The scene is Monday, Feb. 21, 2000 in Vancouver. With 2.7 seconds remaining in a game where the Boston Bruins trail the Vancouver Canucks 5-2, Boston's Marty McSorley lifts his stick off the ice and strikes Vancouver's Donald Brashear square in the right temple. Brashear falls to the ice, sustains a concussion and bleeds from his face. Watch the film, it is one of the most disgraceful acts in sports I've ever seen.
How did this happen?
Well, earlier in the game, McSorley and Brashear fought and received penalties for their actions. Both men play the role of enforcer on their respective teams, so they're both attuned to mixing it up. McSorley was obviously upset that his team was losing -- and about Brashear's convincing victory in their fight -- but what made him snap? By his own admission, he does not know.
The result of this act is that Brashear will be out of action for two to three weeks, while McSorley is gone for longer. As it stands, McSorley is suspended indefinitely. What is definite is that his season is over. McSorley will not play in Boston's remaining 23 regular season games, nor will he be allowed to play in the playoffs. At age 36, McSorley is past his prime and might have put the final nail in the coffin of his playing days. What a sad way to go out.
However, McSorley deserves whatever punishment the NHL decides to dish out. There is no excuse for what he did. McSorley admits his guilt and submits that it is "the dumbest thing I have ever done in sports."
Brashear got lucky. He'll be out for a while, but it could have been worse. A significant blow to the head like that could do almost anything.
This recent incident raises an important question about the NHL. What is the value of permitting fighting and violence when acts such as McSorley's occur?
Well, in a sick and distorted way, violence has become such a huge part of the league's appeal that it cannot be outlawed. The league office has tried to curtail unconscionable acts of violence, but it has not taken the entire step towards making the game safer -- banning fighting and unnecessary contact.
Will the NHL ever completely ban fighting? No, never. It has become such a staple of today's game that many spectators hope that fights break out.
One thing I will never describe myself as is a huge hockey fan. Never have been and probably never will be. Hockey often loses me. I find it boring to watch in person and even more so on TV.
However, during the limited amount of time I spend watching hockey, I find myself hoping a fight will break out. Without fail, every time I watch a game, I am overtaken by this morbid fascination.
I can't explain it. It just happens.
Am I a rare case or an exception, a semi-fan who watches not for the strategy and supreme athletic performance but instead for fighting? No, I am not the exception. Most who watch hockey enjoy the fighting.
It is at the point now that fighting has become a drawing factor for the NHL. Think of the epic battles in recent years between the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche. They're both great teams fighting to win, but ask people what they most remember about these rivalry encounters and they'll tell you it's the blood, the fighting. They remember wild fights where even the goalies, Patrick Roy and Chris Osgood, got into the action.
It's weird, but people love watching two 6'4" enforcers throw down their gloves and go at each other. Like highway drivers stopping to view an accident, it's just a morbid habit.
To me, fighting and violence is an asset to the league. NHL promotions don't show two thugs exchanging blows, but people know it's there. They know it's the place they can get their weekly dose of violence between February and June while the NFL takes its off-season.
The question we're left with is this. If the NHL won't ban fighting and unnecessary violence, then how will they prevent such acts as McSorley's? Well, my guess is that punishment for irrational acts such as McSorley's will continue to be harsh -- but not unjustly so -- and act as a deterrent.
From a fiscal standpoint, the NHL does not generate as much revenue as the NBA, NFL and MLB. Sadly, this whole issue comes down to money. It is clear that fighting generates interest, which generates revenue, so it is obvious that neither fighting nor the violent nature of the game will be banned or changed.
If I'm NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, I leave the status quo on fighting and violence intact and continue to deal out harsh penalties in the face of despicable acts. I can't allow players to be seriously or potentially fatally injured, but I also can't risk losing revenue.
