Monday, March 8, 2010

Exposure Allows for More Comment on Punch

By now many fans who get their sports news on TV have seen (repeatedly) the punch Baylor freshman Brittney Griner threw against Texas Tech last week that prompted a two-game suspension.

By rule, the action required a one-game suspension and Baylor coach Kim Mulkey added another game.

A few years ago, the initial one-game suspension might have been the end of the story -- and it might not have been a story at all. That's because nobody would've seen the punch except those in the arena.

These days, though, a camera exists almost everywhere, and there's channel to cover almost ever game. While last week's Baylor-Texas Tech women's basketball game was hardly the subject of widespread television coverage, it was broadcast by the Texas Tech Sports Network.

The available video made it easy to pick up the footage, and for every broadcast entity to replay the incident.

As usual, ample speculation followed with many talking heads, among them Michael Wilbon on "Pardon the Interruption," wanting a significant suspension. Others, including ESPN's Doug Gottlieb, argued that one game was sufficient -- because that was required by rule.

The most valuable of those who commented on the situation was Kara Lawson, the former Tennessee women's basketball standout who serves as an analyst for ESPN. Because she played the game, and knows the sport better than others who had something so say, her opinion was interesting. She argued for a longer suspension as well.

No matter how much reaction got back to Mulkey, though, she did not go beyond an additional game.

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