Death Threat Law & Legal Definition: “Under state criminal codes, which vary by state, it is an offense to knowingly utter or convey a threat to cause death or bodily harm to any person.”—www.definitions.uslegal.com
“The offence of utter death threat may be prosecuted by summary conviction or by indictment. If prosecuted by indictment, the accused person is entitled to elect trial by jury and upon conviction is liable to up to five years jail.”—www.defencelaw.com“I want to fight Brock Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person. I want to break his neck in the ring. I want him to be the first person that dies to Octagon-related injuries.”—Frank Mir, WXDX Radio
Not exactly the usual non-literal metaphor of “I’m gonna kill that guy!” that is heard so often in competitive sports.
In fact, I don’t think that a summer goes by where my son, who plays middle linebacker, doesn’t have at least a dozen other kids telling him that he’s a “dead man” out on the football field (easier said than done by the way).
As a coach, I may not believe such a frivolous threat in literal terms, but make no mistake, I am always conscious and aware of any perceived intent to injure another player, regardless if it’s my son or not.
Contact sports can be very emotional. I take nothing for granted and my responsibility as a coach prevents me from underestimating potentially inappropriate intentions to hurt or injure another player.
Given Mir’s recent obsession with Lesnar, which became stalwartly fuelled by his prior embarrassing defeat, Mir’s comments must be taken seriously by the UFC, as well as the authorities.
They simply must.
We cannot pretend to know Mir’s current state of mind. We cannot make assumptions that Mir is simply “hyping” a fight, and we cannot ignore the potential danger of this incredibly unfortunate situation.
Some of you may be thinking that this is a slight overreaction or that this is possibly even an acceptable level of behaviour in sports (which as a stand-alone opinion, I would have to strongly disagree).
But what if in this particular case, you are wrong?
What if Mir is deadly serious?
I really hope that the Governor of New York State or the Ontario Premier didn’t catch wind of Mir’s incredibly disturbing and irresponsible remarks. Trying to get MMA legalized is tough enough it seems, and this absolutely plays right into the old stereotype that MMA is nothing more than a ruthless, lawless “bloodsport.”
Without a doubt, it makes the UFC (Mir’s employer) and all of MMA in general, look extremely bad.
Even worse, it makes each of its supporters look bad as well (guilty by association). Believe it or not, Mir’s reputation becomes our reputation. It’s like Frank Mir reached out through the media and punched every single MMA fan square in the face.
This absolutely is “one step forward—two steps back.”
Bottom line: it insults and undermines all of our hard work in this sport.
Personally, I have been a long time advocate and supporter of all things MMA and I have taken it upon myself to speak out on the things that I don’t particularly like. I have consistently refused to sit back and accept the negatives of this sport, even if it has sometimes meant that I had to against popular opinion.
I refuse to accept bad behaviour as a natural part of this sport.
I have been a martial artist in the truest sense of the word for my entire life and I believe very strongly in the values of sportsmanship and honour.
I believe strongly in the good things found in MMA (and I hope that if you are reading this—you do to).
It’s the bad things that I have intolerance for and I have never given up trying to make a positive difference.
Frank Mir now has me asking myself “why?”
Why am I putting my personal reputation on the line amongst my friends, my peers, my colleagues, my family members, my children, my players, my community?—trust me, the list is very long.
I speak out and voice my opinions because I love this sport and I believe in its future. Or at least, I thought I did.
Now I’m not so sure.
This whole thing about “hyping” a fight just goes too far in my opinion, even for combat sports.
I believe that all professional athletes have a social responsibility to act in a way that should not be deemed illegal or as a detriment to their sport. The entire MMA community will now suffer at the hands of Frank Mir who has pushed us back into the stone ages and created a major set-back in MMA’s drive for mainstream acceptance.
So the question is: what should be done about Mr. Francisco Santos Mir?
I’ll just leave you with this:
“After lying on the ice for several minutes, Moore was removed on a stretcher. He suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a grade three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, and facial cuts. To date, Moore has not appeared in another professional hockey game.
Bertuzzi was suspended indefinitely by the NHL, and lost approximately $850,000 in salary and endorsements. The Vancouver Canucks were also fined $250,000, on March 11, 2004, for “…failure to prevent the atmosphere that may have led to [the incident].”
Responsibility, folks.
All that said, Bertuzzi is playing today and being cheered by his fans which is just sad. I watched the Moore getting hurt game and some stupid Canuck fans said he "had it coming". They said he had to be accountable for a bad hit on Näslund, the hit which the NHL looked at and said was legal. But either way, they were going to get him. Once they played again in Vancouver, Moore was called out for the hit by Matt Cooke and it was a pretty even fight. This pissed off the ex Colorado coach even more. Moore was told by the CO coach not to fight again, not sure about this but I think if you fight twice in one night you miss a game. Again, not sure about that but either way, Moore was told no more fighting by the coach. I recall CO. beating Vancouver pretty bad that night when Bertuzzi pulled that gutless act.
I think Bertuzzi ended up only missing about 20 games when it was all said and done, it's been about 5 years now and Moore has yet to play again. This is what the POS Bertuzzi had to say after a year, " I'm sure just like Steve Moore and his family, it's been difficult for both parties. I know I wish that day never happened. It's been some tough times, but I've got good family and good friends and good peers in the league that have helped me get over the hump and move forward and come through it." really you cock. Difficult for both parties, FUCK YOU Bertuzzi, I wish you were only allowed to come back once Moore came back. The sooner you are out of the game, the better the NHL will be. Crawford should also NEVER been allowed to be part of the NHL.
And guys, it's been 5 years since this happened and I remember it like yesterday. If Bertuzzi and or Crawford got hit and killed by a bus tomorrow, I would not be sad. Not sure if I would say good and celebrate but I can't say I wouldn't either. Again, 5 years and still this much emotion over this. And Moore wasn't even a good player for the Avs, he was just a young up and comer starting to get more and more ice time. And I still feel this way. I'm sure 5 years from now, I will feel the same.
Imagine if Brock and Mir fight their rubber match and Brock breaks his neck going for a take down or Mir does a triangle and accidentally breaks Brock's neck. This would just kill the UFC and maybe MMA in the states. Congress would get all involved. As James said, MMA in New York and parts of Canada would never pass. This was just a stupid, stupid thing to say. If Mir does not apologize within in the next few days, I will be very, very upset. Dana can't be happy this was said at all. Tito, the king of saying stupid shit has never said anything this stupid.
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