Miami has gone soft!

The backlash from the Miami-FIU fight has resulted in 13 Miami and 16 FIU players suspended, 1 fired commentator and lingering concerns about preventing incidents in the future. Miami, given their history, has announced a surprisingly tough zero tolerance rule for fighting. Any player who fights on the field will be dismissed from the team. Wow, this from Miami? You might say "about time!" I say Miami’s response to the incident is too harsh.

In debating this situation I cannot help but think of the Unnecessary Roughness penalty in football. You can run into each other at full speed for 48 minutes, but if you as much bump or shove someone after the play has passed you will be penalized. How can you expect 22+ men to be at each other's throats for 3 hours and not get into the occasional fight? Football is a violent game - to think otherwise is moronic. At a SUNY conference on the impact of media on sports the president of the NCAA remarked, "It's disappointing to see violence in college football games." Given the nature of college football, he must be frequently disappointed.

Yes, the NCAA should penalize Merriweather and others for their acts that were only meant to harm defenseless players but we should also all be taking a deep breath. For a TV analyst to claim that Anthony Reddick could have murdered someone by swinging his helmet at other helmeted players is a silly, sensationalist comment. Adding to the confusion of the punishment, Reddick was suspended indefinitely whereas Merriweather (who wantonly trampled on the bodies of players on the ground) received just a single game suspension.

Miami would be smart in rephrasing their policy so that it severely punishes only excessive, needless acts. Perhaps they can call it the Unnecessary Fighting Policy?

One Final Note: Why do players punch other helmeted football players? Doesn't this hurt your hand? They are wearing a flipping helmet!