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Opinion: Hockey Dad Verdict Backwards
vanity | 1/27/02 | moodyskeptic

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.


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To: moodyskeptic
Interesting take - good job. JL
21 posted on 01/27/2002 9:13:05 AM PST by lodwick
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To: moodyskeptic
Except the big guy left and then came back even angrier looking for a fight. Sorry, I agree with the judge. He got off easy. Regardless of their size, he beat a man to death. And it wasn't a "lucky blow." It was repeatedely bashing his unconscious skull against the concrete. The big man "lost it" and it wasn't the first time, either. It was the first death, however and he deserved more than 6 to 10 years.
22 posted on 01/27/2002 9:13:15 AM PST by tbeatty
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To: JoeEveryman
Besides, most 230+ guys can't maintain breathing and heartrate long enough to win a real fight...
23 posted on 01/27/2002 9:13:57 AM PST by go star go
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To: lsee
Big or small, the man was in a flaming rage. He would have had a better chance of escaping prison time if he had pleaded temporary insanity or something like that, since he was clearly out of control

The only person that was out of control was the flameing little "Richard"wad.

24 posted on 01/27/2002 9:14:42 AM PST by greydog
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To: go star go
I imagine most 145 pound Marines can kick the sh*t out of most 200+ FReepers so you all know big is not the determining factor.

How well will the 145 lb. Marine do against a 200 lb. Marine? That is the relevant question.

By the same token, occasionally a woman will defeat a man in a fight (often due to a male mental hangup against "hitting a girl"), but that doesn't mean that the average man will not routinely clobber the average woman when it comes down to it.

Given equal ability, the bigger, stronger person will almost invariably win.

25 posted on 01/27/2002 9:14:57 AM PST by Restorer
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To: moodyskeptic
And I've spent an adulthood targeted by stupid little hot headed roosters who like to pick fights they can't win.

Why do they target you?

From the tenor of your post, you seem to carry a chip on your shoulder.

I don't know how many of you freepers have been in an inadvertant serious fight with guys who play dirty. Apparently very few.

Yea, because most of us don't walk around looking for fights, as you apparently do.

Little guys with an agenda are everywhere, perhaps they were traumatized, they didn't get chosen for teams or were ignored by daddy, whatever.

Big guys with agendas are everywhere too.

Are you as much of a punk as you appear to be?

I've never been in a fight, of any kind, in my adult life. I've found that people who frequently fight are usually looking to fight.

Sounds like you like to fight.

26 posted on 01/27/2002 9:15:13 AM PST by sinkspur
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To: JoeEveryman
Junta DID walk away, then returned for his son. He was jumped again. Did you follow the trial?
27 posted on 01/27/2002 9:15:34 AM PST by moodyskeptic
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To: lsee
You are right. Junta could have walked away but he re-entered the arena and smashed Costin's head into the ground. I don't care what your size, when you can walk away but you are such a thug that you have to beat a man's skull into the cement while his children are watching and people are trying to pull you off of him, you have a problem. The verdict was just. Junta deserves as much jail time as possible.
28 posted on 01/27/2002 9:15:52 AM PST by Hillary's Lovely Legs
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To: mewzilla
lol!
29 posted on 01/27/2002 9:16:34 AM PST by ken21
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To: go star go
Not to enflame the Army vs. Marine issue - oh, well I guess I will - I remember when I was at a joint service school and was slugged in the back of the head by an obviously drunk lance corporal while I was returning to my barracks room. As I remember it, I simply kept walking - the punch wasn't much in the way of power - and about 30 seconds later a Marine SSG came racing down the hallway to 1) apologize for the stupidity of the said lance corporal who was receiving some wall-to-wall counseling and 2) to express his admiration for my control and discipline.

We now return to our regularly scheduled broadcast. HOO-AH.

30 posted on 01/27/2002 9:17:11 AM PST by SBeck
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To: moodyskeptic
First this is not a flame and second I'm 6'2" and 250lbs. But going by your title I'm sure Mr. Costin would not mind switching places based on the outcome. Mr. Junta is not going to jail because of the fight but because he didn't know when to stop.
31 posted on 01/27/2002 9:17:12 AM PST by Crusader21stCentury
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To: moodyskeptic
Your BMI is 33.69
32 posted on 01/27/2002 9:18:26 AM PST by hole_n_one
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To: moodyskeptic
Open Season on big guys . . .

Bravo Sierra . . .

What should the judge do? What message should he send to Michael Costin's family and his son? "Suck it up, kid, your dad was a jerk" . . .

The "Gentle Giant" was humiliated? He was the victim?

I was heretofore unaware that humiliation was so injurious to men taller than six feet . . .

33 posted on 01/27/2002 9:18:27 AM PST by BraveMan
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To: Restorer
No. The question is "How well would bat ass Junta do against a 145 pound Marine?". Not too well. He's not going to do well in prison either.
34 posted on 01/27/2002 9:19:41 AM PST by go star go
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Comment #35 Removed by Moderator

To: Restorer
If size doesn't matter, why are there weight divisions in boxing and wrestling?

The same reason there are timed rounds, gloves to protect the hands, mouthpieces, etc.. IMO, it has more to do with organized crime, specifically gambling, and the need to make an event as equal as possible so you can have people gambling on both sides. That's why they give odds - give good enough odds and someone will bet on a fighter they typically wouldn't bet on. Same reason they cooked up point spreads in football. From a "business" view you can't have 80 or 90% of people betting on a fighter and only 10-20% betting on the other. You'll lose big money that way.

I have seen some martial arts "games" in Korea and China in which there were three rules: No attack to the eyes, no attack to the windpipe, and no attack to the spinal column. I never saw the rules actually enforced but they did exist. The games usually lasted less than 40 seconds and had no weight classes. I've never seen them in the US, probably for liability reasons.

36 posted on 01/27/2002 9:20:21 AM PST by thatsnotnice
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To: moodyskeptic
I guess I'm not one of those that believes its OK to blame the victim. A life was extinguished. Junta was the one who dealt the blow. Case closed.
37 posted on 01/27/2002 9:20:57 AM PST by Utopia
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To: moodyskeptic
Why didn't dear, sweet, Gentle Ben just go to the counter and ask that his son be paged?

I've heard of 'littlemanitis'....I don't know the equivalent for big guys.....just the way you wrote the article, I get the impression you have a 'chip' right there....on your shoulder....but then, I'm just a woman and dont' understand those guy things like feeling the need to beat on someone til their eyeballs pop out or blood flows from all body orifices.

And in case you think I have it in for 'big' guys.....one of the funniest things I ever was privy to learning about occured to a small guy....a cop, no less....a neighbor who lived catty-corner to where we lived...couldn't stand the guy....that 'littlemanitis' disease really had a hold on him....his wife and kids suffered from it.

I'll call him "Bob". Bob worked one of the black areas in Los Angeles (this was back over 25 years ago). He would often brag or joke about people he picked up during the evenings duty. One I particular mention was how he cracked up in telling us about a couple of teenage boys - black - that they had picked up during the night...and one of the questions asked during booking was about how they masticate....and the one kid blurted out "man, I doan do that--I gots me a girlfriend".

Fast forward a bit....Bob's wife got pg; they had only wanted 2 kids so Bob goes and has a vasectomy. Macho Bob is ready to go back to work in 3 days.....and lo and behold, in attempting to make an arrest, the teenage boy kicks him smack between the legs!

He was hospitalized for about 5 days during which time his wife and I talked several times...I was concerned about a potentially life threatening problem....however, she was quite amused about the whole thing--she was almost gleeful as she told me the perp was even smaller than Bob!

38 posted on 01/27/2002 9:22:07 AM PST by Rowdee
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To: moodyskeptic
The point is Junta lost control. It probably would not have gone any further if Junta just decked him to shut him up. But Junta kept beating him after he was obviously down for the count..

Junta lost control.

39 posted on 01/27/2002 9:22:17 AM PST by DaGman
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To: moodyskeptic
I didn't follow the trial, but I heard that he had a history of violent behavior, including beating up women. That info was supposedly suppressed during the trial but used by the judge in sentencing. My mostly uninformed opinion is that both parties were scumbags so I won't lose sleep over the verdict.
40 posted on 01/27/2002 9:23:40 AM PST by LIBERTARIAN JOE
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