The Colby Echo

Issue date: 3/16/07 Section: Sports

New York Islanders forward Chris Simon was suspended for the rest of the season for a cheap shot against New York Rangers forward Ryan Hollweg during the third period of a game between the two teams on Thursday, March 8th. Hollweg had just checked Simon into the boards with a hit that, although hard, was well within the rules of the National Hockey League. Simon retaliated by using his stick and taking a vicious two handed slash at Hollweg's face, cutting open his chin and requiring that he need stitches.

I report this not because I am a fan of professional hockey, I basically do not care about the NHL. But this incident illustrates a disturbing trend in top tier sports. The best athletes are held legally unaccountable for their actions during games; actions that would be considered against the law if an ordinary person were to perform.

Not even a week before this, on Sunday, March 4th, Duke basketball player Gerald Henderson broke the nose of University of North Carolina basketball player Tyler Hansbrough, one of the best college basketball players in the country, on a meaningless flagrant foul in a game that had all but been decided. He was suspended for one game.

In 2005, a benchwarmer for the Temple basketball team, Nehemiah Ingram, was sent into a game against St. Joseph's solely for the purpose of delivering hard fouls. He fouled out in four minutes, the last foul breaking the arm of St. Joseph's player John Bryant, ending his season and his college career. The blame could be placed on Ingram. It could also be placed on Temple coach John Chaney, who sent in Ingram for the hard foul. Chaney was suspended by the school, and has since resigned as head coach. Ingram faced no disciplinary punishment from the school for his actions. Legal charges were not pressed against either of them.

Why this double standard? Why is it that these figures at the height of the sports pantheon can get away with this? I know that when you play a sport, you are assuming the risk of injury. As a rugby player, I have experienced this personally. But when people are getting away with something that is blatantly intentional, something is wrong. It does not matter if it is in the name of competition, intentionally breaking another person's nose or arm is illegal. If I am walking down the street, and I bash someone in the face with a five-foot tall wooden stick, I will get arrested. Why should it be any different in a hockey game?

The United States Senate feels the need to get involved in the steroid controversy in Major League Baseball; apparently taking performing enhancing drugs that affect only yourself requires legal ramifications. But when you intentionally injure another person, the legal system does not get involved.

Many of you remember the brawl between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers that occurred in 2004. Many players were suspended and otherwise punished by the league. However, the only charges pressed were against the players who jumped into the stands, the players who fought with each other got off. We need to stop with the double standard. Illegal is illegal, and it is time to start holding these athletes to the same standard as everybody else.

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