On the front page of last Wednesday's Northern Echo, there was a story about one teenage footballer, Mark Ward, breaking the leg of an opponent, Jonathan Carroll, in a Sunday morning game of football.
My first thought when reading this piece was, I wonder which player the young man thought he was emulating when he performed that challenge.
As breaks go, it was a pretty bad one, damaging the joint itself on both sides, plus tendons and ligaments. Mr Ward then allegedly stamped on Mr Carroll's leg for good measure.
As with violence in films or computer generated gore, you can argue that we are becoming desensitized to horrific sports injuries. Witnessing somebody's leg bone protruding through their shin should make us violently, physically, sick but in reality we have a sick fascination with it.
When Eduardo's horrific leg break was deemed too violent to be shown on television, most people went searching for it on YouTube.
And, although this point is taken too far by over zealous protesters, it is human nature to imitate.
Of course teenagers will copy players when playing football. They copy goal celebrations, tricks, technique and unfortunately sometimes the aggression which goes with it, without the same level of control or ability.
There is an argument to say that if your role model is an overpaid, under worked pseudo-athlete (yes I love football too but it doesn't change my opinion of the nature of the beast), then you need to choose better role models but it does not change the fact that when you are trying to play the game of your heroes, you will try to be like them.
At nineteen, Mark Ward is responsible for his own actions, but the FA is responsible for making rules to show exactly what is and isn't acceptable in football, and for upholding them.
I'm not suggesting that every footballer who injures another should find themselves in court, that would be patently ridiculous and most players are not trying to injure their opponents. But if you are purposefully trying to break a bone in someone's body, surely it counts as assault, even though you pick a nice sporting venue to do it in?
Football is a strange game. It is full of men who under normal circumstances wouldn't hit the deck if you brushed against them yet when they are playing, they throw themselves to the floor at the slightest bit of contact.
Players like the one and only (thank Jose for that) Cristiano Ronaldo play the game based on incredible skill and mediocre acting ability, particularly physical comedy.
My observations of the men in my life lead me to the conclusion that just as if a member of the hairier sex has a cold they are 'dying', if there actually is something wrong with them, they will swear they are absolutely fine and carry on regardless.
The same applies in football. At the KC Stadium against Hull earlier in the season, I watched a clearly dazed and confused Didier Digard insist he was fine and continue to play despite suspected blurred vision and/or a mild concussion after an almighty clash of heads. He pulled the same trick against Sunderland.
Players who return to the pitch bleeding and bandaged are hailed as heroes for their bravery.
Andrew Taylor played a chunk of last season with cracked ribs and a broken foot. Photographs of Boro's Franck Queudrue and Emanuel Pogatetz or Chelsea's John Terry with blood streaming down their faces embody the idea of the unbreakable defender.
You can't fault their committment but the common sense may be somewhat lacking!
Don't get me wrong, if they can continue I am all for speedy recoveries and displays of slightly masochistic masculinity, but you have got to know when to stop.
Perhaps it is to make up for the fact that football is actually a rather feminine sport - calm down and think it about it before you start vehemently protesting. It is all about balance, co-ordination and intricate footwork. 'Skill' is getting your body, and particularly your feet, to move in harmony and do what you want them to do. Even goalkeepers are essentially acrobats or gymnasts leaping and contorting to stop the ball hitting the back of the net.
Possibly as a reaction to the 'prettiness' of the beautiful game, challenges are getting more aggressive and sometimes downright dangerous.
I have said before that I think there should be a scale for violent conduct - is Aliadiere's girly slap on Mascherano really the same as Joey Barton punching somebody in the face? Should a goalkeeper get the same punishment for slightly catching an opponent as he comes out to make a save as a player who through anger or carelessness puts an opponent out of the game for a couple of months?
It is all about intention and that's fine but it is the intentions which are increasingly violent.
We all remember the brawl between some of Newcastle United's more charming players - actually that's brawls plural but I'm just talking about on the pitch, not the training ground here...
Then there is the fans' tendancy to assume anyone not of their team who goes down is just cheating.
Whilst he lay on the ground writhing in agony, he alleges rival fans swore at him and called him a cheat, yelling at him to get up.
Sound familiar?
When Josh Walker limped off in tears against Sunderland having tried to run off approximately three separate injuries, the Black Cats' fans jeered at him to get up and then to leave the pitch faster!
This is a common misconception. Partly because it is sometimes very difficult to judge the nature and the extent of a player's injury from the stands - not that that stops us vocalising our opinions - and partly because as the opposition, they get no benefit of the doubt or sympathy from us.
Then there is the question of past form. There is definitely an element of the boy who cried wolf about bookings these days.
If a player is known for going down easily (unless he plays in an England shirt sometimes), he is unlikey to get the decision when he is actually fouled.
I would also argue that, however subconsciously, referees look at players rather than individual incidents sometimes.
At the Boro, Tony McMahon and Matthew Bates seem to get booked or at least warned fairly frequently for what are in actual fact rather good tackles because they have been known to make late and sometimes rash challenges on other occasions.
We love players who tackle hard but I firmly believe players need to be taught to tackle cleanly because some of them seem to have forgotten how to do this!
Cattermole fans look away now!
I have heard many people, well okay, Wigan fans and Jeff Winter, say that Catts is the kind of player you won't complain about if he's at your club. Except that we did. I still think that Lee has the makings of a very good young player but his tendancy to get booked was always a problem and the ten yellows he received this season show that far from maturing, he is actually getting worse.
I blame Steve Bruce partly for this. Yes you love a player with the strength and confidence to 'get stuck in' but making them beyond reproach will not help if said player ends someone's career through his lack of discipline.
I'm not suggesting that the FA is responsible for what may have been a personal action in a Sunday morning game of football but it illustrates the point that it is 'Aggression', rather than 'Respect', which is increasingly prevelant in the modern game. And as with all behaviour, it is the alpha males who dictate what is socially acceptable.
First published on www.ComeOnBoro.com on 29/4/2009
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