Let's Kill 'Em [Hardcover]

Jon Leizman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 17, 1999

Let's Kill 'Em: Understanding and Controlling Violence in Sports explores the philosophical and practical aspects of the traditional Western approach to competition. This approach has distorted the manner in which we teach and learn how to compete, focusing on the prominence of violence in sport. Jon Leizman suggests practical methods of controlling violence in professional team sports, and offers a discussion of how competition is understood in terms of the self and the opponent. He follows the philosophy of Western sport from its beginnings with the ancient Greeks, through the common deficiencies and inadequacies of the current state of sports, noting its insufficient remedies for violence, using many examples from popular professional sports. As a solution to the problem of violence in sports, Leizman develops a unique overview of sports using several concepts grafted from Eastern philosophical traditions including Taoism and Zen Buddhism. Finally, he suggests philosophical and administrative remedies for on-the-field violence taking place outside the actual game and which begins with sport's youngest participants.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In 'Let's Kill 'Em' Leizman has some suggestions for sports leagues on how to limit fan violence ... Limit/eliminate the consumption of alcohol .... warn and evict overly rowdy fans ....control the marketing of violence.>>>> (Usa Today )

In terms of athletes, off-the-field violence has really been escalating. Whether that will sort of spill over into more confrontational relationships between the fans and athletes, I don't know.>>>> (The Palm Beach Post )

In terms of athletes, off-the-field violence has really been escalating. Whether that will sort of spill over into more confrontational relationships between the fans and athletes, I don't know. (The Palm Beach Post )

In 'Let's Kill 'Em' Leizman has some suggestions for sports leagues on how to limit fan violence ... Limit/eliminate the consumption of alcohol .... warn and evict overly rowdy fans ....control the marketing of violence. (Usa Today )

About the Author

Jon Leizman is a former college teacher and basketball coach.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: University Press Of America (June 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761813772
• ISBN-13: 978-0761813774
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,657,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The mental game, June 2, 2000

By 

TC (Yellowstone) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let's Kill 'Em: Understanding and Controlling Violence in Sports (Paperback)

"One Western advocate of compassion as a motivating force in professional athletics is the basketball coach, Pat Riley, coach of the Miami Heat, as of this writing, and former three-time world champion coach of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers. Riley consciously uses anger as a motivational device for his team, regarding anger as an `art' that requires advance planning, great timing, and exquisite sensitivity. It also requires something else: `Compassion is vital. Without it, anger degenerates into brutality...'"

I enjoyed the topic and found Leizman's arguments not only interesting, but also well-justified. The reading was moderately painful due to the academic nature of the work. The essay was probably originally conceived as a Ph.D. thesis. But for a scant 100 pages it was well worth the effort. I credit Leizman for developing a stout bibliography to justify his positions, as well as incorporating a non-traditional approach into changing violent behavior. In particular, Leizman makes the recommendation that athletes, especially those at the professional level, should strive to re-unite body and mind, and to practice compassion as a motivating force. He incorporates learning from several Eastern sources as the basis of his recommendation, with a special emphasis on the Aikido school of martial arts. In addition to athletes, Leizman comments on coaches. He asserts that the biggest hurdle facing today's professional coaches is how to challenge their players intellectually. That's why I like Pat Riley's quote. Maintaining physical skills and sharpness is the easier part. At the highest level of sports competition physical fundamentals comes naturally. It's the mental game that is difficult. Leizman's contention is that a focus on competition and winning does not give athletes an avenue to improve mentally. Whereas, a focus on personal excellence does.

3.0 out of 5 stars Let's Kill 'Em review, April 10, 2005

By 

Tadd/OSU (oklahoma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let's Kill 'Em: Understanding and Controlling Violence in Sports (Paperback)

Jon Leizmans book Let's Kill 'Em: understanding and Controlling violence in sports is a book that addresses the issues of violence within sports in the western culture. This is a book for the well educated and who want to learn something about the issue of violence in sports. There has been many instances in the past where sports have been know for violent behavior and in this book Leizman goes over issues that shows the origins of violence in sports. He writes as far back as the Olympics and progresses to the present day. This book was written to further prevention of sport violence and Leizman gives us different ideas on how we can stop this problem. Leizmans talk about how we can use martial arts to learn how we can control our tempers and for those who are unable he talks about bringing up stiffer fines and penalties to reduce the occurences. The book as a whole was very interesting and enlightening, but younger readers beware this book can be confusing at parts.