Cowardice in sports – What kind of lessons are we teaching our kids ? (the Moore vs. Bertuzzi case)
Anyone who has seen the video of Todd Bertuzzi’s cowardly attack of Steve Moore during an NHL Hockey game knows that such conduct should not be part of any activity in which “good sportsmanship” is a part. As Moore was skating away from the Vancouver Canucks goal and Bertuzzi, Bertuzzi: (1) dropped his stick, (2) grabbed Moore’s jersey from behind, (3) “sucker punched the former Harvard captain in the back of the head, and (4) drove Moore’s head down into the ice. Moore remained unconscious on the ice for some time and was taken to the hospital. He sustained massive injuries as a result of the assault including a broken neck with fractures to the C3 and C4 vertebrae and a T1 avulsion fracture. He has not played in the NHL since the incident. Yet Bertuzzi and his team were fined, but he has been allowed to return to play according to BizofHockey. It is one thing to sustain an injury when players are facing each other; it is quite another when there is a cowardly attack from behind.
Steve Moore and his parents have sued NHL tough man Todd Bertuzzi, the Vancouver Canucks and the partnership which owned the Canucks for this on-ice incident which occurred between on March 8, 2004. Bertuzzi was charged with assault by Canadian authorities and eventually plead guilty to “assault causing bodily harm” in British Columbia. Steve Moore gave a victim impact statement which is common in criminal cases. I have read it; it is compelling reading.
Bertuzzi received a conditional discharge and was ordered not to play in any sporting event in which Steve Moore was participating. He was also ordered to perform eighty hours of community service. He intentionally attacked Moore and could have killed him. The sentence is a slap on the wrist. If a train operator tried to kill another train operator, does anyone think that they would never be allowed to drive another train ever again ? What about a baseball player who attacks a pitcher, from behind, because of a perceived “brush back pitch ?” Why does Hockey condone such goons, so-called “enforcers” and “hit men” ? What are we teaching our children ?
While I do enjoy college, high school and bantam hockey matches, I will not attend any NHL games if this is the way the league respects players’ health, safety and welfare.