While physical play is a greater part of the game, fighting isn't "allowed" in hockey, it's just penalized differently. In hockey, if you get in a fight, the penalty is 5 minutes and possibly a "game misconduct" (ejection from the game). In baseball, fighting gets a player ejected and fined.

In both sports, the rules have been tightened in the last ten or so years to cut back on the fighting. That's probably because most of the time, the fights really aren't that fun to watch. A good hockey fight can be entertaining, but most of the time it's just sweater-pulling, dancing and a poorly executed punch or two. Baseball fights are even worse - the excitement is short, usually disappointing (see Youkilis' charge for a good case and point) and it takes too long to get all the other players off the field.

We shouldn't expect competitive players in the heat of competition to always react perfectly, but the rules for both sports do an adequate job of keeping the players in line and keeping the sports entertaining.

If you need a good fight, there's always boxing or MMA.

Permalink | Report