Follow-up to the Coarsening of Sports: Sports Violence and Law Enforcement

I was going to follow-up with an more in-depth analysis of the Nuggets/Knicks brawl, but here's food for thought from Aaron Brazell, blogger extraordinaire, a good friend of mine:

"Except for the celebrity status of Carmello Anthony and the other 9 players ejected from Saturday night’s Nuggets-Knicks game, they’d be in jail. Reckless endangerment. Assault and Battery. I imagine most people would. Yet, in sports, these things are just excused as part of the game and the players are given a fine and maybe a suspension. Is there something wrong with this picture?" From his website: http://www.suicidefan.com/

Aaron is absolutely right. No doubt about it. The scene in sports happens over and over again, not most notable until this incident at the Miami/Florida International football game.

However, this is reality:

I once asked a college umpire about this issue way back when. To paraphrase what he said, law enforcement does not usually get in the way of play on the field and that what happens there is usually the jusridiction of a league, unless someone's life was mortally in danger. More or less, he says what happens on the field or court, the respective league would usually enforce itself through punishments, fine or sanctions.

However, if an athlete left the field and went into the stands, or threw a projectile/object into the stands, then it would be a difference and law enforcement has jusridiction there.

It still really does not make sense. What do you think?

Mo matter what, violence has been in sports since time began and is formally accepted as a way to solve problems on the field. As much as we have grown as a society and rail against violence and punish people for it, why does it not happen in sports, and why does there not seem to be any desire to change it?