Video: My Lacrosse fight

[Cody Kietzman]

Why bother playing Lacrosse?

I don't mean that as a knock on Lacrosse specifically, I just find it odd when people fight in sports. I mean the sport is this abstract proxy game of dominance. Sort of like a passive aggressive way of proving self worth without having to actually fight. If you fight during the game... well, why bother with the game?

This one of my reasons for liking MMA/Jiu Jitsu. Its the ultimate test. What happens when you dont like somebody at a sporting event? You fight. What happens in MMA when you don't like something you opponent does....you fight harder, i means its the ultimate way of proving yourself.

[Nat Cummings]

Why bother playing Lacrosse?

I don't mean that as a knock on Lacrosse specifically, I just find it odd when people fight in sports. I mean the sport is this abstract proxy game of dominance. Sort of like a passive aggressive way of proving self worth without having to actually fight. If you fight during the game... well, why bother with the game?

It's a contact sport. Emotions, tensions are high and you have guys going 110% the whole time. The whole team aspect (Us vs them) really doesn't help either.

[John Mejia]

It's a contact sport. Emotions, tensions are high and you have guys going 110% the whole time. The whole team aspect (Us vs them) really doesn't help either.

The same could be said about hockey. Up until this year, I was an enforcer on my team, you fight to protect your guys, set the tone of the game, send a message about how you're not gonna put up with the bullshit hacks and slashes. It's a method of policing the ice. There's a respect and honor to it, it was part of the game when it was created, and theres a reason it exisits. It's and art there's a fine line between having both feet firmly planted on dry land punching, and having both feet balancing on a piece of metal thats roughly the width of a (US) nickel. I personally enjoyed the shit out of it, the rush, the feeling of having all your boys back, and them having your's if shit ever went down. It's a hard feeling to explain, and it takes alot of fucking balls to drop your gloves take your helmet off and punch each other bare knuckle in the face until someone goes down. Is it as pretty as MMA... Absolutely not. Can you throw head kicks, shoot double legs, and work your ground game... No. But its single handedly one of the hardest things you can ever do. You have to imagine as a kid coming up in the sport, you never practice fighting because its not allowed, then you go into the Junior and Professional ranks and you're expected to fight because you have size, or because you're deemed the tough guy. You're expected to stand tall infront of 5,000 fans. You're expected to fight if need be every game. 80 game season-Every game, 2-3 games a week. That could be 80 fights a year. 80 bare knuckle brawls, Concussions all the time, But you don't sit out. You look at NHL Fighters like Derek Boogaard, That guy fought game in game out with concussions and paid for it with his life. He passed away from an addiction to Pain pills and Brain trauma. Guys literally taking pain killers to numb the pain so the can go out and fight the next night. Don't get me wrong but after a huge fight an MMA fighter can take some time off to recover... Thats more time than an enforcer has to recover. I love MMA, I aspire to fight in the cage one day, but I just wanted to shed some light on hockey fighters.
****IN NO WAY DO I MEAN ANY ILL WILL TO MMA FIGHTERS, I THINK THEY ARE BAD ASS M'FUCKERS WHO HAVE SO MUCH HEART TO DO WHAT THEY DO****

[AJ Camacho]

Great insight John. And like I said, I mean no disrespect towards any sport, but why would an enforcer continue their path through hockey rather than starting MMA? If they like fighting so much, shouldn't they just fight?

I'm not telling anybody what they should want or do with their life, I'm just pondering on the differences between a fight driven athlete in a random sport versus a fight driven fighter.

[John Mejia]

Great insight John. And like I said, I mean no disrespect towards any sport, but why would an enforcer continue their path through hockey rather than starting MMA? If they like fighting so much, shouldn't they just fight?

I'm not telling anybody what they should want or do with their life, I'm just pondering on the differences between a fight driven athlete in a random sport versus a fight driven fighter.

The whole team concept, the upwards mobility to potentially play higher level pro, the money, the rush. You have to rememeber when you fight, you go sit in the penalty box for 5 mins, come out and then you play again. Its a slap on the wrist and you get to play the game you've worked your whole life to play. I honestly don't know why I just didn't say fuck it and start up a career in MMA right from the get go. I feel like since its all you've known your whole life, its all you ever want to do. I mean when all you do is train for hockey, play hockey, and hang out with your teammates its an unreal experience.

[Charlemange August K.]

I played lacrosse and football in the US for 8-10 years each. They were honestly replacements for MMA and Bjj, the only reason i played the sports was to hit people. The rules have watered down contact so much i spent almost an hours worth of time in the penalty box for my last 3 years playing lacrosse.

Shows you that gi training comes in handy in lacrosse or hockey fights though! Let go and let gi.

[Psylo]

It's a contact sport. Emotions, tensions are high and you have guys going 110% the whole time. The whole team aspect (Us vs them) really doesn't help either.

Nobody really has to fight there's maybe 1 fight every 2 games... It's just the way it's been for years in hockey and lacrosse. Nobody in these fights really hates each other... Like John said its setting a tone and a message that you wont be walked over net game. If your team is getting beat 7-0 and getting out hit there's likely to be a fight to show its not gonna happen again and you're not intimidated by them. There's an honor in it. Me and this guy beat the shit out of each other for a good minute we shook hands after the fight and both our teams got dinner that night together. Eventhough we hated each other on the floor.

You have to admit all these fights were more exciting than UFC 149 card lol. They're also free to watch.