I always find it funny and disturbing, how people have selective morality when it comes to talking about what punishments should be levied against players that get into altercations during sporting events.  The events that transpired during the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays game recently, when a bench clearing brawl erupted late in the game, due to pitchers throwing at or behind hitters.  I thought how differently that incident is viewed and bantered about on baseball programs, with that of what happens in other sporting arenas when similar events occur.  The two main people in the brawl Jorge Posada and Jesse Carlson last night were only suspended 3 games a piece which is laughable.  3 games in a 162 game schedule is like a drop of water in a bucket.  The length of suspensions depend on the severity of the incident, but more often than not they don’t exceed 5 games.  You can argue that the Yankees are in a race to win the AL East so it affects them greatly, but Posada isn’t a everyday catcher and they’re 6.5 games ahead of second place Boston with 16 games to play as of this being written.  Can Boston catch them? Sure, if the Yankees completely tank the rest of the season.

Let’s take the brawl from the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets from a couple years ago.  All the suspensions were longer than the ones given to the aforementioned baseball players, ranging from 4-15 games.  With basketball playing only 82 games, pretty much half that of baseball so the length of suspensions affects the team to a greater degree.  You can look at brawls that happen in the NHL, where fights happen on almost a nightly basis and it’s widely accepted, or that the fact fighting in the NHL is used in some instances as a tactic to change momentum in the game.  I have a major issue with this selective morality being used and accepted depending on the sport it takes place in.

I don’t know if there is a racial undertone to how altercations in different sports are viewed. Where basketball is dominated largely by African Americans and baseball and ice hockey a large population are white. In any case these behaviors shouldn’t be accepted or tolerated, yet they are.  We can talk until we are blue in the face about the culture and unwritten rules where retaliation is expected in certain sports.  If we take it down that road, then tell me why the punishments for the same infractions aren’t doled out the same.  It’s sending the wrong message to all who watch and participate in sports.  If you are in a particular sport where it is accepted then you know your reprisal for whatever reason doesn’t carry a heavy penalty and is part of the game that is accepted. Then why wouldn’t you do it?  If this is your line of thinking then accept it in all sports don’t just confine it to sports where it’s accepted and tolerated and not harshly punished.  On this issue you can’t be a fence sitter either you accept there is a physical aspects to all sports that can boil over at any time into a fracas or physical confrontation where players are at each others necks. Or this type of behavior isn’t tolerated and accepted and those who get involved are punished, as to demonstrate this is not how sports should be represented, or how you should represent yourself.  This selective morality needs to be addressed and dealt with, as no one benefits from it.