Now they've entered the realm of sports. Only people who don't play sports or don't care about them think this is normal.
"The defence argued the accused was merely following hockey’s unwritten code of engagement and that the stick attack in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League game was accidental.
But Nadeau disagreed, calling the attack unprovoked, unfair, excessive and dangerous."
Personally, if you want to make a point of sending a message (which in this case, I believe there isn't one), then go after society - the parents, leagues and coaches that create these conditions. But I don't think it's that simple. Sports are intense. Hockey is one of the most intense of all sports. Shit happens. Let free citizens police themselves. The state has enough issues to deal with.
Sports organizations have always policed themselves and the reality is that gratuitous fighting in hockey is on the downturn and the sport has made great strides on this front. However, tempers will boil over and I don't believe for one second the state has any business getting involved.
I have no idea how this made it to court.
It's a disturbing trend this thing.
Boiling over on the street or in the arena, hitting someone with an object liable to wound that person, to me, is just as unacceptable and should be treated the same way. We are no longer in Rome's Forum where the gladiators killed one another for the satisfaction of the plebe and to keep it from rebelling against the tyrant of the trone.
ReplyDeleteI think the Gladiator analogy may be a bit of stretch here. It's hockey!
ReplyDeleteAthletes snap from time to time. They compete on a fine line all the time. I'm sorry, they can't be hauled into court for that.
That's Orwellian in my book.
Where you may get me to maybe agree is when an athlete attacks a fan outside the lines or boards.
Even then...