Once in a while sports cease to be the competitive joy that takes us away from our troubles. Usually that occurs when someone has too much to drink resulting in embarrassment to both him and the game. Or, the fire needed to compete gets perverted by performance enhancing drugs. But, there are times when reality crashes into athletics and we are brutally reminded that the games exist within the real world.
 

One sad example is the senseless slaughter perpetrated against the Sri Lankan cricket team. An armed attack in Lahore, Pakistan was directed at the team as they approached a stadium where they were scheduled to play a match against Pakistan. Tensions in South Asia have been heightened since the attacks in Mumbai which marked a three month anniversary yesterday when the attack took place.

Although no members of the team were killed in the attack, seven players, a coach and an umpire were wounded. Six police and a driver who were part of the convoy transporting the team to the venue were slain by the gunmen. The only other comparison to the attack is the slaying of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics. To draw a further comparison police who waged a 15 minute battle with the attackers believe that hostage taking had been part of the plan.

The match that was to have been played was scheduled in part to try to promote the idea that Pakistan is stable and the country is safe. The Pakistani team had been denied the opportunity to stage matches against Australia and India after both countries refused to send their teams citing security concerns. The International Cricket Council, which is based in Dubai, had not promoted the match stating that Sri Lanka and Pakistan had determined that it was safe to play. Yesterdays attack has effectively closed the door on any international athletic events being staged in Pakistan.

With both Sri Lanka and Pakistan being torn by internal strife, the idea of staging the match was to promote good will both internationally and within their own borders. While suspicion for masterminding the attack falls heavily on Lashkar-e-Taiba, the organization blamed for the Mumbai massacre, attention is also being paid to Tamil Tiger a separatist group that has been fighting within the borders of Sri Lanka.

There appears to be no reason for the attack beyond grabbing headlines and attention and throwing a scare into international politics. Attacking a cricket team with automatic weapons and rockets gains little else beyond the terror factor. With no organization yet to come forth to claim the attack, the reason behind the slaughter becomes murkier. Malcolm X once stated that it didn’t have to make sense; it only had to get noticed. This type of action is certain to draw notice and repercussions will be felt far beyond the world of cricket.

Once again the world was proven to be a dangerous place and the illusion of safety can be drawn away quickly in the blink of an eye and the firing of a machine gun. A Sri Lankan cricket team was riding a bus expecting to play a match against host Pakistan when their world was shattered by gunfire. The physical wounds will heal, but the mental wounds of being targeted to dramatize an agenda that hasn’t even been revealed will be long lasting.