When athletes are caught driving under the influence or with illegal substances in their vehicles, it is a given they are going to face criminal charges.
But when does on-field action come under the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system?
On Feb. 21, Marty McSorley of the NHL’s Boston Bruins hit Vancouver’s Donald Brashear in the side of the head with his stick. In the closing seconds of the game, McSorley came up behind Brashear, swung and hit him with a two-handed slash to the right temple, leaving Brashear unconscious and twitching on the ice.
McSorley was suspended for the rest of the season, the harshest penalty ever for on-ice violence. In addition, he was charged with assault by authorities in British Columbia.
Some would argue the punishment handed down by the league was sufficient. But this incident was pretty extreme. McSorley’s attack was brutal. Some of the players said they had never seen anything like it. McSorley said, “I’m still in shock at what I did.”
McSorley and Brashear fought two minutes into the game and Brashear got the best of McSorley. So McSorley tried to goad Brashear into fighting again, but was unsuccessful. That makes the attack seem almost premeditated.
After the game, Cannucks General Manager Brian Burke, at one time the NHL’s chief disciplinarian, said, “Leave this stuff on the ice; leave it to the National Hockey League.”
Hockey is a violent sport and hitting is part of the game. McSorley is one of the leagues “thugs,” an enforcer whose job is to fight for the more skilled players on his team.
It is the league’s responsibility to deal with the actions of its players and punish them accordingly. If there is a time when the punishment should go beyond that, McSorley’s case surely qualifies.
But at the same time it sets a dangerous precedent. How far should it go?
“There is a line somewhere that has to be found,” said Irving Prager, a ULV professor of law and a criminal law attorney. “What really has to happens is the courts have to decided where that line is.”
Baseball pitchers throw at opposing batters all the time. The potential is there for serious injury. Vicious hits are part of football. Should players face criminal charges for plays that their coaches might applaud as an aggressive play?
“In some of these sports violence is a necessary part,” said Prager, who noted that hockey seems to cross the line more than any other sports. Prager said hockey has gone beyond what is necessary to win to tolerating personal brutality.
And does it only matter what the intent was, or is it the outcome that determines punishment?
What if a player tries to severely injure another player but is unsuccessful? Both players walk away, so is it OK that one player tried to maim the other? Or if incidental contact leaves one player unconscious or paralyzed? The intent was not to do bodily harm, but in effect the player may as well have been assaulted by the other.
Where does a sport’s rules come into play in all of this? The sport of boxing is dedicated to the idea of two people beating each other senseless. Is it OK because both participants know what they are getting into beforehand and know the potential to end up with mush for brains?
It is not just the actions of players that should be scrutinized. There are plenty of examples of coaches who have exhibited violent behavior. Former Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight was fired after years of sometimes violent behavior that culminated with the choking of one of his players. I never heard of any criminal charges against Knight.
More recently, George O’Leary, the football coach at Georgia Tech, came under fire for ordering 314-pound second-string offensive lineman Dustin Vaitekunas, who was struggling to make blocks, to stand there while four defensive lineman rushed at him full speed. Vaitekunas was tackled by two of the players as he stood there. In a sport like football, coaches need some leeway in practice, but just how much is debatable.
Brice Nixon, a junior journalism major, is editor in chief of the Campus Times. He can be reached by e-mail at nixonb@ulv.edu.
