Ultimate Tazer Ball: Does Sport Sometimes Go Too Far?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/01/ultimate-tazer-ball_n_1304396.html

I saw the headline for this "new sport" and was somewhat intrigued.  By the end of the article, I was shocked.  This "sport" combines soccer, football and rugby.  The point of the game is to get a medicine ball into your opponent's goal, scoring a point for your team.  Sounds harmless, right?  Not when the opposing team has the ability to taze you if you are in posession of the ball in an effort to steal the ball from you.  One of the creators of the game states that by allowing the tazer into the sport, it helps to allow all players an equal advantage during game play.  The shorter, smaller guy can stop an opposing player that is twice his size.  Coming from a recreational background, I am the first proponent on games that allow everyone to play equally and to have the opportunity for both sides to play a fair game.  But this is taking it to a whole new level.  It seems to me that the creators are using the "fair play for all" as a way of giving credit to this game.  Knowing the general rules, is it really possible for there to be a positive spin on this sport? 

This leads me to my main thought: are sports getting too out of hand?  Webster's dictionary, in a nushell, defines sport as a physical activity requiring skill.  Why then are sports taken to the next level in so many arenas?  Sarah Burke, Canadian freestyle skiier, was killed during a practice run this past January.  After her death, many fellow skiiers commented on the fact that their sport is becomming more and more dangerous, with participants seeking steeper hills and bigger drops.  As what point do sports cross the line between physical activity and dangerous physical activity?  From where I sit, the line is getting blurrier as time passes.

Kelly Teeter - KIN 577