Do you agree that successful athletes are allowed a free pass, when it comes to violent acts.?
449256
Well one of the Rams major players killed a woman while driving drunk and he got off. A couple years later, cops pulled him over for appearing to be under the influence, but he refused to take a breathalyzer test or do the road side sobriety test. In court when the officers testified he smelled strongly of alcohol and was driving in the usual DUI way, since he had refused to do any of the drunk tests, the judge let him off. If he had been regular non celebrity, do you think the system would have went as lightly?
595813
All pro athletes do this, not just hockey players.  No original thoughts.
435757
Yes. Of course the millions that are paid to these athletes is mind boggling. And what have the been the results of all that? Recklessness, drug abuse, poor and underachievement and many other unacceptable behaviors.
976305
In my opinion an athlete should never be considered a role model. Just because a person has a special talent does not make them perfect people. Kids can admire the athletes talent or work ethic but as people they are no different
72907
Finding examples of behaviour in sport that we would acknowledge as violent is not difficult. But they do go to show the breadth of the incidents across many sports, not just hockey, although hockey is perhaps the most high profile and prolific. But soccer, football, basketball, and figure skating, among others, are all involved. And it is not just players committing acts of violence. Although not as frequent, there have been an alarming number of violent incidents perpetrated by coaches and by spectators. Violence by and between players, officials, coaches and spectators have all been documented -- far too frequently.\n\nViolence in sport is a huge and complex topic. This paper takes a judicial look at violence in sport from both the criminal law and civil law perspectives, applying the principles underlying judicial decision-making to organizational policy making in the area. My focus will be on amateur sport (as opposed to professional sport) and will concentrate on violence by and between players during competition.\n\nWe can look at violence in sport from any number of perspectives – what causes violence, who is violent (spectators, coaches, athletes, etc), what is the effect of violence on the playing field, how do we define violence. I am going to address violence from a criminal perspective and a civil or tort perspective, and will also discuss policy implications for the sport community as a whole, and for individual sport bodies. \n\n\nCRIMINAL LAW - ASSAULT\n\nSome violent acts occurring within sporting competitions do attract charges of criminal assault or the more serious form of assault, assault with a weapon [4]. Section 265 of the Canadian Criminal Code defines assault:\n\ns.265(1) A person commits an assault when\n(a) without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that person, directly or indirectly;\n(b) he attempts or threatens, by an act of gesture, to apply force to another person, if he has, or causes that other person to believe upon reasonable grounds that he has, present ability to effect his purpose;\n(c) while openly wearing or carrying a weapon or an imitation thereof, he accosts or impedes another person or begs.\n\nSection 267 of the Criminal Code defines assault with a weapon: \n\ns.267(1) Everyone who, in committing an assault,\n(a) carries, uses or threatens to use a weapon or an imitation thereof, or\n(b) causes bodily harm to the complainant,\n(c) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years.\n\n(2) For the purposes of this section and sections 269 and 272, “bodily harm” means any hurt or injury to the complainant that interferes with the health or comfort of the complainant and that is more than merely transient or trifling in nature.\n\nThe two key elements in making out an assault are intention to inflict the force and lack of consent to the force.\n\nConsent to the force is a full defense to a charge of assault. Determining what it is one consents to is very often the most vexing part of any assault matter. Indeed, can an individual consent to any kind or degree of violence? In R. v. Jobidon the Supreme Court of Canada said fighting is unlawful [5], even where the victim of the fight consents to such activity. The Court did expressly state however, that its decision did not reflect on “the legality of properly conducted games and sport”.\n\nThe law does, however, impose some limits on consent in sport cases. Two criminal cases are of particular help in determining the standard of consent [6]. In R. v. Leclerc [7] the court said participants give “implied consent to those assaults which are inherent and reasonably incidental to the normal playing of the game at this level”. By ‘normal playing of the game’ the court seems to accept as a part of the game a certain amount of violent action outside the formal rules of the game. The court also stated that any interpretation of the issue of consent sh
666470
Let's face it..nobody's getting rich playing cricket now are they? Your question could apply to footballers, golfers, tennis players, etc. etc. Outstanding athletes in any sport are a marketing tool for sporting goods companies to sell more stuff, and I think if an athlete has the kind of talent it takes to catch the eye of these companies then they should be compensated for it.
1055458
Agreed.   \n\n\n   Without a venue to vent frustration in a high paced physical game like hockey, there would be more incidents of stick swinging and potentially more violent injuries.  \n\n  Fighting is not really 'allowed' but tolerated and penaltized.
979961
I don't think that Bobby Knight was out of line when he gave his player a slap. It is just like in football when the coach hits the player's helmet. It's not meant to hurt the player, it is to get the player to pay attention. Also, the player's parents were ok with it, so I think there was nothing wrong with the slap.
424181
No, as long as the participants know the risks. It is the participants choice to be in the event/sport.
1146713
If you are asking whether they should be expected to follow the law of the land or face punishment, the answer is yes.  If you are asking whether they should be held to a higher standard, then no.....they're only human.\n\nI don't know about a specific incident like the one you refer to.  There may also be a contrat obligating the athlete to behave in a certain way during "off hours", in which case, he signed the contract, he accepted the money, he should be responsible.
402104
absolutely not!  If a job so demanding as pro sports are these days, there would be no possible way I had another job, therefore there is no way I could support myself.  But, if you were to say I had endorsement deals, got free meals w/ the team, free travel and all of that other stuff, I would do it.  But for totally FREE, no chance in hell!
571161
I agree with you! Even the most "naturally gifted" athlete can't reach optimum potential without hard work.  An average athlete can improve through hard work and a "never say die" attitude.
1115172
We were the olympic champions in Hockey once upon a time but then we have been pushed backwards. \nMany sports activities and athletic activities are not yet encouraged so much but it is not as if there is NO ENCOURAGEMENT at all. Slowly it is being built up but much more needs to be done.\nRight from young age talents have to be located , selected and state has to take the responsibility to give them training and proper type of food etc etc.\nIf individuals are to come up as in cricket it does not happen in games like football.
723245
Yes of course it should all be taken away if he had the agent contacts (I think he did).  It doesn't matter if he is the best ever to play the game, he shouldn't get a free ride past the rules and ethics.  Think if it was somebody else from the same team that sat on the bench all year you wouldn't think twice about taken away all his games and his national title.  Just because he is a super star he shouldn't be able to get out of this.
283883
I always tell my friends this when we discuss sports. I do not consider family lives when a choose I player to respect, because I do not like him for his looks or his shoes, I rather respect him for his techniques and skills. So, personal life is never an issue to me, when the players are out on the court is what matters.
683579
Amateur athletes have by definition a tougher time because they have to balance their training with work... \n\nbut, I am happy for pro's who actually get money from playing sports\n\nThe only thing I ask is, if you are getting paid to do a sport you better do it way better than amateurs.. that goes to you NBA players who can't shoot freethrows!
765154
The problem is that we the public care so much about sports and in some cases put the fiat of your favorite team above much more important events in our lives or in the world. I coach at the high school level and I need to give my self reality checks very often. The reason colleges and the pros can do these things is because we the fans allow them to and force them to do whatever they can do to win. If they win they get money and to win you need a good coach and facilities which means you need to raise ticket prices to pay for all this stuff. Once you have it you better win or you will be fired so that person does everything they can to build a winner. This steam all the way down to youth leagues where parents are coaching a sport which should be about fun but are now all about winning. Sports need to stay in high schools and the coaches should be examples of education first athletics second. To often this is not the case. The fans also need to look at this and stop demanding perfection from their coach, their kids, and their teammates during games. We are the ones (the public) who have made it this way.