Wow. Kenny Rogers has been reinstated after serving only 13 games of a suspension for his unprovoked assault on a cameraman. Meanwhile, people are complaining that Todd Bertuzzi, who was also reinstated this week, got off too lightly!!!

Of all the bumbling things that Bud Selig has done, giving Rogers a 20-game suspension was actually a good one (if anything it was too few games). But I think it was just about right. And then some arbitrator comes along and says Selig went too far!?!

I’m actually of the camp that what Rogers did was far worse than what Bertuzzi did when he knocked out Steve Moore on the ice. Two big reasons:

1) What Bertuzzi did was during the course of actual play. Yes, he went over the line. But in the atmosphere of the league where violence is essentially promoted, people clutch, grab, check and punch, it’s hard to tell a guy if he goes slightly over the line, he’s going to be severely punished. What Rogers did was completely unprovoked; it was not even in the middle of game. It was during practice and Rogers had no reason to be in an aggressive state.

2) Bertuzzi laid a hit on another player, who should have been expecting it. Was it right? No. Was Moore asking for it? Not to the point that he deserved it. But if Moore had gotten up fine, and there was no subsequent pile-up, we wouldn’t even be talking about this. It would have been just another case of “ice justice” which though not explicitly endorsed by the NHL, is certainly promoted implicitly. On the other hand, Rogers attacked a cameraman! This was not another player with whom he was in the midst of competitive battle. It was a third party just doing his own job, who had no expectation of contact whatsoever. That makes it just like him attacking someone on the street, and that can reasonably be considered assault.

To me, the “damage” done to the victim isn’t as telling as is the act itself. Bertuzzi’s act was only slightly worse than what goes on in the rink on a daily basis. Rogers act was despicable, and 13 games is hardly enough.

There was an episode of the Practice that dealt with the Bertuzzi incident a couple of years ago. It had some great points. Maybe later I’ll note them.