Fighting in Sports

For as long as I can remember, fighting in society was looked down upon. It didn't matter if you were at home, school or out in public. If an individual fought with a sibling or elder in the home, there were usually going to be disciplinary measures taken or privileges revoked . In a school setting, getting into a confrontation, would usually result in a detention or suspension of some sort. If you are caught fighting in public that involves possible police interaction, look forward to spending some time in court and facing charges that will permanently be on your record. In all three of these instances, it is totally understandable the circumstances that are enforced. In sports there must be some different standards. 

How many people go to Hockey games to watch the action, for examples the power plays, the line changes and breakaway goal attempts? Many pure sports fan's may attend hockey games for all the right reasons. In the middle of the United States, how many pure, obsessive hockey fans are there, do more people attend hoping to see a fight? I am guessing that the chance of seeing a hockey fight is the reason that most people attend the ice rinks. This is where things get a little fuzzy. No matter the age, you put two individuals on the ice during a hockey game trading punches, it results in a five minute trip to the penalty box, but if you take the same two individuals and have them step outside the hockey arena and they do the exact same thing, it will usually result in police intervention and assault charges could prevail. When fighting on the ice, the two fighters are allowed to continue throwing punches at each other until one is defeated and falls to the ice, outside the arena, fighting is not always allowed to be completed. If anybody can explain to me the differences between the two instances, other than what is totally obvious, I would love to hear your opinion. 

In the news and on the rise is mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting. What is the difference between MMA and two dudes going toe to toe out on a dirt road? Just because the MMA fighters are wearing four ounce gloves and are in a ring or octagon with a referee, it makes it legal to fight? Any fight, whether on the street or out on a dirt road that I have ever witnessed through the years, has had enough witnesses that could and have acted as mediators or referee's, but its not legal? 

  In all instances, that involve fighting in sports there are penalties or circumstances that are suffered in all sports, whether it be of physical punishment or financial costs. All sports are different. In all sports there is a fine line between being aggressive and stepping over the line to fighting, but why is the line that is being stepped over invisible in some sports?

Question of the day: 

What is Zorbing, and where is it famous?