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Justice is served

Chris Jackson

Idiots still appear in sports. They've always been there (e.g. Ty Cobb), but of late, they're seemingly getting dumber.

Or just doing dumber things.

Thank the maker that the sports they play finally seem to be getting the whole disciplinary response part right.

Marty "Oglethorpe" McSorley and Darryl "Glazed Over" Strawberry have provided the sports world with its two most recent cases of blatant idiocy.

Hell, McSorley's action was closer to psychotic than just stupid, but in both his case and Strawberry's, the suspensions they received were exactly what they deserved.

McSorley, who leveled Vancouver's Donald Brasheer with a two-hand swipe to the temple, has been suspended for the remainder of the NHL season.

Strawberry, who was found with cocaine in his bloodstream for the umpteenth time in his storied, disappointing career, was suspended for the entire upcoming baseball season.

Hallelujah.

There's no one on earth disputing McSorley's suspension. Now while it's true that the NHL knew this and likely based its response on what it correctly perceived would be no backlash whatsoever, it's still a great move on commissioner Gary Bettman's part.

Bettman made the kind of statement that the NFL needs to make. Violence on that level will not be tolerated.

The NFL needs to do the same thing with its legions of goons, from Bill Romanowski to head-hunter Mark Carrier.

Then there's the NFL's shocking list of alleged murderers, but that's a whole other can of worms to open . . .

In the case of Major League Baseball, suspending Strawberry was a no-brainer. Baseball needs to send a clear message, not just to its players but to the many young people who look up to those players that drugs will not be tolerated.

All professional sports, particularly the NBA, need to take this line. The NBA still lets its band of potheads roam around with impunity. What does it say to the kids watching the NBA when the Chris Webbers and Allen Iversons aren't suspended for actually breaking the law?

Drug use and violence are two terrible things that pro sports needs to take a stand on. The effects of the NFL and NBA's lax attitudes produces a trickle-down effect to the kids that watch the games.

Baseball and hockey, for perhaps the first time ever, have shown the way. Now it's time for their more popular counterparts to follow them.