wanted Seles out of
liie way so Graf could once again assume the world's num
ber-one ranking.
The comparison will be especially appropriate if it turns
out that Harding's associates did in fat I arrange the attat k
on Kerrigan. It’ll just be another case of a fan (husbands
and bodyguards are fans, too) who takes the sport way
too seriously.
But why should our society be so disturbed by the
attacks on Seles and Kerrigan? Thousands of more griov
ous assaults and murders are committed every dav. for
reasons just ns trivial — like stealing the victim's shoes.
The fact that Seles and Kerrigan are celebrities certainly
has something to do with it. Even if you don't know much
about either sport, their names are familiar. After all, they
wore both No. 1.
There might bo a littlo more concern for them because
they're women, too, and because they compete in sports
that involve no violence at all, except for falling down.
How many barroom brawls have football and baseball
players been wounded in, whore no one raised an eye
brow? Probably a lot more than we know.
It's ironic that our society embracos violence in some
contexts, but abhors it in others. It would be premature
to declare these two incidents of off-the-field sports vio
lence as a trend. We must admit that the attacks on Seles
and Kerrigan are tho acts of a few fanatics, not repre
sentative of the average sports enthusiast.
Still, wo need to consider whether our society, by giv
ing sports such a high priority, are partially to blame
for these incidents. Sports are a big deal because we make
thorn a big deal. It's a shame that a few crazies out there
think that "Who's number one?” is such an important
question that they'll go out and maim someone just so
thoy can determine the answer.
Oregon Daily
PO Ik.'
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(
OPINION
Bobbitt is back, at least reattached
Robbii: Rkevks
K. QK. I can't resist. I
didn't plan on writing
this column, but the Bob
bitts am back in the news, and I
couldn't let them go unscathed
After all, how many stories are
there in the news as outrageous
as this one?
As just about everyone knows
by now. )ohn and l.orena Bob
bitt, once a happily married cou
ple. made headlines during the
past few months for a passionate
night that didn't quite end that
way.
John Bobbitt, as the story goes,
went to bed one night with
l.orena and wanted to have sex
then and there. And so they hud
sex. except that Lorena claimed
she didn't really want to have
sex.
Lorena complained to her
husband, but he apparently
didn't really care what she
thought about it. as her side of
the story goes.
So l.orena did what anyone in
that position would naturally
do. She went to the kitchen to
get a knife and cut off two-thirds
of her husband's [Minis.
She then got in her car and
drove away, with penis in hand.
She then tossed it out onto a
nearby field.
John (after announcing "I've
been cut" — the understatement
of the year!) was rushed to the
hospital by an overnight guest
and taken into surgery after los
ing a significant amount of
blood.
The penis was found by
police later and successfully
reattached to its rightful owner.
Lorena Bobbitt has repeated
ly claimed that John abused her
a number of times and that the
incident of alleged rape on the
night In question wasn't the first
time he assaulted her.
So Lorena is on trial now.
accused of "maliciously wound
ing" her husband.
The truil looks pretty i ut and
lined Kvervone stipulates that
John was missing lus member
for several hours on the fateful
night, as pictures shown to the
Bobbitt trial jury showed
And no one really questions
the fact that l.orena was the per
petrator of this treacherous act.
Then that would make 1-orena
guilty, right?
Well, maybe not
Lorenn Hobbitt is claiming
that after being subjected to
repeated abuse by John, she had
an "irresistible impulse" to lob
off her husband's penis that
night
Wow.
l.et me digress here for a sec
ond. To be perfectly clear,
assaults, including rape, are hor
rible crimes, and if John is guilty
of those, then he should be pun
ished for them.
However, John has already
gone on trial for assaulting his
wife and was acquitted of those
charges this past fall
Ixirena might have been justi
fied to have injured her husband
(in a less malicious wav) to
defend herself against unwanted
sex while John was making
overtures to it.
However, it seems like a
stretch for her to claim inno
cence on the basis of some odd
impulse she felt that she had to
act on.
Not surprisingly, the Bobbitts
are looking to end their marriage
at this point. A pretty prudent
move, all would agree.
Some of the stuff that hap
pened the night of the injury
was weird enough, but the story
only gets more interesting.
John Bobbitt has been work
ing the trashy TV talk show cir
cuit. I saw him on some two-day
Bobbitt extravaganza on (I think)
the Jenny Jones show.
Bobbitt was clearly enjoying
the show as much as the audi
ence was. He answered a variety
of questions, ranging from the
obvious (Did you feel any pain?)
to the oddball (Have you had sex
since the reattachment?). And
yes. he tried to have sex after
ward. But not with Lorena.
In fact, John has set up a toll
free number to collect donations
for his substantial medical and
legal bills. In return for a dona
lion of a curtain amount (about
$20). a Bobbitt fan < an receive a
T-shirt that graphically and
illustratively describes his
injury I saw this T-shirt on the
show, and I guarantee that you
would stand out on campus it
you wore one.
The Bobbitt case has inspired
a number of other wives to vio
lently rebel against their hus
bands in rather malicious ways.
Several months ago there was
a case in the newspaper of a
wife dumping some sort of acid
into her husband's "lap.” The
husband sustained substantial
injuries. There have also been
sporadic reports of attempted
castrations and other wounding
incidents.
1 would hate to think that this
was becoming a trend in Ameri
ca. There are far more civil ways
of solving marital problems than
by effectively rendering the
male partner inoperative.
While John Bobbitt's actions
cannot be condoned (if they are
true), one has to wonder why
Lorena didn't just leave him if
things were getting to be so bad.
Rape and assault are serious
problems in America. Many
women in this country are bat
tered by their spouses on a daily
Iwisis, and that is a tragedy some
thing must lie done about.
However, L.orena Bobbitt
crossed the line. Rather than
showing herself as a victim and
her husband as a villain. Ixtrena
risks going to jail for 20 years
and being deported (she is
Ecuadoran), all for acting on her
"irresistible impulse." Not a
smart thing to do.
If anything good can coine out
of this (other than the fact that
talk shows have booming ratings
and that the media can now say
"penis"), it might be the fact that
assault has come into the spot
light as a societal and criminal
problem that needs to be dealt
with.
It’s now up to the courts to
decide just whose assault was
the problem, John's or Lorena's.
Meanwhile, it seems that hus
bands around the country have
been served with a warning —
either shape up. or else!
Robbie Reeves is a columnist
for the Emerald.