Stephen A Smith's Suspension

[BBTV]

I would never hit a woman. I'd shake the sh t out of one though.

[Cosmic]

I would never hit a woman. I'd shake the sh t out of one though.

Nice.

Edit: misremembered the wrong black comedian

[Cosmic]

Didn't Ray Rice already have an apology session before?

What's he supposed to say this time...."I'm sorry the NFL only suspended me for two games"?

He can't apologize too many times now... it'll make it look less sincere the next time he knocks her unconscious.

[spartacat_12]

The house of mouse is far too PC to allow something like what Stephen A. said to go unpunished. Sports analysis is already such a male-dominated forum, ESPN would've faced a ton of backlash if they did nothing. I agree with the earlier poster who said that the problem is that you can't have an hour long discussion about domestic abuse where everyone says "hitting women is bad". Unfortunately for Smith, he started digging himself into a hole and continued trying to dig himself out. While watching the aforementioned Chris Rock bit this came up and I think it pretty much hits the nail on the head (NSFW):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlvvCYUDHrQ

[The_Admiral]

Whoopi Goldberg said pretty much the same thing Stephen A. Smith did, but more eloquently and more precisely. Is Gawker gonna try and get her in trouble now, too?

[Xist2inspire]

I'll be honest and say that I really had no problem with what Steven A. Smith was trying to say, and he normally rubs me the wrong way. Did he do a subpar job of getting his point across? Yes, but the outrage to this is completely out of line.

The thing about public opinion and political correctness is that it tries to paint a clear picture of everything, when sometimes it's just not possible to do so. Life is rarely so cut-and-dry. What Ray Rice did was wrong, however, that doesn't automatically make his fiancee 100% a victim. Given what we do know about this situation, it's not out of bounds to question just what went on, and it's not "victim-shaming" to say that getting incredibly wasted along with your fiancee, then starting a fight with said wasted fiancee, is not a good idea at all.

It's like if I decided to catch an attitude with my father one day, and not just any attitude, a verbal temper tantrum where I spew any stupid and hurtful thing that comes to mind. Then on top of all that, I slap him. Then he proceeds to beat the snot out of me, breaking several bones in the process. Did he go overboard? Yes. Is punishment for going overboard justified? Yes. Should someone sit me down upon recovery and let me know in no uncertain terms that what I did was awful and totally deserving of punishment, just not as extreme as the one I received? Yes.

[BBTV]

Are people confusing the NFL with the criminal justice system?

The NFL suspends players because they don't want the image of being role models, and employing players who do stupid things like DUI, hitting women, carrying weapons, etc., tarnishes that image. The point of the suspension isn't really to punish the player, it's to maintain the league's image.

If the argument is that the NFL didn't send the right message by suspending him longer, and that it looks like they don't care about domestic violence within the context of suspensions they've handed out for seemingly lesser things, then sure, OK. But I get the sense that people are looking to the NFL to actually be the justice system, and almost act like a court with a judge, and hand down a sentence. People aren't satisfied that our justice system allows for Ray Rice to walk away without being in jail, so they turn to the NFL to "teach him his lesson". That's really not what the NFL exists for.

[Needschat]

I want to know what "other" facts about Ray Rice makes a 2 game suspension justified? That she spit on him? That she hit him first? No! That childish "She started it" Crap should NOT nor NEVER be a defense for hitting a woman.

Two games is not enough.

[JayMac]

Are people confusing the NFL with the criminal justice system?

The NFL suspends players because they don't want the image of being role models, and employing players who do stupid things like DUI, hitting women, carrying weapons, etc., tarnishes that image. The point of the suspension isn't really to punish the player, it's to maintain the league's image.

If the argument is that the NFL didn't send the right message by suspending him longer, and that it looks like they don't care about domestic violence within the context of suspensions they've handed out for seemingly lesser things, then sure, OK. But I get the sense that people are looking to the NFL to actually be the justice system, and almost act like a court with a judge, and hand down a sentence. People aren't satisfied that our justice system allows for Ray Rice to walk away without being in jail, so they turn to the NFL to "teach him his lesson". That's really not what the NFL exists for.

I agree that the judicial system needs to be tougher, especially on athletes and celebrities. Just because you have a lot of money shouldn't mean you get away with crimes like this.

[JayMac]

I want to know what "other" facts about Ray Rice makes a 2 game suspension justified? That she spit on him? That she hit him first? No! That childish "She started it" Crap should NOT nor NEVER be a defense for hitting a woman.

Two games is not enough.

I also agree with this. There is NO excuse for this at all. I have been slapped by a woman and even shoved by a woman. I also was raised to never hit a woman, so I didn't retaliate. I don't understand the Rice sympathizers.

[dbadefense1990]

I would never hit a woman. I'd shake the sh t out of one though.

Nice one, Katt.

[Needschat]

I want to know what "other" facts about Ray Rice makes a 2 game suspension justified? That she spit on him? That she hit him first? No! That childish "She started it" Crap should NOT nor NEVER be a defense for hitting a woman.

Two games is not enough.

I also agree with this. There is NO excuse for this at all. I have been slapped by a woman and even shoved by a woman. I also was raised to never hit a woman, so I didn't retaliate. I don't understand the Rice sympathizers.

When my college girlfriend hit me - for calling her stupid - all I did was bring her close and hugged her. She calmed down. You NEVER hit a woman: Only cowards do that, only coward give excuses for those that do.

[HedleyLamarr]

What if a woman is swinging a tire iron or a frying pan at you and connects? Can you hit a woman at that point?

[TheRicSlick]

What if a woman is swing a tire iron or a frying pan at you and connects? Can you hit a woman at that point?

Or what if she has a knife or gun and is coming at you?

[HedleyLamarr]

What if a woman is swing a tire iron or a frying pan at you and connects? Can you hit a woman at that point?

Or what if she has a knife or gun and is coming at you?

A knife or gun just means the broad needs extra hugging.

Dummy.

[Xist2inspire]

What if a woman is swing a tire iron or a frying pan at you and connects? Can you hit a woman at that point?

Or what if she has a knife or gun and is coming at you?

A knife or gun just means the broad needs extra hugging.

Dummy.

Not wanting to hit women isn't dumb in and of itself. What is dumb is taking that sentiment and thinking that it can apply to everyone and every situation. I'm speaking from experience here, there are some women who will test that belief with slaps, words, and maybe more. For those who seem to think that no woman can seriously hurt a man, there are women who can easily beat the crap out of you, no weapon needed, and restraining her would be a tall task no matter what your gender is. Hugs and things of that sort won't always solve all situations, because sometimes it's not mere anger being dealt with, it's legit issues. Those situations are where "never hit women" can become a very dangerous line of thinking indeed, not only for the man involved, but also the woman, because chances are she could come away from the incident thinking she did nothing wrong. Not wanting to hit women is a good thing. However, such sentiment should be applied towards everyone, regardless of gender. Just like there's differing situations for male/male and female/female violence, so too can there be differing situations for male/female and female/male violence, and they should be handled accordingly. The sooner we all realize that, the better.

As for Ray Rice, I'm not supporting the act of hitting his fiancee, but I'm certainly not going to act like I know the whole story, and from what I do know, there's enough grey areas to keep from jumping to conclusions. Which is exactly what happened to Smith. He made a valid point/statement, and people overreacted.

[IceCap]

As for Ray Rice, I'm not supporting the act of hitting his fiancee, but I'm certainly not going to act like I know the whole story, and from what I do know, there's enough grey areas to keep from jumping to conclusions. Which is exactly what happened to Smith. He made a valid point/statement, and people overreacted.

No, they didn't. I'll agree with the sentiment that if a man's well being is being threatened by a woman he does have the right to defend himself. While I don't know "The Whole Story"™ here I will say that I have a very hard time thinking of a situation where "defending your well being" equates to beating a woman into unconsciousness and then dragging her body through a hotel lobby. Saying that "yeah, it may be ok to defend yourself against a woman threatening you in extreme situations" doesn't justify what Rice did, and it was disingenuous of Stephen A. Smith to raise that point here.

[Gothamite]

Agreed. Nobody has been able to claim that he was in physical danger or anything else to warrant knocking her out.

And until they do, "disingenuous" is exactly the word for it.

[Xist2inspire]

As for Ray Rice, I'm not supporting the act of hitting his fiancee, but I'm certainly not going to act like I know the whole story, and from what I do know, there's enough grey areas to keep from jumping to conclusions. Which is exactly what happened to Smith. He made a valid point/statement, and people overreacted.

No, they didn't. I'll agree with the sentiment that if a man's well being is being threatened by a woman he does have the right to defend himself. While I don't know "The Whole Story" here I will say that I have a very hard time finding a situation where "defending your well being" equates to beating a woman into unconsciousness and then dragging her body through a hotel lobby. Saying that "yeah, it may be ok to defend yourself against a woman threatening you in extreme situations" doesn't justify what Rice did, and it was disingenuous of Stephen A. Smith to raise that point here.

Again, until I see a video of him beating her unconscious (which is what I expected to see when I heard about the video), or hear multiple accounts of that being exactly what happened, then yeah, I'm going to assume that I don't know the full story, and what is assumed to have happened may not have. The video I saw looked like two completely wasted people, one unconscious, getting out of an elevator. One was half-heartedly dragging the other out while stumbling himself. If the one walking wasn't a man and the one being dragged wasn't a woman, it'd be a scene in a comedy flick.

That's just my cynicism though.

[Chicageaux]

As for Ray Rice, I'm not supporting the act of hitting his fiancee, but I'm certainly not going to act like I know the whole story, and from what I do know, there's enough grey areas to keep from jumping to conclusions. Which is exactly what happened to Smith. He made a valid point/statement, and people overreacted.

No, they didn't. I'll agree with the sentiment that if a man's well being is being threatened by a woman he does have the right to defend himself. While I don't know "The Whole Story" here I will say that I have a very hard time thinking of a situation where "defending your well being" equates to beating a woman into unconsciousness and then dragging her body through a hotel lobby. Saying that "yeah, it may be ok to defend yourself against a woman threatening you in extreme situations" doesn't justify what Rice did, and it was disingenuous of Stephen A. Smith to raise that point here.

Yeah, Rice crossed the line by knocking her unconscious, but Stephen A. Smith simply brought up a reasonable point and the tumblr-social-justice-warriorz crowd made a :censored:storm out of it until ESPN suspended SAS for a week. I doubt SAS thought what Rice did was acceptable, but he simply was stating the obvious: that wailing on a dude and not expecting to get hit back "because I'm a poor defenseless woman" isn't a smart thing to do, regardless of what the white knight crowd thinks

Except he didn't say that. He said, "don't provoke it." He didn't explain himself till off the air on Twitter. Insinuating that we should punish the victim instead of the abuser is quite ridiculous. There's easier ways to subdue someone than knocking them out and that goes for any situation.