Violence in professional sports is something that we have seen more of in recent years, or have begun to notice more within

the past few decades. Whether it is ice hockey, baseball, football, or even basketball, there are cases of violence extending to the point of not just poor sportsmanship but maybe even unlawfulness. Where do we draw the line on what actions are considered part of the sport and within the bounds of the game, as opposed to what are or could be criminal acts of violence masked by the sport itself and taking place within the game? This issue has two sides, those who think the violent actions of professional athletes on the field or court should never be scrutinized for legal liability and those who believe certain violent actions by professional athletes during games should be under strict criticism and legal implications should result from particular acts of violence. Often times, people disregard the violent actions of professional athletes when these actions take place during a game or within the bounds of competition. However, if the same violent actions were to take place on the street and in the open public, there would be much alarm and authorities would most likely be called to the scene. The type of violent actions I am talking about that happen within professional sports are throwing punches at opposing players, striking opposing players with objects such as bats and hockey sticks, and tackling opposing players in such a way to intentionally harm them. If you were to witness two people getting into a rather heated argument over a game of pool or darts and then one of these people throw a punch at the other, knocking them out cold, you would probably call the cops and think that the person who knocked out the other should be arrested. However, if you were to witness a little scuffle between two players out on the ice rink during a professional hockey game and then one of the

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players blindsides the other with a punch, knocking him out cold, you would probably cheer on a fight and believe no arrest should be made because its part of the game. The question becomes, where do we draw the line on which violent actions are considered a part of the game and competition? Is it when the violent actions take place after play has stopped? Is it when somebody becomes severely injured? All these questions arise and this issue exists because of the legal implications these violent actions could have on the professional athletes who commit them. In these instances of professional athletes exhibiting violent actions toward other athletes, an intentional tort case could arise meaning there was an individual that had the intention to harm another individual. Intentional torts include three main elements: a voluntary act, realization of the consequences of the act, and an understanding that the consequences are the logical and likely result of the act. Now the two types of intentional torts that would be addressed would be both battery and assault. According to Spengler and Hronek battery can be defined as, the intentional infliction of harmful or offensive touching of another without that persons consent." Battery must meet the following elements: it must be an actual physical act by a person intentionally making contact with another, it must be harmful or offensive, and it must be unprivileged or unwelcome. Assault on the other hand, does not require contact but instills fear in another. Spengler and Hronek define it as, the intentional creation of an apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact without consent. The elements in which battery must meet can be described as an act intended to cause apprehension of an immediate battery and there being legitimate ability for the battery to take place (Spengler & Hronek, 2011). Often times, professional athletes could argue that they

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were acting out of self-defense when they commit a violent action or when they react to a violent action committed against them. Self-defense is the right to use reasonable force in order to protect yourself when there is an imminent danger of harm, usually defense for assault and battery (Spengler & Hronek, 2011). Let us take a look at some specific cases where violence within professional sports was such an ordeal that legal cases were brought against the professional athletes for the violent actions they committed. Starting with some of the first cases and working our way to the present day, we will examine what exactly happened in these incidents from a legal standpoint. One of the first cases, involving two National Hockey League players who got into a stick swinging fight during a 1969 exhibition game, was the first criminal prosecution of professional athletes. The case came to light in 1970 and actually took place in Canada. Although there are differing accounts of the incident, it appears that Ted Green of the Boston Bruins struck Wayne Maki of the St. Louis Blues in the face with a gloved hand. Maki then retaliated by striking Green in the stomach with his hockey stick, which resulted in a stick fight. Green was seriously injured with a fractured skull in the fight and both players were criminally charged for their roles in the incident. Green and Maki were acquitted in separate prosecutions and the trial in Regina vs. Maki found that Green initiated the fight, saying that Maki simply retaliated in self-defense. However, the trial judge in Regina vs. Green found that it was Maki instead of Green who initiated the fight, saying that Green responded in order to protect himself and warn Maki. What is really interesting about this case and something that is used a lot in the issue of violence within professional sports, is the judge in

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Regina vs. Green found Maki to have impliedly consented to being struck by Green because the conduct was commonplace within professional hockey (Gulotta Jr., 1980). Another great case to take a deeper look into is the first jail sentence ever imposed on a professional athlete for an in-game incident. On August 25, 1988, Dino Ciccarelli of the Minnesota North Stars was convicted of assault and sentenced to one day in jail and fined $1,000 for hitting another NHL player with his hockey stick. The incident took place on January 6, 1988, when Ciccarelli hit Luke Richardson of the Toronto Maple Leafs on the head twice with his hockey stick and then punched him in the mouth. Richardson was not injured in the event because he was wearing a helmet. Ciccarelli was immediately ejected from the game as a result of the attack and then later given a 10-game suspension. A month before the final ruling of the case, Ciccarelli testified that he swung his stick in self-defense and had no intention of injuring Richardson. He claimed he had been the victim of several attacks by other players and had become fed up when Richardson cross-checked him. In this particular case, the judge did acknowledge the sport of hockey being a very fast-paced and physical game but still believed Ciccarelli went beyond the acceptable use of force in his actions (Associated Press, 1988). A more recent and very popular case is the Regina vs. McSorley (2000) case in which Donald Brashear of the Vancouver Canucks and Marty McSorley of the Boston Bruins were involved in a serious altercation. During a regular season NHL hockey game on February 21, 2000, McSorley and Brashear were involved in a series of fights throughout the game. Both players were known as enforcers and had been going at each other during the game, with cross-checks and roughing from McSorley and a body

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blow from Brashear. Then in the final minute of the game, McSorley skated quickly to catch up with Brashear and as he approached he swung his hockey stick in baseball bat like fashion, striking Brashear on the side of the head. Brashear immediately lost his balance and fell backwards, his helmet already having been dislodged from the blow to the head, his head hit the ice. As a result of the hit he took from McSorley, Brashear suffered a grade-three concussion as well as a seizure before regaining consciousness. The injuries caused Brashear to not be able to do any type of physical activity for a whole month. McSorley was charged with assault with a weapon for the hit he laid on Brashear. He was found guilty by the Canadian court, with the reasoning being that McSorley either deliberately struck Brashear on the head with out Brashears consent or he was reckless in aiming for Brashears shoulder and ignoring the risk of hitting his Brashears head. A conditional discharge was given to McSorley by the judge upon being convicted. This meant that no other penalty would be given to him because he had already lost a great deal of money because of the incident and not being able to play. Additionally, McSorley was subject to enduring publicity and according to the judge would, carry the stigma with him for the rest of his career; even the rest of his life (Regina vs. McSorley, 2000). A case that is actually still going on, even a whole decade later is another popular ice hockey case, which involves Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore. The incident that happened on the ice on March 8, 2004, is perhaps currently the most popular case of violence in professional sports. Steve Moore, who was a rookie forward for the Colorado Avalanche, suffered a violent attack and hit from Todd Bertuzzi, who was a forward for the Vancouver Canucks. The attack took place less than a month after

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Steve Moore laid a powerful hit on Canucks captain Markus Naslund, giving him a concussion. Although the hit was completely legal according to the NHL, Vancouver still wanted revenge for the hit put on its scoring star. In fact, Vancouvers Brad May had said that there was a bounty out on Steve Moores head. Late during the March 8th game, Bertuzzi skated up behind Moore and tugged on his jersey, then punched him from behind. The blow knocked Moore to the ground as Bertuzzi fell on top of him; other players then began to pile on the two. When the incident cleared, Moore lay motionless on the ice with a pool of blood. It was found out the Moore had suffered a concussion and three fractured vertebrae. Steve Moore was injured so bad because of the violent actions of Bertuzzi that he was never cleared by any doctors to play hockey again. Because of the attack, Moores hockey career ended durin g his rookie season with the Avalanche and to this day he still suffers from side effects of the incident. Now Bertuzzi was suspended for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs as a result of his violent actions but he was reinstated the following NHL season, after the 2004-05 lockout. He also pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and was sentenced in 2006 to one year of probation and 80 hrs. of community service. However, the case is not over yet as Moore has filed a $38-million dollar lawsuit against Bertuzzi and the Canucks which is still in the courts after being delayed many times. The lawsuit will finally go to trial on September 8th of this year (The Canadian Press, 2014). This case is just another example of how violence within professional sports can quickly escalate into something more than just a heated fight within the game itself. Up until this point I have only discussed professional hockey cases of violence within professional sports but now let me present a baseball case where there were

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legal implications for violent actions. Jose Offerman of the Long Island Ducks charged the mound swinging his bat after being struck by a pitch from Bridgeport Bluefishs Matt Beech during a professional baseball game of the independent Atlantic League in Bridgeport, CT, on August 14, 2007. Johnathan Nathans, the catcher for the Bluefish, chased after Offerman as he charged the mound and a bench clearing brawl began. As Nathans approached the mound and the brawl in sued, he was struck by Offerman who was swinging his bat towards Beech. Jose Offerman was ejected from the game after the brawl and later that night he was arrested on two counts of second degree assault. Offerman was suspended from the league indefinitely and never allowed to play for the Ducks again, while Nathans suffered a severe head injury that ended his career. Matt Beech was also hit by Offermans bat and suffered a broken finger to his non -throwing hand. Johnathan Nathans filed a lawsuit against Offerman for $4.8 million assault, battery, and negligence. In the final ruling, Offerman was found to be negligent but not guilty of assault or battery, Nathans was awarded punitive damages. The judge only found Offerman to be negligent because he did not intentionally swing the bat at Nathans during the brawl (Nathans v. Offerman et al, 2009). All of these cases are incidents in professional sports where there was a legal case that came about because of a professional athletes violent actions. However, there are incedents where there has been no legal case brought against the violent actions of professional athletes. Like I have said, many argue that this is the way it should be and the only penalties for the violence in professional sports should be those imposed by the league or team, such as fines and suspensions. Two particular instances come straight to mind. The first is when Los Angeles Lakers Metta World

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Peace, threw a vicious elbow at Oklahoma City Thunders James Harden. The blow gave Harden a concussion and sidlened him until he could pass the NBAs rigorous evaluation process for concussions. World Peace was ejected after the play and then had to serve a seven game suspension that included playoff games (ESPN.com News LA, 2012). Cases like these bring into light the issue of which violent actions by professional athletes become intentional and powerful enough for an assault charge. The second instance is the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal that took place from 2009 to 2011 where the team paid bonuses to players who injured key players from opposing teams by making violent hits. This particular case is thought by many to have been punished beyond the NFLs fines and suspensions. However, many criminal courts in the United States have taken a hands-off approach to on-field injuries because of the level of difficulty, mainly due to the inevitable conflicting testimony, in these type of cases (Ham, 2012). Now this case is a little different because many of the hits could be legal but the same principal applies, injuring another human being would not be tolerated by society outside of the stadium or even inside the stadium and in the stands. The issue will continue to exist until all incedents of violence in professional sports are looked at through the eyes of Americas legal system, even if no actual criminal charge is made. My oponion on the whole issue of violence in professional sports is that all proffessional athletes should be held completely accountable for their actions. No onfield, on-court, and on-ice actions should be acceptable that are not acceptable in daily life in society. In other words, if punching a man on the street is not acceptable behavior than neither should be punching an opponent on the field , on the ice, or on the court

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during a game be acceptable. Legal ramifications should come about for any action, during the bounds of a game by a professional athlete, that would have legal ramifications if committed outside the bounds of the game. A great point is made by Judge Harris from the Regina vs. Ciccarelli case, when he said in regards to the ruling, Violence is becoming more and more an accepted part of daily life. He went on to add, Because hockey players are heroes to young people, violence spills over from the arena onto the street. This brings another viewpoint of mine; I believe professional sports would be much more entertaining if all athletes were focused on skill more than they are sometimes focused on emotion and trying to get even with others. The aspect of fighting and getting too competitive with others in professional sports takes away from the game and the sport itself. Law must be brought into particular cases and incidents where professional athletes over step their boundaries of acting out in violent rage. Any violent action, whether caused with your own body or an object, that can be brought to trial for assault and battery should be brought to trial when it takes place among professional athletes during a game. Just because a violent action by a professional athlete takes place within the bounds of the game it should not be a free pass to commit a criminal crime without legal penalty. Both professional sports and the athletes, especially professional hockey, would be much safer and would hold more integrity while increasing the level of the game. Based on the cases studied above, I firmly believe many violent actions could be criminally charged as intentional torts such as Metta World Peace throwing his elbow at James Harden and the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal. References

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Associated Press. (1988, August 25). The Ciccarelli Cited for Assault. New York Times. ESPN.com News LA. (2012, April 25). Metta World Peace suspended for 7. EL SEGUNDO, California, United States. Gulotta Jr., S. J. (1980). Torts in Sports--Deterring Violence in Professional. Fordham Law Review, Volume 49, Issue 5, 770-771. Ham, E. L. (2012, March 8). Give the Ref a Gavel. The New York Times, p. A31. Nathans v. Offerman et al, 3:2009cv00256 (Connecticut District Court February 12, 2009). Regina vs. McSorley, No. 111174-1 (British Columbia Provincial Court October 06, 2000). Spengler, J. O., & Hronek, B. B. (2011). Legal Liability in Recreation, Sports, and Tourism. Urbana, Illinois, United States: Sagamore Publishing. The Canadian Press. (2014, March 8). Steve Moore-Todd Bertuzzi case hits 10 years without resolution. Canada.