Is it possible to have Men's professional sport be any scummier?

[29dad]

My best guess is that AP hardly ever even sees the young victim, which makes the abuse even more despicable to my eyes.

 

[CoogansBluff]

The bottom line is I don't need the NFL to tell me how to raise my children.

Leave law and order to the police, lawmakers, and judges. The NFL should focus on football and less on being the morality police.

The NFL is not telling us how to raise our children. The NFL is trying to make money.

In the past, the NFL made plenty of money while leaving law and order to the police, lawmakers and judges.

Now, that old business model has gotten the NFL in trouble and threatens profits and therefore needs a tweak because the public and the media and sponsors are demanding that the NFL crack down on its lawless players and get them off the field.

So in the end, it's the public and the media and advertisers that are the morality police. The court of public opinion, as it were.

 

[SoftSocDad]

In many states, 19 including your home State of Arizona this action is sanctioned both in the home and the school system.

That is correct. And there's an almost direct correlation between legalized paddling in schools and our nation's dumbest states: the South + Arizona.

 

[Cobb_of_Fury]

That is correct. And there's an almost direct correlation between legalized paddling in schools and our nation's dumbest states: the South + Arizona.

... Umm? Wait What???

 

[Cannonball]

So, 25 years ago, I was making decision about whether to file charges for child abuse. I have reviewed many, many allegations of child abuse. I've looked at more pictures of beaten and abused children than you guys can imagine.

To decide whether to file charges, I considered (1) the extent of the injuries, (2) the location of the injuries, (3) the age of the child, and (4) the circumstances.

Here are relevant facts:

1) The child was 4YOA. This is a young child. Disciplining a child at that age only takes a whack across the bottom.
2) The parent used a switch rather than a hand. I understand that people have been punished with switches, belts and hair brushes. It is a factor to consider because it is easier to seriously hurt a child with a switch or belt. So, a man generally does not use a switch or belt. If he does, they are generally careful where they hit the child. No one ever hits a child "above the waist" with a belt or switch. It just isn't done.
3) The child was hit on the face. There are pictures of the child's face, but they haven't been released. Hitting a child in the face with anything other than an open hand is a big deal.
4) The child had defensive wounds on the arms and hands. Defensive wounds show that several blows were toward the face of the child. So, the defensive wounds show (1) a risk of serious injury to the child and (2) the beating was a series of blows directed to the face and head.
5) The blows were enough to cause bleeding. There are cuts and lacerations on the 4YOA child's body. This potential could cause scarring of the child's body.
6) Hitting the child's penis is "weird", to say the least. Either (1) the father was so angry he didn't know where he was hitting the child, meaning that the father was in a blind rage or (2) the father knew exactly where he was hitting the child, making this sex abuse.
7) The father appears to believe that he can do anything to the child he wants. This indicates that the father thinks of the child as something he "owns" rather than as a human being.

You haven't seen as many pictures of abused children as I have, so you'll have to take my word on this: These are pretty serious injuries. If you want to get real specific, these injuries appear to be worse than cigarette burns. (Cigarette burns are the "gold" standard for child abuse.)

For the first offense, the goal of most prosecutors is not to put the father in jail. People discipline their children the way they were disciplined. Usually, the father just needs to be educated in how to discipline a child and get some anger management training.

If the father admits he was wrong and consents to counseling, then I probably wouldn't file charges. I would threaten the father, but if he consents and goes along with counseling, then I wouldn't file the charges. He and the family would go to counseling and he would learn better parenting skills.

It may sound like mumbo jumbo to some of you, but it isn't. Social workers and psychologists can be very helpful. Some people have emotional problems and have no idea how to discipline a child.

But, if the father does what AP did here, which is basically say, "I can beat the child any time and any way I want," then I would file charges.

You have access to a lot more information that I have heard on this case.

 

[Sweet Lou]

Why is it that kids are the only ones you are allowed to beat without impunity? If AP did that to any adult he'd be facing assault charges.

I get that many grew up with regular beatings and I get the whole bible concept of "spare the rod and spoil the child" but times change.

The bible also tells us to stone women for adultery but I'm guessing close to 100% of the people on this board would find that barbarous and we are outraged when hear it happening in some back water country.

Physical violence against kids is just wrong. Period.

 

[29dad]

The bible also tells us to stone women for adultery but I'm guessing close to 100% of the people on this board would find that barbarous

92%. Tops.

 

[Rocketech1]

My question is why do some feel the need to resort to physical punishment to discipline a child? There are more effective ways to achieve the same or better result. I have raised two kids and have never felt the need to spank them, let alone use a switch, stick, or paddle. Timeouts and/or taking away something of value to them works wonders in my experience. Just because your parents might have "whooped" you as a kid doesn't mean it was right or that you have to continue this violence from generation to generation.

 

[BobInMadison]

My best guess is that AP hardly ever even sees the young victim, which makes the abuse even more despicable to my eyes.

We aren't talking about a loving dad here.

A real dad takes his kids to the doctor or ER. AP sends his kids there after a brutal beating.

A real dad knows how many kids he has, and is involved in their lives. AP? Not sure, but it might be 7 kids.

A real dad meets with the teachers, principals, coaches, etc. to see how their kid is doing, and to straighten out any problems. AP is the problem.

I like to think that between the doctor's visits, open house at schools, parent-teacher conferences, meetings with principals, volunteering for sports clubs, bruises from catching DD pitch, help with homework, family vacations, etc. I have the right to call myself a real dad.

Anyway, that's what I will tell myself when I work the concession stand on Friday.

 

[Cobb_of_Fury]

The NFL is not telling us how to raise our children. The NFL is trying to make money.

In the past, the NFL made plenty of money while leaving law and order to the police, lawmakers and judges.

Now, that old business model has gotten the NFL in trouble and threatens profits and therefore needs a tweak because the public and the media and sponsors are demanding that the NFL crack down on its lawless players and get them off the field.

So in the end, it's the public and the media and advertisers that are the morality police. The court of public opinion, as it were.

^^^This is the actual truth –
This kind of crap has been going on since the beginning of time and we just didn't pay attention to it cause all we cared about was what happened on the field - Gossip and Celebrity were not really that big a part of the sport but now for better or worse with the 24 hour news cycles we know every time these guys break wind in public.

It is not our concern that they are properly punished, it’s not really the NFL or MLB or NBA's concern except for the optics of it. The criminal justice system should work for them like it does for anyone else.

In the old days the commissioner could just turn a blind eye and things would magically just go away - but that just doesn't happen anymore.

The simple lesson - Dissuade your kids from making any of these guys their Hero - they are all human and therefor flawed - sometimes in horrible ways.
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