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Ray Rice, Ray Lewis and the absurdity of the NFL
New York Post ^ | 09/11/2014 | PHIL MUSHNICK

Posted on 09/15/2014 6:25:09 AM PDT by safetysign

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To: DaveA37

Makes sense to me. It actually speaks to one of the reasons I don’t watch professional sports. I learned in Business 101 in 1973 that when you purchase a product you are “voting for it”. Ever since then, I’ll avoid purchasing products or otherwise supporting products I’d not “vote for”. Pro sports is one of them.

I remember getting great seats to watch a Seattle Supersonics game about 18 years ago. A friend knew one of the players and that’s how we got them. Before the game, the entire basketball court was filled with Seattle police officers standing at attention. I whispered to my wife (all those men who work day in and day out in a dangerous job, don’t make as much money, COMBINED, as one of the players on this team. It insults my intelligence.

We left after the first quarter. It simply wasn’t fun to watch.


41 posted on 09/15/2014 7:26:22 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The US will not survive the obama presidency. The world may not either.)
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To: cuban leaf

The laws define what is excessive. It is why Rice was arrested and is on probation.


42 posted on 09/15/2014 7:27:23 AM PDT by kabar
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To: kabar

So, the use of potential lethal force is justified?


The use of potential lethal force as well as the use of lethal foree are always an option against any attacker, regardless of sex, if the situation warrants it.

And sometimes the slightest use of force can be lethal. E.g. nudging someone, who trips and falls backwards, their head falling smack into a pointy protrusion on a rock or a metal railing.

Simply driving your car is “potentially lethal”.


43 posted on 09/15/2014 7:29:38 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The US will not survive the obama presidency. The world may not either.)
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To: kabar

The laws define what is excessive. It is why Rice was arrested and is on probation.


Courts determine what is excessive. That is why first degree murder is considered excessive, but killing in self defense is not.


44 posted on 09/15/2014 7:30:44 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The US will not survive the obama presidency. The world may not either.)
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To: kabar

The laws define what is excessive. It is why Rice was arrested and is on probation.


Courts determine what is excessive. It’s why George Zimmerman is a free man.


45 posted on 09/15/2014 7:31:36 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The US will not survive the obama presidency. The world may not either.)
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To: aquila48

Of course, golf is to professional sports what smores is to 5 star dining...


46 posted on 09/15/2014 7:34:53 AM PDT by Delta Dawn (Fluent in two languages: English and cursive.)
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To: kabar

Odd line of reasoning, IMO.

So violence must always be responded to with proportionate force and no more? A small person is entitled to attack a larger person and not suffer the consequences of his/her poor judgment? When did that become a rule of law?

Do I approve of what he did? Nope. I don’t think a man should strike a woman under any but the most extreme circumstances.

But let’s at least be clear that is what is at issue. It’s not that he responded with violence to a violent attack by a smaller and less powerful person. It’s that he hit a woman. Nobody would have cared in the least had he unleashed similar force on a similarly size man, or indeed on any man at all.

So the issue here is simply one of chivalry, though nobody wants to admit it. Which to my mind doesn’t align well with the notion that women should be treated exactly equally with men at all times. Much less that they are such frail and delicate flowers we can send them into combat.


47 posted on 09/15/2014 7:35:28 AM PDT by Sherman Logan (Perception wins most of the battles. Reality wins ALL the wars.)
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To: cuban leaf

Was it warranted in this case? Was Rice’s life in danger? The authorities who prosecuted Rice don’t think so. Rice has apologized for his actions, which are inexcusable except for a lunatic fringe who defend his actions.


48 posted on 09/15/2014 7:35:56 AM PDT by kabar
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To: cuban leaf

I have sat as a juror on a murder case. I understand the issue of self-defense. But we are discussing the Rice case, the subject of this thread. The courts have made a decision in the Rice case. He is guilt as charged. He was given a diversion because of no previous criminal history.


49 posted on 09/15/2014 7:38:52 AM PDT by kabar
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To: Moonman62

“In the case of Donald Sterling, the recording of his conversation was illegal.”

Just a minor point: Recording of the conversations was not illegal. Releasing the recordings to the MSM was illegal.


50 posted on 09/15/2014 7:41:26 AM PDT by spel_grammer_an_punct_polise (Why does every totalitarian political hack think that he knows how to run my life better than I do?)
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To: TexasGator
Go back to watching your heros Ray Lewis and Aaron Hernandez ...

That's kinda funny. I'd never heard of Rice before this thing blew up, and all I know of Hernandez is that I think he was the dog fighter guy. I don't know of any Ray Lewis at all.

Not a big sports fan.

From the video he obviously connected with her pretty good. But it doesn't look to me like a punch. More like a slap to cause the motion shown. But I'm certainly no expert on the subject.

BTW, I've also read repeatedly that he dragged her out of the elevator by her hair, which is flatly untrue.

Like I said, I don't approve of what he did. But the template this story is being fit into is one of "domestic violence," and we all know that always consists of evil sadistic men beating innocent and unresisting women.

The fact of the matter is that the issue is much more complex than that, in many if not most cases. But nobody wants to challenge the dominant template.

51 posted on 09/15/2014 7:44:02 AM PDT by Sherman Logan (Perception wins most of the battles. Reality wins ALL the wars.)
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To: kabar

Was it warranted in this case?


Dunno. I have heard that his hitting her is not what knocked her out. And someone falling on something, knocking them out, can happen pretty easily if you are just unlucky.

But if she was physically assaulting him first, I have no problem with him offering a measured response back. But again, if she is drunk and unstable, that measured response could be enough for her to lose her footing, bang her head on a protrusion and get knocked out.

But I’ve not seen the video, nor will I sit in judgement of either of them. Frankly, it’s none of my business. I’m sure the authorities will do their job with all the thoroughness and precision of any government organization. ;-)


52 posted on 09/15/2014 7:45:23 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The US will not survive the obama presidency. The world may not either.)
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To: Sherman Logan

” But I’m certainly no expert on the subject.”

You didn’t need to post that.


53 posted on 09/15/2014 7:46:14 AM PDT by TexasGator
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To: TexasGator; spel_grammer_an_punct_polise

Donald Sterling made the recording ...

...

I didn’t know that. I guess the crime was releasing it to the media.


54 posted on 09/15/2014 7:47:13 AM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: cuban leaf

The level of violence is not what determines the difference between murder and self-defense.


55 posted on 09/15/2014 7:47:38 AM PDT by Sherman Logan (Perception wins most of the battles. Reality wins ALL the wars.)
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To: lacrew

I understand he was accepted into a first offenders program. If he completes it and stays out of trouble his record will be clean.


56 posted on 09/15/2014 7:48:32 AM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: safetysign

I excoriated him initially but, after viewing the full video yesterday I dunno.

Seems she backhanded him before getting on the elevator and who knows what she did before that. She then appears to advance on him, in that cage called an elevator and the result was her getting laid out.

Not ready to call it self defense but, it appears to be a reaction on his part to end her aggression.

It could be argued that he could have restrained her but, who knows what would have been the result of getting into a tussle with a woman, hell bent on dominating a clearly superior opponent.

Some people just go full tilt and she could have received more injuries as he “thoughtfully” tried to control an unthinking and out of control, mentally deranged person.

Flame away...


57 posted on 09/15/2014 7:49:00 AM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
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To: TexasGator

Is it the size/strenght disparity you object to, or the sex difference?

Let’s at least be clear on the issue in question.


58 posted on 09/15/2014 7:50:17 AM PDT by Sherman Logan (Perception wins most of the battles. Reality wins ALL the wars.)
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To: cuban leaf

“Women ruin lives as often as men do.”

Women have ruined more men than wars and pestilence. I’m sorry. I forgot who said it. ;-)


59 posted on 09/15/2014 7:50:46 AM PDT by spel_grammer_an_punct_polise (Why does every totalitarian political hack think that he knows how to run my life better than I do?)
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To: Sherman Logan
But let’s at least be clear that is what is at issue. It’s not that he responded with violence to a violent attack by a smaller and less powerful person. It’s that he hit a woman. Nobody would have cared in the least had he unleashed similar force on a similarly size man, or indeed on any man at all.

Let's be clear that Rice was charged with a crime under existing laws that do not consider whether the victim was a man or woman.

Atlantic County prosecutors decided to recommend a Pre-Trial Intervention program, an alternative to prosecution that spares defendants the stain of a criminal conviction if they comply with court-ordered rehabilitation.

For one, Rice’s wife, Janay Palmer, apparently did not want the case to proceed, making it difficult for prosecutors to prove the case to a jury if it went that far, Furlong noted.

And, he added, for an aggravated assault like the one Rice was facing prosecutors typically look to see if the victim suffered serious bodily injury before going forward.

Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain, in an interview with The Press of Atlantic City Wednesday, defended his office's decision to allow Rice to enter PTI. He said the video by itself would have likely led to a criminal conviction for Rice, The Press reported. However, McClain added that Rice still would have been sentenced to probation, not jail time, if he'd been convicted, the report said.

60 posted on 09/15/2014 7:51:34 AM PDT by kabar
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