When is it OK for your team to get into a physical altercation?

Banned from campus.  But I do not understand why he would not be arrested.  There has to come a point that what happens in sports should be no different than any other aspect of life if it is outside the normal play.  He took a cheap shot at the guy.  You could not be mad at your players if they reacted to this, unless the officials handled it strongly immediately.  I do not think the player was ejected.

I’d endorse leaving the bench.  What a punk

If it was a teammate of mine, punk would be tasting his own blood before he made it to half court. Should be arrested.

I wish more teams had the courage to react this way to an undeniable cheap shot. Kudos to that player showing everyone who really is the tough guy

I'm surprised the guys made it out of the gym without getting his butt kick a few times. 

This summer my son got hit three times in the same spot on his back. The bruises overlapped each other. Grateful it was on his back, but my daughter (not an athlete, but loves her little brother) kept asking why that wasn't assault.

Wow this story has gone around the world and back.

Social media has turned this kid's bad decision into something that will make him famous for the rest of his life.

Next run down court. That guy gets dropped.

1st player to drop him gets Wendy’s for a week.

You don’t need to say anything to the team . Someone will step up.

Thats why I like hockey. There’s a certain level of incidental contact. Cheap shots beget cheap shots and you move on (with Officials understanding)

I saw a video that claims to put the flagrant foul in perspective. At the other end the flagrant fouler was the shooter and a foul wasn’t called. BUT, 1) he kicked out in an attempt to draw a foul and 2) a missed call by a ref (it was actually a good non call) doesn’t warrant assault. 

CmassRHPDad posted:

Wow this story has gone around the world and back.

Social media has turned this kid's bad decision into something that will make him famous for the rest of his life.

Kermit Washington says hi.

Despite my wish to see the guy get what he deserves, if my son came off the bench intent on revenge with physical assault, I would do whatever I could to get my son in a headlock and drag him out of the gym.

Cheapshot, no doubt.  Elbower needs to get suspended. As a guy who used to play hockey back when there were no cages and fighting was common...eh. I've seen much worse.

In baseball, I don't see a lot of ugly stuff. A lot of chirping. Throwing at the head is a big no-no, but honestly, the control is so bad with so many P's that I seldom see batter's get hit intentionally. I did get one of those oven mitts after Special jr. got stepped on stealing a base, and missed a few games Senior year. There was some thought that the 3B did it on purpose...sort of like a hard tag to the face.

My daughter was the target of a similar attack but they bit off more than they could chew.  In a college showcase on the main diamond, with a runner on 1st, a team bunted with the intend of the runner going to 3rd after not stopping at 2nd.  My dd was playing 1st base for one of the few times in her career prior to college.  She fielded the bunt, tagged the runner and gunned the runner at 3rd.  The opposing coach was upset that my daughter tagged the runner too hard.  So, with a runner on 1st and their biggest girl, the coach's daughter hitting, she bunted to first.  The hitter then ran straight at my daughter who was fielding the ball while the other runner came at her from the backside.  BB decked the hitter, stepped aside for the base runner and put her on the ground.  Both dugouts emptied, the cops were called and that team was ejected from the tournament.  That coach found himself on the ground as my daughter's dad, me, beat his ...  BTW, some of you know the kid and so, you know that she is 6 foot tall and really strong.  I don't think that they realized just how strong until both opposing players went down.   LOL  

There would be a fight in the locker room if this happened and none of my teammates did anything about it

Unless it is late in the season or playoff time where you cannot afford to get ejected/suspended you have to do something as a teammate 

57special posted:

Cheapshot, no doubt.  Elbower needs to get suspended. As a guy who used to play hockey back when there were no cages and fighting was common...eh. I've seen much worse....

OK, but when there were no "cages", a whole lot of hockey players had missing teeth and crooked noses.

Seriously though, fighting is different.  In a fight, you know a swing is coming and you have a chance to defend yourself.  This was a really dirty coldcock on someone who had no idea it was coming. 

Go44dad posted:

Despite my wish to see the guy get what he deserves, if my son came off the bench intent on revenge with physical assault, I would do whatever I could to get my son in a headlock and drag him out of the gym.

The elbow was not, in any way, a basketball play.  It was done maliciously and with the intent to injure the shooter.  This is precisely the type of situation when it is ok for a team to get into a physical altercation.  The shooter and his teammates should have been all over the offender immediately.  As a coach, I would be disappointed in my team if they just let it go.  As a parent, I would congratulate my son and take him to a steak dinner if he was ejected for standing up for his teammate in this situation.  

SomeBaseballDad posted:

Go44dad posted:

Despite my wish to see the guy get what he deserves, if my son came off the bench intent on revenge with physical assault, I would do whatever I could to get my son in a headlock and drag him out of the gym.

Not joking.  I would prefer my son not get in fights, on or off the field/court.  Bad things can happen that alter lives.

I'm sure 19/20 year old me would have retaliated.  Pretty sure my son would now.

It was the whole "if my son resorts to violence I'm going to kick his azz" vibe. I was like "is he being sarcastic.... "

I could have phrased it better, I'm sure.

The police are investigating potential assault charges ...

Police have launched an investigation after a Fitchburg State basketball player’s cheap shot to the head of an opponent went viral and got him booted off campus.

Fitchburg State said the university’s police department — which has the same warrant and arrest powers as a municipal department for any campus crime — is looking into the smash that FSU Falcons player Kewan Platt dealt to the head of Nate Tenaglia of Nichols College near the end of a game.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sp...nced_from_campus_for

My feeling is despite how flagrant the foul was it occurred in the action of the game. Therefore, the behavior should be handled by the athletic department and the conference administration. But life is getting more PC and too many people look for reasons to be outraged. I can see outside forces ultimately policing sports events. 

Excuse me, you intentionally knocked down that hitter. That’s assault. You’re under arrest.  

I think when it is part of the game that is one thing but when it is completely outside the rules/boundaries of the game then it should be assault.  If you are dumb enough to say, "I'm going to hit so and so in the head if he comes to bat" then do it.  It should be assault.  Not part of the game and there should be legal consequences. 

Anytime there is a fight there is room for assault.  The blow to the head in this case is equal to assault.  Why do we allow people to do things, players or coaches, on a field or court that they could not do anywhere else.  If a teacher cursed your kid in English class, you would have a duck fit but if a coach does it then it is ok because it is part of the game.  Wrong.  It is not part of the game. 

And I do not consider myself PC at all.  Just have a little common sense, most days.

It was a cheap shot no doubt. Kick him off the team? Fine. Kick him out of school? Don't agree with it but sure. Charge him? C'mon.

Are the police going to arrest Bryce Harper on the field when he charges the mound? Did Odor and Bautista really assault each other or did they fight and get over it a few days later? If one of the teammates retaliated should he be charged too? 

I think for the police to be involved it was have to be so over the top that injuring a player seriously was the clear (or at least perceived) intent. And if the police get involved, everybody loses to some extent. That was pretty much assault. I recall an NFL game, a long time ago, where a defender picked up from behind and threw down the QB (Favre?) like 3-4 seconds after the play was whistled dead. I recall it being almost surreal to see it live.

But let's face it, in baseball, there have been plenty of folks who have, on these boards, from time to time, advocated (explicitly or implicitly) for *hard* tags and slides and plunked batters. It's always a slippery slope.