A Brief History
On June 14, 2017, the Republican team was practicing for the annual Congressional baseball game when a gunman opened fire, wounding four people and resulting in the shooter being killed by police. Violence at sporting events is lamentable, but it happens.
Digging Deeper
Some other notable cases of violence in or at sporting events include the 2024 MMA fight between Igor Severino and Andre Lima when Severino was disqualified for taking a huge bite out of Lima’s bicep, the first such incident in the UFC.
Another ridiculous biting took place when heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson chomped off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear in 1997, after previously biting the other ear!
Sports riots, fights between athletes, fans attacking fans or officials, and parents attacking kids or officials are a stain on sports, none worse than the infamous “Soccer War” of 1969 when Honduras and El Salvador went too far, costing 4,000 lives.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Which incident do you think is the worst example of sports violence?
If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!
Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Jamieson, Lynn and Thomas Orr. Sport and Violence. Routledge, 2012.
Young, Kevin. Sport, Violence and Society. Routledge, 2019.
The featured image in this article, a photograph by Victoria Macchi of a scene of the aftermath of the shooting in on June 14, 2017, is in the public domain in the United States because it solely consists of material created and provided by Voice of America, the official external broadcasting service of the federal government of the United States.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
