Trash Talk: Its Prevalence and Futility.
Originally Published on the 26th of January 2021
Aaaahh, trash talk or what I call weaponized rhetoric has been around ever since I can remember. Talking trash isnât just limited to the sporting arena. Friends picking on each other is also a form of trash talking. Depending on the closeness of the relationship in which the trash talking takes place, it can either lead to belly laughs or fisticuffs.
Trash talking has probably been around since human beings started competing with each other, primarily in the sporting arena. The need to outdo the other while also talking trash adds to the drama of sports.
However, these verbal attacks were kept behind closed doors and the public was none the wiser for it. Slowly but surely the public became aware of these verbal barbs thrown at each other, the publicâs interest in witnessing those match ups became greater.
Yet, most competitors as well as the organizers had no intention of publicly engaging in trash talking to their opponent. The main reason for the reluctance is that the narrative of sporting events is that it is based on mutual respect, humility, fairness, and meritocracy. The mantra being, âthe best man always wins.â Trash talking is antithetical to the image the sports wants to maintain and promote.
Rather than leave the matter up to the athletes to regulate trash talk, the governing bodies made rules that curbed trash talking. These were the âbringing the sport in to disreputeâ rules. This meant that a lot of the trash talk is done away from referees and umpires because, were they to be aware of it, there will be some form of punishment. It could be something as simple as a warning or a far more serious one like a suspension along with a hefty fine. It all depended on the severity of the incident.
Retired athletesâ retelling of instances of trash talk are hilarious. The basketball world is full of stories of how great Larry Bird and Michael Jordan are at talking trash. Retired athletes like Kevin Garnett and Reggie Miller tell stories of talking trash to Michael Jordan and how spectacularly it backfires on them as MJ would pull off one incredible move after another making bucket after bucket with them having no reply to it.
Trash talk is primarily used to get in to the head of their opponent and to weaken them psychology. The idea is to have them defeated even before they enter the arena. Just as trash talk could weaken an opponent, it can also energize them and be a motivator. For the overcompetitive person, trash talk is just fuel added to the fire that burns within them. It is undeniable that trash talk adds to the spectacle and generates heavy interest from the public. Who can forget rivalries born out of trash talking? Such as the legendary match ups between Patrick Viera and Roy Keane gave us some of the best moments in football, Michael Jordanâs match up with Isiah Thomas or anyone who says anything about him gets annihilated on the basketball court, and, Babe Ruth and Ty Cobbâs rivalry in baseball.
Trash talk is not just limited to the players, it also happens between coaches. Who can forget the war of words between Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho? Jose Mourinhoâs ability to talk trash is the stuff of legends. Pep Guardiola admitted in an interview after leaving Barcelona that one of the reasons he left was because he was tired of the back and forth between him and Jose.
For most of a sportâs organizing or regulating body discourages trash talk as it is seen as disrespectful and shows a lack of humility. It is not so with combat sports. Combat sports such as Wrestling (WWE style, not the Olympic one), Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts actively encouraged trash talk. It adds to the spectacle as well as to the drama. Due to the nature of it being one on one as well as the violence involved, trash talk was perfect to wring the audience in to a frenzy.
The first instance of securing a title fight through trash talk and annoyance was Jack Johnson in 1908. It took Johnson 2 years of following the reigning champion Tommy Burns to agree. Even then he did so after the promoters guaranteed to pay him $30,000 win or lose. His constant taunts, attacks through the media, and literally showing up to places where Tommy Burns was were things that were unheard of for a black man to do. Through his action and his skin colour Jack Johnson was immediately cast as the villain and Tommy the hero. In 1908, the racist whites expected their white hero beat the black villain. The fight took place in Australia and Johnson toyed with Burns, delivering punch after punch while laughing and trash talking to Burns. It got so bad that the police intervened and put a stop to the fight.
In doing what he did, Jack Johnson has popularized trash talk and turned it into a tactical advantage. Subsequent fighters have taken trash talking to new and dangerous levels.
Perhaps the most famous trash talker in the world Muhammad Ali admitted that he used the tactics Jack Johnson used to get a title fight with Sonny Liston. Aliâs eloquence and quick wit made him the perfect trash talker. He even turned some of his trash talks in the form of poems. He would show up to Sonny Listonâs and trash talk him, he would show up places where Liston was eating, he would show up to the gym and taunt Liston. He successfully hounded Sonny Liston in to giving him a title shot.
As expected, Aliâs fights generated huge interest from the public and drew large crowds to his fights. He always thought that his very eloquent trash talk was in good faith and spirit. He had somehow convinced himself that the person at whom the trash talk was directed knew that he was putting on a show for the media to gin up curiosity and increase the size of the television audience. He was mistaken. One of those people who never recovered from the hurtful and mean things said at him was Joe Frasier. Even Ali admitted that he regrets some of the things he said. Sadly, Joe Frasier died without getting an apology.
The art of trash talking carries with it a dark underbelly that rears its ugly head from time to time. And when it does, it leaves the sport to claim these are one off occurrences. And they are right. However, it has to be acknowledged that these instances are on the rise.
Because trash talk has no boundaries, has no limits, has no topic that canât be touched, and definitely no person that is off limits, trash talk has led to fights during press conferences, weigh inâs and during the face off.
It used to be fun to watch the juvenile insults fighters throw at each and we, the audience, saw it as lighthearted banter between opponents. That is not the case with these new age fighters who use trash talking as the means to insult, offend, belittle, and dismiss. These arenât athletes who derive honour from competing. For them winning is all that matters and they will use any and all methods to achieve that objective.
Perhaps, the greatest trash talker of this generation Conor McGregor has taken trash talking too far according to many. But how can we say he took it too far when there are no rules or limits. Anything regulated by an unwritten understanding between parties cannot hold a participantâs refusal to follow it.
Trash talking has become so bad that a confrontation in which Khabib slapped a team mate of Conor for talking shit about him. Khabib took offence to Artem Lobov insinuating that Khabib faked injuries to get out of fights.
This led to the infamous dolly throwing incident in Brooklyn where Conor and a bunch of his friends attacked the bus Khabib and his team were in. All this because of some trash talk and a slap.
After that incident, it was obvious to all that a fight between Conor and Khabib had to be made. During the promotion of the fight Conor took his trash talking to new levels of disrespect and offensiveness. He labeled Khabibâs father as a coward, called Khabib a mad backwards cunt because he doesnât drink alcohol.
Khabib is not one to talk much during the buildup. He is on record saying he wouldnât do any promotional work if he wasnât contractually obliged to do so.
The fight itself was one of dominance. Conor was out of his depth and he was getting pummeled. Khabib is well known for talking inside the octagon and as he delivered one blow after another, we can hear him say, âletâs talk.â âLetâs talk now.â It was a show of control and domination by a supremely gifted fighter who doesnât care to trash talk.
After Khabib submitted Conor, he jumped over the octagon and attacked a friend of Conorâs who had been hurling insults at him throughout the fight. The venomous trash talk has finally consumed Khabib.
In the aftermath of the fight, Khabib excoriated those who condoned Conorâs behaviour and allow the disrespect to fester in a sport he saw as one of mutual respect and honour.
Khabib was almost universally condemned for his inability to control his emotions after the match and going after Dillon Danis. It was the most watched pay per view event in UFC history and the scenes after the main event were exactly the kind of scenes the UFV didnât want to broadcast. And it seemed like trash talk has taken another victim.
Actually, what many thought would happen to the UFC did not happen. Because of who Khabib is and his personality people gave him the benefit of the doubt and blamed the trash talk. It wouldnât have worked out that way it did had it not been anyone else but Khabib.
Khabib comes from the mountainous region of Dagestan which is part of the Russian federation, and he is a pious Muslim. Because of who he is there was never a second of doubt as to why he did what he did.
Whether anyone realises or not, ever since that incident trash talk has been on the decline. Fighters no longer feel the need to go overboard with the insults. For this, we should all thank Khabib. He has landed a huge blow against this abhorrent and demeaning act of trash talk. To Conor McGregors credit, he did learn the one thing he cannot allow to happen if he were to continue trash talking. That being, one who talks trash cannot be dominated. Losing is acceptable, but getting beat and dominated are unacceptable. To continue to be a trash talker one must know, it is not about losing, it is the manner in which you were beaten.
Trash talking will always be around so long as human beings compete with each other. That is not the concern. The concern is, in what form will it exist. Will it be confined to the context in which it can exist or will it go deeper and deeper into the abyss of human disrespect.
