NHL dean of discipline Colin Campbell tells CBN that the NHL "may examine fighting."  While Campbell says he's not against it, the door is opening for Gary Bettman to finally get his way and ban it from the sport. 

Recently, there have been a rash of injuries caused by rough play.  Outside of the Chris Simon incident, which had Simon going out of his way to whack an opponent with his stick, most of the injuries have been acquired incidentally:  Nashville Predator Jordin Tootoo defending himself from a charging Stephan Robadais of the Dallas Stars; Atlanta's Jon Sim out indefinitely a broken left orbital bone suffered in a fight Thursday with San Jose's Mark Bell and Todd Fedoruk of the Philadelphia Flyers knocked unconscious by a punch from Colton Orr of the New York Rangers.

In most cases, a hockey fight consists of two big guys coming together (Donald Bashir and George LaRoque come to mind) who clutch and grab, try to land a couple of punches and miss and are escorted off the ice to the adoring cheers of the crowd.  It is rare that anyone ever gets hurt or that the fight even gets mentioned the next day, unless it is the afore mentioned heavyweights and they land a few punches.  The crowd goes nuts, the teams get fired up and everybody moves on.  The days of guys like Dave Schultz and Tiger Williams are long past.

I agree that cheap shots like Simon's or Todd Bertuzzi's have no place in any civilized game.  When a players uses a stick to deliberately hack another player in the head or when a player cross checks from behind, I agree that he should have the book thrown at him.  But banning two big guys from swinging at each other with ungloved fists, nah, I like that.  And so do hockey fans.

Truthfully, most of the stars in the league don't fight.  In fact, they are protected by their teammates if someone goes after them.  That's why Robadais charged at Tootoo, because Tootoo was whipping up on Mike Modono.
Tootoo's only transgression was that he violated the sacred code by not removing his glove.  But honestly, when you look at that video, you get the fact he was just defending himself and there was no intent like in Simon's attack.

There are cheap shots in every sport.  When they happen the person or persons are fined for their actions.  Baseball has the inside pitch, which is still a vital part of the game; football has the late hit and basketball has the flagrant foul.  In those sports, fighting is looked upon as barbaric and tempers just boil over until someone gets hurt.  In hockey, fighting is the like the valve on a pressure cooker, releasing the tension, getting out the aggression before things get way out of hand.

If the NHL were smart, they would crack down on intentional, unprovoked shots to the head that happen after the play.  They would have stiffer suspensions for cross checking from behind.  But they would not make this a totally European game by banning fighting.  After all, it's what the fans enjoy.

Lightning Round

• The White Sox looked pathetic yesterday in a 5-4 loss to Arizona.  Down 1-0, the Sox put three runs up in the top of the fifth, only to have Judy Garland surrender three runs in the bottom of the inning.  In the seventh, Darrin Erstad tied it with a home run and Andrew Sisco gave up the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.  You are not going to win many ball games if you keep allowing your opponent back in the game.  And this was Arizona.  Imagine the fun Detroit, Cleveland and the Red Sox will have.
• John Danks, please step through the revolving door first.
• Bobby Jenks' fastball is up to 93mph.  He usually tops out around 98mph.  For the love of God, take him to McDonalds.  That 25 pounds he lost in the off season is killing him.
• If the key to your success is your shortstop and not your pitching staff, you may want to re-prioritize.  Just saying.
  
• Some people just don't understand a) people screw up (even decent people) and b) athletes and coaches should not be role models.  There is nobody I know who has been more critical of Tony LaRussa over time than me, but even I will not kick the guy when he's down because I respect him as a man.  Give the guy a break, he'll find a way to make it right.
• UCLA looked downright scary last night.
• Rex Grossman, this might have been you.  Then again, it most likely would have been Brian Urlacher.
• Nick Saban, you are now on the clock.
  
• Something to think about the next time you hang up on that siding salesperson who interrupted your dinner.
• Idaho desea hacer inglés la lengua oficial del atate. Ultrajan a los siete hispanos que viven allí según se informa.
• Apparently, police in the Philippines have been pounding something besides a beat.  Ooops, I'm going to rehab for that one.