Posted on 01/27/2002 8:48:53 AM PST by moodyskeptic
I'm sorry, but someone has to voice it: the little guy had it coming. Sucker punching a man 110 pounds your better is unwise, and the little antagonist Micheal Costin was in the wrong in the heated exchange that claimed his life.
At first, I was going along with the dominant media, insisting that this Sports Rage is out of hand and that the killer was a bully who should get the electric chair. But, being a Freeper, I have learned to check my emotional response to "big stories" and get more information before I choose sides. I wanted to hate the Big Bully Thomas Junta, he was reportedly a huge man. Then I realized that he's about my size, I'm 6'1", 255. I'm no giant. And I've spent an adulthood targeted by stupid little hot headed roosters who like to pick fights they can't win. Any big guy will tell you: you learn to be the cooler head and attempt to walk away. Expect no sympathy in ANY altercation.Little guys with an agenda are everywhere, perhaps they were traumatized, they didn't get chosen for teams or were ignored by daddy, whatever.Genetics made us big, not weightlifting. We are what our ancestors were, fat or big or strong or smart or devious or small or kind or mean. There are few truly mean big guys.
It turns out that the little guy Costin was allowing high sticking and rough contact during stick practice, and when the Big Dumb Guy showed up to protest, Costen shot back that hockey is a tough game, get over it. Costin was in the wrong. He should've relented and shut up. But he was the hot head of the two and wouldn't drop it. In the dressing room, he sucker punched the bigger man and kicked at him with his skates as they continued arguing. This chicken spit tactic should've gotten him clobbered right then.True to Big Guy form, Junta went out to his truck to simmer down, only to return when he realized that his son was still in a locker room with a crazy father and his roughneck kids. Let's honestly add to that the humiliation of being sucker punched and walking away from it.
I don't know how many of you freepers have been in an inadvertant serious fight with guys who play dirty. Apparently very few. Surely the pixie woman prosecutor was in unfamiliar waters, judging by her questions. " So, this meant you had to resort to violence, Mr. Junta?" Huh? She ever experienced anything beyond her suburan car pool existance?
Wise fathers tell their boys: don't smart off to cops, don't hit women, don't pick fights you can't possibly win. Attacking a man 110 pounds bigger than you, when you are IN THE WRONG morally, is unwise. While I'm very sad that Costin died. Really. However, putting the Big Dumb father in jail for six to ten years send the message: Open Season on big guys, a jury packed with people who got overlooked when choosing sides for dodgeball will exact revenge on the Big Bully, and you can be as mean and smart alecky as you want at that next sporting event.
My first impression was that Costin was a jerk. This has pretty much been proven with a look at his past rap-sheet.
As for Junta, I suspect that he went way too far - and knew it. Or, as when he beat the hell out of his wife, he was just uncontrollable. Either way, a few years in the pokie may wise him up. And then again, it might not.
No sale. You seem to be saying that Junta should never have left, but rather that he should have stayed and pummeled that seven-time jailbird punk Costin right after he got sucker punched and kicked at with skates.
So Junta left and came back - - good for him. I don't hold it against him, even if the jury did. I hope there's an appeal.
In my opinion, this was his mistake. He should never have left, but should have resolved the dispute right then and there. By leaving so that he could simmer down, he instead had a chance to fume at the needless humiliation he had suffered at the hands of a worthless little punk. It ate at him quickly, and he could not let it rest. He lost his temper. I think he wanted to beat the punk up - - teach him a lesson real good - - but I don't believe he wanted to kill him. The punk ended up dead, and 6 to 10 is probably about right.
Bravo to our system of justice.
Where I come from (Houston, Texas), if you're man enough to start a fight, you'd best be man enough to finish it.
I speak from experience. I'm five-ten and weigh between 130 and 150 (yep, it do vary that much), which makes me at least equal-sized to most men of my acquaintance. I've been in two fights in my life back in the day, both with men I was dating at the time, and both of which I started. To their chivalrous credit, both men tried not to fight back, but I made it kinda hard for them.
When you hit, expect to get hit back. It's cowardly and chicken$hit of women - and little men - to think they can get away with hitting someone and expect no retaliation. That means all of us - women, men, however large or small you are.
What you say is very curious. Are you proud of the fact you fought with chivalrous men? Presumably, because they both tried not to fight back, they didnt start the fighting to begin with.
Were they injured by a smack from one of your leather-cupped breasts?
Exactly how much force is necessary to sever the muscles holding a person's neck together? Enough force to prove that a fist necessarily had been used in an intentionally harmful way, on a helpless person?
Women playing at men is ok, as long as they know they are women.
Junta lucked out. He murdered, and he got away with it. He should be in prison until he dies. But he will not, he will get out, probably.
The astonishing thing is that anyone calling herself conservative, should offer a defense of this killer.
And btw, you are more than 150, easily.
Well, there's a reason for that watt, Junta didn't ask Costin for a copy of his rap sheet before he beat him to death so it was irrelevant to the beating to death of Costin since Junta had no knowledge that Costin was also a piece of crap.
This rationale of yours tells us much about you, and says nothing of the person to whom you projected it.
The law says you can only respond with reasonable force, whether you're a cop or a wife beating bully like Junta. You can't beat people to death because they looked at you crosseyed, spit on you or questioned your manhood. Well you can, but if you do you're going to the joint with the tough guys.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.