Anger is as a stone cast into a wasp’s nest-Unknown
Michael Jordan collapsed in the locker room and cried.
In leading the
Chicago Bulls to their fourth league championship in
six years, his return to the NBA mountaintop was
complete. He had regained his status as the sport’s
premier player.
But Chicago’s six-game elimination of
Seattle in the NBA Finals was more than a validation
of Jordan’s determination and skill. It was the fitting
ending to an historic season. The Bulls, led by Jordan,
Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, set an NBA record by
going 72-10 during the regular season. They blew past
Miami,
New York,
Orlando and Seattle in the playoffs, losing just
three games. Chicago’s combined record of 87-13 cemented
its claims as one of the best teams ever to take the
court.
“The historians will decide our place among the
greatest teams,” Jordan said. “But we certainly
accomplished everything we set out to do.”
Arguably the 1996 Chicago bulls may have been the
greatest NBA team in history and Michael Jordan the
greatest player ever. In contrast to their 72-10 regular
season record the 1972 Philadelphia 76ers have the worst
NBA record of 9 wins and 73 losses.
The
Boston Celitcs hold the record for most titles won
with the
Los Angeles Lakers gaining ground behind them.
Statistics are way to measure how events, people or
behaviors compare to others. So how does America match
up with other countries in regards to Anger? Believe me
when I say we are no 1996 Chicago Bulls. To my knowledge
there are no anger statistics and to reiterate anger is
not the primary problem. It’s violence and aggression
that gets us in trouble.
According to Nationmasters.com, a website dedicated
to the statistical comparison of countries, the United
States reported 2,238,480 assaults in 1999. We ranked
number one (per capita) in a list of 57 countries.
Coming in second, third and fourth consecutively were
South Africa, The United Kingdom and Mexico.
In regards to the murder rate in the year 2000 The
United States ranked 6th among 62 reporting countries.
Beating us out for the lead were India, Russia,
Columbia, South Africa, and Mexico. A partial
statistical break down can be found below.
Assaults
1. United States 2,238,480 (1999)
2. South Africa 535,461 (2000)
3. United Kingdom 450,865 (2000)
4. Mexico 255,179 (2000)
5. India 236,313 (1999)
6. Canada 233,517 (2000)
7. Australia 141,124 (2000)
8. Germany 116,912 (2000)
9. France 106,484 (2000)
10. Zimbabwe 93,062 (2000)
11. Spain 90,453 (2000)
12. Turkey 53,485 (2000)
13. Chile 53,133 (2000)
14. Netherlands 44,129 (2000)
15. Japan 43,229 (2000)
16. Tunisia 40,558 (2000)
17. Portugal 37,979 (2000)
18. Poland 32,792 (2000)
19. New Zealand 30,177 (2000)
20. Italy 29,068 (2000)
21. Finland 27,820 (2000)
22. Colombia 25,219 (2000)
23. Zambia 22,127 (2000)
24. Czech Republic 21,998 (2000)
25. Thailand 20,125 (2000)
Murders
1. India 37,170 (1999)
2. Russia 28,904 (2000)
3. Colombia 26,539 (2000)
4. South Africa 21,995 (2000)
5. Mexico 13,829 (2000)
6. United States 12,658 (1999)
7. Venezuela 8,022 (2000)
8. Thailand 5,140 (2000)
9. Ukraine 4,418 (2000)
10. Indonesia 2,204 (2000)
11. Poland 2,170 (2000)
12. France 1051 (2000)
13. Belarus 1013 (2000)
14. Germany 960 (2000)
15. Korea, South 955 (2000)
16. Zimbabwe 912 (2000)
17. Jamaica 887 (2000)
18. United Kingdom 850 (2000)
19. Zambia 797 (2000)
20. Italy 746 (2000)
21. Yemen 697 (2000)
22. Japan 637 (2000)
23. Romania 560 (2000)
24. Malaysia 551 (2000)
25. Spain 494 (2000)
Based on 2003 data from the FBI the number of persons
murdered in the United States is about 16,420. 77% of
murder victims were male.
When the race of the murder victim was known, about
half were white at 49% and about half were black at 49%.
The offenders were most often male at 90%.
When information on the victim/offender relationship
was available, 76% of the victim’s knew the offenders
and arguments are the most often cited circumstance
leading to murder.
According to the United States Department of justice,
individuals between the ages of 12-19 are involved in
the majority of violent crimes, weather they were the
victim or the offender.
www.daybreakservices.com
Shannon Munford
Daybreak Counseling Service
