Austin Watson and the crusaders

[Cowtownguy]

The details on this case are murky at best. As I write this, Sportsnet does not even have an essay about it. Please keep this in mind when reading my post.

 

Austin Watson was suspended for 27 games for an assault on his girlfriend. She did not call the police or demand that charges be levied against him. Rather, a witness called the police claiming that he “pushed” his girlfriend. I understand why a witness spoke up depending upon what they observed. A number of moral crusaders, however, have expressed their faux outrage about this case after the arbitrator reduced Watson’s sentence to 18 games. Watson’s girlfriend has acknowledged that he never hit or abused her, never would, and that she has struggled with alcohol for years. He has apparently been very supportive of her as she is taking responsibility for her behaviour by attending Alcoholic’s Anonymous. Good on her for this.

 

This case bothers me for several reasons. Domestic abuse is clearly a problem, and the NHL should carefully think through and discuss an appropriate way to deal with the problem in an impactful way. This was certainly not a good way to deal with it. People are only going to remember that Watson’s girlfriend was not abused even though he was punished for it. This will trivialize the problem as women who do actually report this sort of thing (and remember, she did not) will face increased skepticism when they do. Others felt quite comfortable demonizing the player without the requisite knowledge of the case. How can anyone dispute an arbitrator’s ruling without knowing what really happened? I don’t know how Brian Burke could speak out so frequently and vehemently about this case. This is a guy who was the NHL executive vice president and director of hockey operations. He launched a defamation suit against online posters for inaccurate comments. This was not Burke’s best moment, and I think he should apologize for Watson and his girlfriend.

 

In order to quell the moral outrage from other perfect people, Watson’s girlfriend has had to publicly declare that she is an alcoholic. The family is also going to suffer financial repercussions. That is not the way to help a person who needs help. Money is necessary to continue proper counselling. Some measure of privacy is possibly important to her as she tries to take responsibility for her problem. People on high horses don’t solve problems. They make them worse.

[travel_dude]

I'm not going to speculate either way on the case, other than abuse victims often have seconds thought.

Police show up and it's usually a done deal, charges generally get laid.

But it doesn;t always happen.

Vicitms are under s great deal of pressure.

Fear of retribution (yes, many abuse victims are later murdered).

Police asking if they were hurt.

Deciding upon having your loved one go to jail at worst, or wrecking a relationship at best.

 

What a victim says after the fact has little bearing.

Second thoughts.

Paid off by agent.

Felt it was not worthy of any kind of charges.

Scared.

 

 

[The_People1]

1 hour ago, Cowtownguy said:

 

This case bothers me for several reasons. Domestic abuse is clearly a problem, and the NHL should carefully think through and discuss an appropriate way to deal with the problem in an impactful way. 

 

What bothers me is that it appears the domestic violence may have occurred the other way around, the GF has been abusing Watson during her drunken tirade.  Yet, no one even wants to discuss this possibility.  Even in her letter yesterday, she directed much of the fault to herself.

 

I was personally involved in an abusive relationship about 10 years ago and I would routinely get hit, verbally abused, and have kitchenware thrown at me from across the room.  I brushed it all off at the time because I thought that's just what crazy party girls do.

 

I ended that relationship (by making her think she dumped me cause otherwise she'd probably murder me) but looking back now, I likely would've been in Austin Watson's shoes for defending myself against another one of her many "episodes"...trying to "shake her out of it", literally and figuratively speaking.

[Cowtownguy]

3 minutes ago, The_People1 said:

 

What bothers me is that it appears the domestic violence may have occurred the other way around, the GF has been abusing Watson during her drunken tirade.  Yet, no one even wants to discuss this possibility.  Even in her letter yesterday, she directed much of the fault to herself.

 

I was personally involved in an abusive relationship about 10 years ago and I would routinely get hit, verbally abused, and have kitchenware thrown at me from across the room.  I brushed it all off at the time because I thought that's just what party girls do.

 

I ended that relationship (by making her think she dumped me cause otherwise she'd probably murder me) but looking back now, I probably would've been in Austin Watson's shoes for defending myself against another one of many "episodes"...trying to "shake her out of it", literally and figuratively speaking.

I once gave an employee satoshi for coming in on a Saturday morning smelling like booze and looking like he had been in another bar brawl. He had bruises on his face, and a number of cuts to his face. A piece of ear was hanging. He had a history of being a heavy drinker and getting into fights when drunk. I explained to him that his appearance was simply not acceptable in a retail environment. I felt pretty crummy when he explained that he had been drinking, but he did not start a brawl as he said he did sometimes. Rather, it was always his girlfriend who would beat the living crap out of him when he was unable to defend himself. On this occasion, he was vomiting and she kept smashing the lid on his head. Honestly, it was one of the few times when I didn't have an immediate response.

 

TD might be correct as he makes many good points. In this case, the only information that we have is that the arbitrator reduced the sentence based on knowledge that he had, and the girlfriend never called the police and claims that he has never abused her. I am not willing to dispute her version of events. That would be sexist in my opinion.

[travel_dude]

I'm just pointing out that it's wrong to assume anything.

 

[Cowtownguy]

58 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

I'm just pointing out that it's wrong to assume anything.

 

That makes sense and I agree with you. Unfortunately, the police report is not available. There are news reports about the police reports, and accounts vary widely. It sounds as though alcohol is a significant problem in their lives. Let's hope it does not cause the child grief.

[DirtyDeeds]

On 10/14/2018 at 1:36 PM, The_People1 said:

 

What bothers me is that it appears the domestic violence may have occurred the other way around, the GF has been abusing Watson during her drunken tirade.  Yet, no one even wants to discuss this possibility.  Even in her letter yesterday, she directed much of the fault to herself.

 

I was personally involved in an abusive relationship about 10 years ago and I would routinely get hit, verbally abused, and have kitchenware thrown at me from across the room.  I brushed it all off at the time because I thought that's just what crazy party girls do.

 

I ended that relationship (by making her think she dumped me cause otherwise she'd probably murder me) but looking back now, I likely would've been in Austin Watson's shoes for defending myself against another one of her many "episodes"...trying to "shake her out of it", literally and figuratively speaking.

Men have little defense against abusive women.

• You can't touch them in any aggressive way or you are a beater..
• You can't just leave them or they are the monetary victim.

 

The system is set up to protect the women. While it has to be that way somewhat, the women have a built is "I am a victim" excuse that no one would challenge because public opinion always defaults to the woman... regardless of circumstances.

 

Add children to the mix and you have a no win situation for men that even good lawyers have trouble with..