SENSIBLE RULING: HOCKEY IS A DANGEROUS SPORT

Sometimes when high courts make rulings, people just scratch their heads. Common folk may wonder: What does it all mean, and how did the court come to such a convoluted decision?

Not so with a recent decision by the Missouri Court of Appeals (Eastern District), which was astutely written by a former Cape Girardeau resident, Judge Stanley A. Grimm.

The case involved a professional hockey goaltender who was injured during a game. The goalie was knocked unconscious when an opposing player made an illegal body check. The player sued the opposing team and won. The jury awarded the player $175,000.

But the higher court reversed the ruling and threw out the award.

Judge Grimm said, in the majority opinion he wrote, that although the body check was severe and illegal, it was still "part of the game of professional hockey." Rough play is commonplace in professional hockey, he wrote.

No kidding. Anyone who watches the game realizes that it's war on ice.

Grimm wisely advised that the injury was a risk inherent in professional hockey. He pointed out that professional hockey players are financially compensated for their participation. As Grimm wrote: "They are professional players with knowledge of its rules and customs, including the violence of the sport."

Hockey is not alone in sports that encourage rough play. If hockey players could start suing each other and winning, football players wouldn't be far behind.

The leagues set up standards for behavior and should sharply punish players who don't play by the rules -- including evictions from games or the league. But the court's ruling and Grimm's wise counsel will help keep sportsmanship where it belongs -- on the field, not in the courts.