Vicious Hockey Attack Spurs Rage, Worry in Canada

[blue&whiteman]

I forgot to add the jock translation to what I said incase some of you are here in the forums. here goes:

ugh ugh uh uh grunt ugh ugh

 

[Counterfit]

ihowever, when was the last time you saw the nfl put a game on hold so two guys could have a fight?

When was the last time an NFL player even tried to get in a fist fight?

 

[XnavxeMiyyep]

I have no problems with organized fighting, but this is just ridiculous. If I ran up to someone from behind, hit him in the back of his head, fractured his neck, and smashed his face into the ground, I would go to jail. So should Todd Bertuzzi.

 

[MacNut]

when pedro martinez took down don zimmer during ALCS last fall, it got enough press and no one broke a neck...

Pedro should have gone to jail for that

 

[Counterfit]

I have no problems with organized fighting, but this is just ridiculous. If I ran up to someone from behind, hit him in the back of his head, fractured his neck, and smashed his face into the ground, I would go to jail. So should Todd Bertuzzi.

I thought we had gone over this. First off, his neck could not possibly have been broken from the punch, it was most likely from the two extra players that jumped on top of him. And second, if you look at the video, there is no smashing of the head. Moore was unable (due to the suddenness and having a stick most likely) to break his fall, so the closest thing to the ice was his face. So his face smacked into the ice. Painful I'm sure, if he was still conscious after it.

MacNut: Bull****. Zim swung a fist (semi closed, but it was swung), and Pedro pushed him aside. That and the disparage in fine amounts, Zim payed $5,000, Pedro payed 10 times that, really cleared that up. I doubt that Pedro was expecting anything more that some face-to-face arguing, because Zim's been in the game for quite some time, and you'd think he;d know better than that.

 

[hobbes3113]

if he was still conscious after it.

He was unconscience for some time after the hit.

 

[XnavxeMiyyep]

I thought we had gone over this. First off, his neck could not possibly have been broken from the punch, it was most likely from the two extra players that jumped on top of him. And second, if you look at the video, there is no smashing of the head. Moore was unable (due to the suddenness and having a stick most likely) to break his fall, so the closest thing to the ice was his face. So his face smacked into the ice. Painful I'm sure, if he was still conscious after it.

Regardless of that, I'd still be arrested if I ran up behind someone and punched him in the back of the head with the intent of injuring him.

 

[Counterfit]

Regardless of that, I'd still be arrested if I ran up behind someone and punched him in the back of the head with the intent of injuring him.

Right, but get your facts straight first.

 

[Krizoitz]

Actually the case of fighting in hockey has been brought up several times before, bun not in this forum. Many people believe that if you eliminate fighting in hockey, a lot of other problems will surface. The least of which would be star players (or all players for that matter) being targeted for cheap, quetionable hits. For instance, how many times was Gretzky targeted knowing that McSorley had his back? Fighting in hockey has been around, to the best of my knowledge, since the inception of the game and is often considered an integral part of the game. In addition, people also believe that a revival of the instigator would eliminate the type of things that went on Monday night (or at least make them few and far between). Sure fighting draws ratings and money, but this is due in part by the fans appreciation of what it brings to the game itself. Does anyone actually believe that Hockey's place in the hearts of American sports fans would be elevated if fighting is eliminated? Probably not. What people see on SportsCenter does not come close, in many cases, to showing the true beauty of hockey, fights included. To truely understand why fighting is an integral part of the game, one must do more than watch over sensationalized sports reports.

To claim that fighting should be encouraged like this and then not expect something bad to happen is naive at best. If I want to watch a fight I'd flip on a boxing match. Is the point of hockey about playing hockey or fighting? I can gaurentee you that there is no way in he** that I'll let my kids ever join a hockey league if fighting is an expected an acceptable part of it and expected! What a great lesson to teach your kids. You want to prevent cheap shots? Fine, put in stiffer penalties then. Fighting keeps hockey safer? I smell some BS.

 

[floatingspirit]

Perhaps like Todd Bertuzzi, I let my emotions get the best of me, so I'd like to clarify my statement a bit. In the top post I said: "you call that a sport!?"

By 'that' I meant hockey plus gratuitous violence, as carried out by Todd Bertuzzi. Clearly hockey is a great sport in which a whole lot of skill, courage, and physical prowess are required. However, hockey mixed with excessive violence ceases to be a sport, in my opinion, and I have no respect for such a mixture. I also object to the NHL's over-tolerance (again, in my opinion) of violence in the sport. As others have pointed out, we would be arrested for acting like that in public. Therefore, why should the NHL be above the law?

I think the NHL doesn't do enough to discourage violence. Insofaras the NHL tolerates or condones violence, I dare say it also markets it. Especially in times of international unrest, is violence really a commodity that we want to market?

I appreciate this (mostly) civil discussion and apologize if my comments haven't been clear enough.

Thank you from a guy who is not Japanese nor has anything to do with sumo wrestling, though I'd love to check it out some time.

 

[hobbes3113]

To claim that fighting should be encouraged like this and then not expect something bad to happen is naive at best. If I want to watch a fight I'd flip on a boxing match. Is the point of hockey about playing hockey or fighting? I can gaurentee you that there is no way in he** that I'll let my kids ever join a hockey league if fighting is an expected an acceptable part of it and expected! What a great lesson to teach your kids. You want to prevent cheap shots? Fine, put in stiffer penalties then. Fighting keeps hockey safer? I smell some BS.

I don't think that I ever suggested that fighting should be encouraged, but it should not be banned. I agree that stiffer penalties should be enforced when fights go beyond the "typical" scuffle, but evidently you do not watch or know enough about hockey to be able to discern what is best for the game (I won't even pretend to know what is best for the game). As for your kids, I believe that fighting is banned and not accepted at any time during an amature event, as it should be. Call it a double standard? Certainly, but double standards apply to almost every facet of our society. Personally I would rather watch the players play than have a game full of fights.