Quote:
Originally Posted by Geeoff
My point is, if the NHL can be sued for allowing players to fight, then sports that are 100% fighting are screwed.
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Ok, I've had this argument before, so I don't want to get to bogged down in it, but for all intents and purposes fighting is not allowed in the NHL. It's penalized and is clearly against the rules according to the official rule book.
How stiff the penalties are for the purpose of deterring it are is a different question really.
For your analogy, the fighters expect to fight. It's what the sport is and it's what they train for. Fighting is technically not allowed in hockey so the argument for Montador is A) If it's not allowed, why is it glorified as part of the sport's entertainment factor by the league/media? B) If it's not allowed, why are certain players asked to specifically do that to the point that they train themselves as fighters moreso than hockey players? And furthermore, C) Why does a professional sports league champion what is essentially bare-knuckle boxing, something that is illegal pretty much anywhere?
If a player just looked at the rules and went to play, with no knowledge of the traditional aspect of the game, they should have no reason to think they would be engaged in a fight while playing. Soccer players don't go out expecting to have their ankles broken by a cheap tackle. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but they are in no way consenting to it by entering onto the field, only that injuries may occur. But what if UEFA or FIFA not only did very little to curb the practice, but advertised it as an exciting part of the game? "Look! You can see Messi's foot face the wrong direction!"
Not a perfect metaphor, but honestly, there arent a lot of comparables across other sports. Hockey is the only one that lets a pretty serious rule just kind of permeate throughout their sport for the sake of tradition.