From when Men were Men

It seems to me, that in the last few years, precautions in pro sport have gone too far.


I say this in the light of the suspension and fine handed out to the New York Jets' Eric Smith after a helmet-to-helmet hit on the Arizona Cardinals' Anquan Boldin . Now, of course, the hit was horrendous and the aftermath was terrifying, and no one wants to see an NFL star, like Boldin, get injured so badly. However, my problem lies within the rule itself, and the massive rule changes in the past few years. It used to be that helmet-to-helmet hits were only illegal and penalized if on a quarterback, which was one of many rules the NFL has used to reduce injury at the position. Undoubtedly, it's a dangerous sport and the padding themselves are almost more useful as weapons. However, the penalties and fines and suspensions, really can't be the solution in many of the circumstances.



Smith's Hit on Boldin


Smith's hit on Boldin was by no means malicious, nor was it intentional. It was a case of a Safety ranging across the field to do his job. Also, just before the point of impact, Boldin was hit from behind by the cornerback covering him, thus pushing him into the oncoming Smith. The problem with the rule is that it's almost like the overprotective-mother-of-bubble-child syndrome. If a hit is as unintentional as this one, judgement should be used when issuing the fines & suspensions. Especially in a circumstance like this, where Smith himself was rendered unconscious after the hit. I can not blame Roger Goodell for the punishment he handed down to Smith, as he is following the regulations, set up by the NFL to ensure player safety. I'm not hatin' the commish, I'm hatin' the guidelines he has to follow.



It seems that perhaps the rules themselves need to be amended, maybe at the beginning of the '09 season, to institute a lesser punishment for "accidental helmet-to-helmet contact".



It's not only the new NFL rules that have changed in the past few years that bother me, but also those of the NHL.


The amount of stick-infraction penalties, that were set up in order to "speed the game up" have actually just created more whistles, and slowed the game down.


Understandably some of these rules came as a result of the major infractions we've seen in the NHL lately, as there have been way too many uses of the stick as a weapon in recent memory (McSorley, Simon, Boulerice). But the infractions have become to intricate for the game. The Obstruction based penalties are exactly that...an obstruction of the game.


It used to be that if you were playing a game, and you were wearing a different colour jersey than me, you were fair game. Sure the basic penalties were the same, but it's all these new regulations that are there to "improve play" and "increasing viewer enjoyment".


What sparked my interest in the rule changes, were some comments from the "Secretary of Defense" former Rams Defensive End, Deacon Jones. His comments were about the NFL rule changes and he had this to say "You used to be able to hit the body, from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet". He goes on to say, " The game is vicious. It must always remain that way. Everybody shouldn't have the appetite to play this game".


This is a call from a time when the game was played in brutality, and from when Men were Men.