[Textcritic]

I listened to James Duthie on the TEAM 1040 this AM, and thought that he had a very good take on this. It was the morning show, which features the worst cast of clowns in the history of talk radio, David Pratt and "Bro Jake", so of course, there were ALOT of cringe-worthy moments.

Duthie said that Wideman is not intending to injure the linesman, and that the collision itself was probably accidental. However, he also said that the cross-check (and he called it a cross-check) is something that he expects will incur a suspension. Duthie believes that the shot Wideman delivered to the ref was instinctual, and I think that is probably right. The problem is, the league needs to take extreme measures sometimes to protect their officials, and whether or not the "collision" was accidental (and I think there is nothing to confirm one way or the other whether there was intent here), the up-high hit itself is something that should and will likely be punished. The league disciplines for dangerous plays that are unintentional. I don't see why they shouldn't also punish for a reactionary incident such as this one.

Apparently, Ray Ferraro has also come out strongly in favour of suspending Wideman. I haven't hear him yet, but have found that he generally has a pretty balanced and sensible view of things.