WHEN CHEAP SHOTS AND JERKS GET OUT OF HAND IN SPORTS
Every sport has ample opportunity for classless behavior. Most athletes will pass up a chance for cheap shots, but some athletes are not as classy. Here are a couple of examples of tactics that threatened the health of somebody else in the game.
Carl Edwards is a NASCAR driver who does not typically engage in the stuff he did to fellow driver Brad Keselowski at
Edwards put a top 10 finish on ice for Keselowski, even though Edwards was many laps off the pace. It was payback, short and simple, but it put a dangerous wreck at almost 200 mph close to climbing into the stands. The results could easily have been fatal for Keselowski or race fans.
Edwards dragged out the usual “I didn’t know the gun was loaded” defense about the matter. He intended to hit Keselowski, but he didn’t intend to cause a major wreck.
There is no exact science for cars wrecked at 190 mph; only a best guess about the laws of physics .The result is firmly in the hands of velocity and aerodynamics in a very random fashion.
Washington Capitals hockey player Alexander Ovechkin’s errant behavior is another example of a cheap shot gone wrong.
The principle is virtually the same: A shot from behind that launched another player into the boards and fractured the player’s clavicle and a rib. The best case scenario for the Blackhawk player is a 7-8 week recovery period. Ovechkin received a 2 game suspension, despite his previous history in the fascinating field of cheap shots.
Ovechkin went with the same tired response that he never meant to take the guy out with such violent consequences. Again, the fact that injury from a cheap shot from behind is a distinct possibility should guide the decision more than the open opportunity to do it.
The racing fraternity has always felt that revenge is a good teacher for better behavior on the track. The short track races have long been a place to settle scores. But the big problem is the big speeds on the big tracks. The chance for real danger increases dramatically at big tracks. Edwards is a smart guy who was well aware of the uncertainty involved in his cheap shot. There was no excuse for his choice for a time and place for his payback.
Ovechkin was in the same boat with his choice to shove the guy off his skates and into the boards. Personally I have no respect for either guy.
Cheap shots from behind have long been eliminated in football. It hasn’t made football perfectly safe by any means, but it ensures that a cheap shot artist hurts his team immediately when the referee tags his team for a major penalty. The result can be game changing for the final outcome.
The bottom line in both is that neither are simply a case of “That’s hockey” or “That’s racing”. The real answer is “That’s BS”.
Neither sport looks good with this kind of garbage in their game plan.
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