RAGE ON THE FIELD

A former wrestling official chronicles the decline of sportsmanship in amateur and professional athletics in this nonfiction book.

West became enthralled with sports while in the fourth grade, and was particularly impressed by those officiating the games. In fact, he admired them so much that he began officiating while in junior high. Eventually, he would become a seasoned official, one who specialized in wrestling. (The author was a star wrestler in high school, good enough to win an athletic scholarship to a community college.) But his career unceremoniously ended when disaster struck—while officiating a high school wrestling match, one of the athletes attacked him. A wrestler, only 17 years old, headbutted West with such force that the blow rendered him unconscious. The ramifications of the assault were extraordinary—the author formally pressed charges, and severe injuries haunted him for years. He underwent four neck surgeries. In addition, he turned to psychotherapy in order to manage the rage and depression that ensued, a predicament he describes with impressive candor and unabashed emotion. In the aftermath of the incident, West became a dedicated activist, advocating for greater protections for sports officials as well as for a movement to reestablish a lost valorization of sportsmanship: “I felt like I was on a crusade. In addition to being a voice for other sports officials, I thought this might provide some type of closure as well. Victims of assault tend to relive their vicious attacks for years and even sometimes never get over it. Here was an avenue to help take my mind off those events.” The author convincingly makes the case that sportsmanship is in a general decline, and that the consequences, especially for younger fans who idolize their athletic heroes, are worthy of concern. In addition, he proposes a series of pragmatic reforms, including holding perpetrators of violence more robustly accountable, that are perfectly sensible, if obvious. But some readers will wish this were a shorter book—they will tire of the autobiographical portions. And while West’s prose is unfailingly clear, it is often anodyne: “I calls ’em as I sees ’em!” Nonetheless, for sports aficionados interested in this genuinely important issue, the author’s treatment is edifying.

A thorough, frank, and enlightening assessment of a growing problem in the sports world.