Seriously, what the hell’s going on here? Didn’t it seem like an athlete was doing something viciously dirty some time during the past two weeks?
- It all started Oct. 30 in a junior hockey league game in Kitchener, Ont. Mike Liambas, a forward for the Erie (PA) Otters, unleashed a devastating check to Kitchener Rangers defenseman Ben Fanelli while he wasn’t looking. Fanelli, who is only 16, was taken to a hospital after twitching and frothing at the mouth; he was in intensive care, but was released Nov. 6. Liambas was given a match penalty and game misconduct. By the way, Erie lost to Kitchener, 4-0.
- During Florida’s 41-17 demolition of Georgia Halloween night. Brandon Spikes, senior, linebacker, possible first-round NFL draft pick and captain of the Gators, was caught sticking his fingers through the facemask of Bulldog running back Washaun Ealey and digging presumably into his eyes like he’s forcing his hand through the drain to retrieve his class ring. Game refs did not catch the eye gouge. (Nor did they catch Clemson defensive end Andre Branch pull a Spikes on offensive lineman David Spurlock of Florida St. in the Tigers’ win over the Seminoles Nov. 7.)
- In a Mountain West Conference women’s soccer tournament semifinal game Nov. 5, New Mexico defender Elizabeth Lambert set out on what could be the craziest, most self-destructive example of dirty play by one player in one game ever. Time and time again she could be seen hitting and kicking several BYU players throughout the Cougars’ 1-0 win over New Mexico. The Moment, however, the cheap shot that has echoed all through the Internet and will haunt Lambert to her grave, remains the absolutely unbelievable pulling of the ponytail of BYU midfielder Kassidy Shumway. Since there’s only one referee in soccer, Lambert wasn’t caught; in fact, she was only yellow-carded once in the match, for a rather rough tackle.
- Possibly taking a cue from Lambert, two Rhode Island girls’ soccer teams competing for a state championship Sunday started up not one but two brawls late in a 5-0 humiliation. And the crowd, possibly taking a cue from what they saw on the pitch, threw down in the stands during the post-game awards ceremony. Athletic officials are currently investigating.
Acts of player violence have happened before, but never have so many happened in such a short time. YouTube has contributed by preserving the incidents on the Internet so anyone curious can watch, form an opinion and tell their friends about it. I’m more paranoid. I could tie these incidents of players behaving badly with the massacres at Ft. Hood and that Orlando office. Maybe we’re all going to hell.
What shouldn’t be overlooked are the reactions by authorities to these incidents, which differ starkly. Lambert (a Californian, although her hometown and last schoolisn’t listed on the Lobos’ roster page for some odd reason – maybe California is ashamed and asked the athletic department to erase it) has been suspended indefinitely. New Mexico is not in the NCAA Tournament which starts this weekend, but the junior’s time with the Lobos appears up in the air. Liambas, who cried as Fanelli was carried off the ice, has been suspended by his league for the year. Although the hit is legal, Ontario Hockey League Commissioner David Branch, well known for his proactive moves cutting down on fighting and concussions, felt he needed to make an example out of Liambas for what happened, not necessarily for what he intended to do. Since the 20-year-old Liambas isn’t considered to be a pro-level prospect, and because there’s an age limit in the OHL of 21, his career pretty much is over. Contrast that with Florida head coach Urban Meyer, who suspended Spikes for the first half of their next game against bottom-feeder Vanderbilt. But that was the entire first semester. After getting crap from just about every decent person on Earth, Meyer doubled Spikes’s suspension to a full game. Not that the Gators needed him; Florida ruined the Commodores last Saturday, 27-3.
As for the high school soccer players in Rhode Island, the rules state that fighting in soccer is an automatic suspension for the next five games. That means most of the players involved in this – oh, I might as well contribute to the misogyny as say it – catfight will have to sit out the beginning of the next season. Unless a player decides to quit, or if she’s a senior.
None of this “this happens all the time during a game” crap. If it’s not in the rules, it’s cheating, and it has to be stopped. And if it turns into violence, there has to be punishment beyond what can be penalized on the field, by someone who is supposed to have the best interests of the players and the sport in mind.
The Rhode Island Interscholastic League already has consequences written out in its laws, but if it wants to go further in order to make sure these scrums are never seen on their fields again, it’s lucky enough to have the road paved for them by this perfect storm of events. It could extend the suspension indefinitely and detail what those involved have to do get back on the pitch, which really seems like the least they can do. It could ban those involved permanently, which may seem harsh but would send a very strong message. Or it could shorten the ban to half a game. After all, like Meyer, these girls were playing for a championship. And nothing, including intentionally hurting your opponent, can get in the way of winning a championship. Right, Coach Meyer?
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