SmokingTarpan

I think there's a pretty big distinction between "I want knock him down so he doesn't score a touchdown" and "I want to break his leg so he can't play anymore." Anyone who's thinking the latter doesn't need to be playing.

I think drawing a line from a sport where the goal is to actually hurt the other person (UFC/boxing/etc) and one where the goal is to get a ball to a certain place by being physical is a pretty sketchy comparisson. If face-stomping and the like were expected to be the norm, I think we'd see a lot more injuries (and more severe ones, at that) from these games. Heck, we there are even rules about what types of contact during tackling are not allowed, such as no leading with the helmet, no facemasking and such. It's not an anything goes so don't be surprised sport; you get that at the weekends in bars. :P

I'm not with the extremists that think he should be tossed from the league, and I'm not really on the boat that believes he needs to be sent to jail. Personally, I think he should be suspended without pay until next season, but he gets five games instead. At least it's not something as silly as a $10k fine or something, hopefully we can all agree to that.

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[squadl]
"I am the prettiest african-american, vietnamese..cong..person." -SugarNCamo

WhiskeySix

Agreed. Like everything else, it's another shades-of-grey thing... for instance, what about "I want his ribs to hurt a little so he get's tired faster and won't score any more TD's". Is that ok? I guess it comes down to each individual's tollerance for someone else's pain? <shrug>


Yeah UFC is over the top for sure... I was just referencing the raw physical nature of it.

Boxing on the other hand... I'd say football has a lot in common with boxing... A "Ball control" offense wears down the opposition with a punishing running attack. That means they get tired of tackling and being blocked. Is this no different than the cumulative effect of body-blows in boxing?

Yeah, on that play I referenced (where the receiver got planted), the ref's IMMEDIATELY threw a flag and the Bengals were penalized 15yds for uncessary roughness. The NFL is definitely trying to keep the game safe - which isn't easy to do with the players these days - true freaks of nature.


Yup

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sordavie

I'm not quite sure the goal in boxing, or even in UFC, is to hurt your opponent. In boxing, the goal is to knock him down for the count, or three times. Punching him in the face or body with gloved fists is a means to that goal, and allowable by the rules of boxing. In UFC, the goal is similar, to get your opponent to tap out or knock him down for the count.

The rules for these respective sports allow acts that may injure your opponent in order to reach your goal. Even so, the goal isn't to injure. In both sports, there are limitations on the sort of actions one may participate in. Those rules are in place to prevent certain sorts of permanent or debilitating injuries to participants. Tyson did get disqualified for biting Holyfield's ear off. It depends on each sport which sorts of injuries they want to try to prevent. Some sports are more lax than others in that department. But, the rules are public and contestants know what they're getting in to -- at least, they know what the rules allow their opponents to do.

I'm not sure which law you guys think football players are breaking on every tackle. Assault, I take it, requires the victim feel immediately threatened by the attack or attempted attack. Thus, threatening gestures without contact can count as assault. In football, everyone on the field knows the rules. They know that by joining the game they are entering into agreement to tackle and be tackled. Normal NFL tackling cannot be threatening in that context. The same goes for UFC contestants. They understand the rules by which UFC fighters must abide by in the ring and any actions in accordance with those rules cannot be threatening. This is on the assumption that NFL players and UFC contestants understand what the rules are.

Stomping on someone's head in an NFL game goes far beyond what the rules allow. Further, the act seems within the legal definition for assault, whereas tackling does not as I explained above. Nobody should fall for the slippery slope reasoning from charges being pressed in this case to charges being pressed in a case where someone's elbow got skinned. Whether some act during a sporting event is illegal is not simply a matter of how violent the act is or what degree of hurt the victim was put in.

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WhiskeySix

http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80491c35

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Ferris Bueller

I think W6 has just become the king of necroposting.

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|TG-6th|Ferris Bueller

WhiskeySix

Hey, it's that time of year [when giant guys stomp each other]!

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