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References to firearms are not exactly rare in sports. That said, the above Nike spot is particularly unfortunate given that Oscar Pistorius was on Thursday charged with the murder of his apparent girlfriend in Pretoria, South Africa. The woman, Reeva Steenkamp, was shot to death according to reports.
The sprinter also appeared in this 2008 Nike spot in which athletes refer to their bodies as weapons.
It might be time to rethink our casual use of armed violence as sports analogy, simile and metaphor.