No matter what the sport, "Sledging", or trash talk, has become a key part of the game. While a majority of athletes may not be known for their trash talk, the few that are are constantly in the public eye (i.e. Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson, any international soccer player). Yet why do athletes feel it is necessary to incorporate this kind of behavior into the game?
There are, as there always are, two sides to the argument. Trash-talkers say that, by using only words, they can take their opponent of their game. They say that they will use whatever they can to get an advantadge in today's game. And this can be affective, as was seen by Zinedine Zidana's "headbutt heard 'round the world". Another attribute crap-slangers may find is that by talking themselves up, they play better. This arguement, the "putting another person down to make myself feel better", while not publicly supported by the talkers themselves, cannot be ignored as yet another tactic for the athlete to elevate their level of play.
Those who choose not to sledge must have their reasons, too. Many say that by saying nothing at all to those who incessantly chatter, the chatterer themself is thrown off their game. Others, including this author, claim that the only thing a trash-talker accomplishes is to make them want to beat them that much more. Often times coaches will use the trash talk of another team to get their players motivated for next week's game.
So, should a player trash-talk? I feel that trash talk has no place in sports. Sledging is a tool athletes claim to use as a way to take control of a situation, but many are clearly looking for media face time. It shows in no way a mental aspect of the game, either, for anyone can call their opponent a monkey's uncle. Showing the cool reservation of letting a player's actions speak for them is both more effective than trash talk, and more beneficial to their teammates.
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2 comments:
I agree with your position on trash-talk. Besides not having an appropriate place in the game, trash-talk certainly does not have an appropriate place in life. This is especially important for professional and/or famous athletes to remember. 99% of the world creates a mental image of the athlete's person from what they know about them, and what they know is mostly from the athletic arena. Even those who talk trash on the field or in conferences but never at home or anywhere else outside of the sporting arena will be viewed as a relatively aggressive and simply nasty person. Even that player's biggest fans may think they are obnoxious; the only reason they like them is for their talent. What professional athlete (or any athlete) can honestly say, when sitting down calmly and far away from their sporting venue, that they want to be equated to a raging bull with an attitude that can talk? I hope it's at most a single digit answer.
I wonder whether there's "good" and "bad" trash talk like there are "good" and "bad" fouls? I definitely agree that someone who just "runs at the mouth" on the field is not a welcome feature of any sport, and there's trash talk (most?) that's just offensive and/or boring. There are also verbal exchanges on the field that do display something of the mental game being played, and sometimes are quite clever - maybe you wouldn't call them trash-talk, though we'd still call it sledging. But maybe it says something about Australia that sledging has something of the status of an honourable tradition.
(Can I just say also that I am delighted to be introduced to the expression "crap-slanger"?)
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