The recent hoopla over Steve Moore's broken neck as a result of Todd Bertuzzi's cheap shot (shown over and over on TV ad nauseam) has sparked yet another debate in the sports world that essentially goes like this: Should fighting be banned from hockey altogether?
Who, we would like to ask, are they trying to kid?
While it is more than obvious to state that Bertuzzi's actions were unconscionable and did nothing to further the sport of hockey, it is also an obvious to state that nobody who loves hockey is going to entertain the notion of no fighting.
Hockey, when compared to, say, football, is positively moderate in the violence department. Hits like the one Bertuzzi gave Moore happen all the time in football. More to the point, it has been decades since anyone was paralyzed in a pro hockey match. Football, alas, cannot boast of the same.
Nobody is saying that Moore didn't get incredibly lucky. He did. A broken neck might well end his promising career to say nothing of what it will do to Bertuzzi's life. Recall that wildly wrong though it was, Bertuzzi is going to have to live with what he did the rest of his life. On and off the ice. Plus, there is nothing that says that the NHL doesn't ban one of the best players in the league next season or even beyond. Nothing aside from this season's expulsion has been decided. And there are the legal implications to be considered. Bertuzzi isn't off the hook by any means. Legally, he could still be in a lot of hot water.
Nobody is saying that stronger sanctions for this kind of travesty shouldn't be imposed.
They should.
And nobody is saying that a strong review of penalties imposed for such outrageous behavior shouldn't take place. Maybe Bertuzzi shouldn't even be allowed to play next year; lost to the NHL and sports world though it would be. What we are trying to say is that compared to other sports, football in particular, hockey, while carrying a significant measure of risk, is not the world's most violent or risky sport. And hockey being hockey, gloves are going to get dropped and fights are going to happen. That's the nature of the sport and one of the elements that keeps fans coming back for more. So, we vote for letting Bertuzzi take the consequences of his behavior and moving on. Steve Moore, with any luck, will be back next season.
What happens to Bertuzzi should be left up to the law and to the NHL. Changing the rules would only serve to diminish a dynamic sport steeped in tradition.
And make the game a whole lot less exciting.