Did you guys know?

[Fillmoe]

A hockey player was just suspended nine games for sucker punching another player.....................................



havent heard that on BSPN yet........

[JMarkJohns]

But they wear helmets and tons of pads... I'm sure that's the reason. I'm sure it has nothing to do with color

The NBA is simply trying to avoid the days of Kermit Washington. If Shaq ever wailed on someone they'd be dead. They simply try to police that. As big as hockey players are, they aren't the monsters that NBA players are. Even an average player like Anthony is bigger than the biggest hockey players.

Race certainly factors in, but so does size, strength and the fact that Kermit's hit on Rudy T was one of the darkest days in the League's history.

[Marklar MM]

Hockey players know how to fight...well, unless their name is Pavel Datsyuk.

[cheguevara]

But they wear helmets and tons of pads... I'm sure that's the reason. I'm sure it has nothing to do with color

The NBA is simply trying to avoid the days of Kermit Washington. If Shaq ever wailed on someone they'd be dead. They simply try to police that. As big as hockey players are, they aren't the monsters that NBA players are. Even an average player like Anthony is bigger than the biggest hockey players.

Race certainly factors in, but so does size, strength and the fact that Kermit's hit on Rudy T was one of the darkest days in the League's history.

it has nothing to do with the size or strength of them. I'm sure an average hockey player would kick the of an average nba player, they just have more experience.

its mainly like u said cause of the helmets and paddin they use and also because fightin is a tradition in hockey, just like complaining to the ref is a tradition in NBA

[leemajors]

i think that if anyone cared about or watched hockey they would report more on it. the NHL doesn't have half the audience of the NBA.

[JMarkJohns]

It has everything to do with size and strength. When 6-8, 230 pound Kermit Washington (roughly Carmelo's height and weight) punched the 6-8, 218 pound Rudy Tomjanovic (roughly Mardy Collins' height and weight), his face caved in and nearly killed Rudy on impact... You have to take giants swinging punches more seriously than you do 6-footers swinging punches in helmets and pads. NBA players are some of the biggest and strongest humans on earth. You can't allow them to duke it out the way average-joe baseball players occasionally do or the way well padded hockey players do.

Size, strength and vulnerability. All three are as big a factor as race, which certainly plays a part, thanks to moronic "meet me in the parking lot" happenings with the Warriors and Blazers in years past. Considering a current NBA player just said roughly 80% of the NBA is packing a piece, I think that's another aspect that needs to be taken seriously. Maybe the NBA player is smart enough not to do anything, but their posse? Who knows...

NBA simply can't let these situations escalate past a push or a shove for various on the court and off the court ramifications. They simply can't.

[jman3000]

fights happen on a near daily basis in the NHL.. .. it's so connected with the sport that in most (if not all) NHL video games there is in game fighting controlled by the player, and these games are supported by the NHL itself. it's more of an occurence, so naturally it's not seen as such a big deal.

[cornbread]

It has everything to do with size and strength. When 6-8, 230 pound Kermit Washington (roughly Carmelo's height and weight) punched the 6-8, 218 pound Rudy Tomjanovic (roughly Mardy Collins' height and weight), his face caved in and nearly killed Rudy on impact.

You have to remember that this is back before "80% of the NBA was packing a piece" and before players needed "posses". Today's players are not nearly as tough the players of Kermit's days. Not that Kermit's cheap shot on Rudy T was admirable or anything. The NBA in those days was just a much tougher/meaner place(I'm not implying that this made it better). Most of today's NBA fights are about as impressive as two middle school kids duking it out on the playground. Look at that weak ass punch that Melo threw. Like you said, Melo is roughly the same size as Kermit but his punch could be best described as "girly" and the back pedaling that followed was about as cowardly as it gets.

Remember the whole Artest fiasco? I always thought it was so weak that he would not retaliate against Ben Wallace's throat-grabbing-push but when some puny fan half Artest's size throws a drink, Ron is ready to throw down!

Fighting has no place in the NBA which is good because most the players fight like girls.

If Shaq ever wailed on someone they'd be dead.

He couldn't kill Barkley after he threw the ball in Shaq's face.

it has nothing to do with the size or strength of them. I'm sure an average hockey player would kick the of an average nba player, they just have more experience.

[ponky]

But they wear helmets and tons of pads... I'm sure that's the reason. I'm sure it has nothing to do with color

The NBA is simply trying to avoid the days of Kermit Washington. If Shaq ever wailed on someone they'd be dead. They simply try to police that. As big as hockey players are, they aren't the monsters that NBA players are. Even an average player like Anthony is bigger than the biggest hockey players.

Race certainly factors in, but so does size, strength and the fact that Kermit's hit on Rudy T was one of the darkest days in the League's history.

Shaq actually has whaled on a couple of guys, the most famous being Charles Barkley...they fell to the ground and disappeared, when Barkley came up, he had some blood on his face. Best fight ever because of the way it started.

[dg7md]

i think that if anyone cared about or watched hockey they would report more on it. the NHL doesn't have half the audience of the NBA.

I care about it and there is a pretty big market for it (San Antonio Rampage are quite popular for an AHL team). It just needs a national TV deal really. Hockey was pretty popular in the US in the 90s (mostly due to Gretzky). Overchkin, Crosby, Malkin, etc. are the potential saviors of the sport when it comes to popularity and excitement. But that won't happen unless it'll get exposure.

[JMarkJohns]

You have to remember that this is back before "80% of the NBA was packing a piece" and before players needed "posses". Today's players are not nearly as tough the players of Kermit's days. Not that Kermit's cheap shot on Rudy T was admirable or anything. The NBA in those days was just a much tougher/meaner place(I'm not implying that this made it better). Most of today's NBA fights are about as impressive as two middle school kids duking it out on the playground. Look at that weak ass punch that Melo threw. Like you said, Melo is roughly the same size as Kermit but his punch could be best described as "girly" and the back pedaling that followed was about as cowardly as it gets.

Remember the whole Artest fiasco? I always thought it was so weak that he would not retaliate against Ben Wallace's throat-grabbing-push but when some puny fan half Artest's size throws a drink, Ron is ready to throw down!

Fighting has no place in the NBA which is good because most the players fight like girls.

I'm not disputing any of this. And the two times I've seen Shaq fight, even he's been a little passive in his agression. Thing it, it's probably because of the light said fights will be put under.

Are you really going to say that a 6-8, 235 pound athlete can't level someone with a few serious blows? Granted, none can really fight these days, but that's the blessing of it all. Because fighting is so frowned upon now, players know a brawl will get them suspended and they'll lose hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions.

Surehockey players can beat the snot out of your average NBA player, but because fighting is part of their culture, they know how. If fighting was part of the NBA, its players would know how, just like in the 60s/70s and 80s.

But because of the size and strength of its players, the NBA simply cannot allow its players to be as brutish as other sports. They cannot allow this for the size, strength, vulnerability and proximity to the fans.

They are factors. Not to why players can't fight, but to why the NBA can't allow them to, which has created a culture where said players really can't.

[cornbread]

I'm not disputing any of this. And the two times I've seen Shaq fight, even he's been a little passive in his agression. Thing it, it's probably because of the light said fights will be put under.

Are you really going to say that a 6-8, 235 pound athlete can't level someone with a few serious blows? Granted, none can really fight these days, but that's the blessing of it all. Because fighting is so frowned upon now, players know a brawl will get them suspended and they'll lose hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions.

I agree. I don't watch NBA for fights. It's HORRIBLE for the game and deserves severe punishment. But I will say this. In all of the fights that I've ever seen in NBA games, I've seen very people leveled by a punch(es). The only recent example that I can think of is when Jermaine Oneal laid out that fan at the Palace. And this was a superhuman hitting an average Joe who was half JO's size.

I don't believe that the NBA created this culture of "tough guys" can't fight. The players of today have grown up in a culture where people are afraid to have a good old fashioned fist fight because of the fear of guns. What we are left with are a bunch 7 feet tall "tough guys" who end up looking like school girls when it comes to fisticuffs because they've probably never been in a brawl in the first place. A perfect example of this is the picture on Chris Child's sig.