Playing with Fire Podcast

Beyond the Pale

“I look upon you, sir, as a man who has placed himself beyond the pale of society, by his most audacious, disgraceful, and abominable public conduct” (The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, dated 1837).

After passing the puck to a teammate and with his back to the opposing players, Tomas Holstrom of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings was violently checked into the glass. He lay on the ice with blood dripping from the two cuts on his forehead that required thirteen stitches. Clearly, this was a purposeful, “cheap” shot by two players from the Anaheim Ducks, Rod Niedermayer and Chris Pronger. They both skated in fast and hit high.

“I was very surprised about the call,” said Niedermayer. “All I did was take a few strides, finish my check and hit him with my shoulder.” You don’t want to see anybody hurt out there, that’s for sure. I’m glad he was back playing.” A couple of months ago, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said fighting is part of hockey and believes some people have been “running off a little too fast on the topic.”

Wikipedia has an extensive section on fighting in hockey that includes this excerpt, “There are many reasons for fights during a hockey game. Some reasons are related to game play, such as retaliation, momentum-building, intimidation, deterrence, attempting to draw “reaction penalties,” and protecting star players. There are also some personal reasons such as retribution for past incidents, bad blood between players, and simple job security for enforcers. The incredibly detailed description of rules and codes for fighting is ridiculous.

European, Olympic and collegiate hockey forbid fighting and it is punished by immediate ejection. The list of rules and “etiquette” for fighting in the NHL shows what can happen when dysfunction is the rule of the day. Fighting would not be necessary if players agreed to be men of honor and referees actually controlled excessive violence. Somehow, officials are able to do this in other sports. The argument for fighting is wrong and built on a false premise that fighting is the only way to control excessive fighting!

There is a difference between tough appropriate physical contact as part of the game and a bare-knuckle fistfight or worse yet, a mugging. All of the rationalizations for fighting in the NHL could easily be applied to the NFL, which is more physical but does not “accept” as part of the game individual fistfights.

Isn’t it time to promote honor, talent, and skill as the true enforcers of the game?