Crime, Punishment and the Little Fish

It was like in Face/Off where evil Nicholas Cage stole good John Travolta's face, implanted it on his own, and started doing really bad deeds to Ms. Travolta.

But this was just as much science fiction. I couldn't believe my eyes: Houston d-mid Rico Clark, about as nice a midfield destroyer as you could ever hope to meet, was kicking Dallas cheapshot and scoring machine Carlos Ruiz on the ground late in the game in 3-0 Houston victory... While we shouldn't go overboard on the St. Rico stuff (he has been ejected before), it was the kind of ugly scene that you expect Ruiz-- and not Clark-- to be involved in. It was even more mysterious because Houston was absolutely dominating the match-- why would Clark go nuts when he's on the winning side of a rout?

Most commentators have wondered what punishment Clark would get for Fish abuse. I think that's actually an easy question: six games. That's the mark that's been set for really bad behavior, like going after a ref (like Andy Herron) or clocking Hunter Freeman (like Dario Sala). By my count, that means Clark misses the rest of the season unless Houston makes it to MLS Cup.

The more interesting question, in my mind, is what to do with Carlos Ruiz. A few more details emerged about Clark's kick: it turns out that Ruiz had punched Clark in the back almost immediately before Rico's reaction. We shouldn't equate the two actions though- Rico Suave kicking a guy while he's down is pretty awful. A punch in the back while going for a ball is not as serious.

But I still think Ruiz needs to sit out the rest of the season (and for Dallas, a five game suspension should do it). Why? Because the guy's got a history. For some, you shouldn't take a player's history into account when meting out suspensions and fines. Why not?? As a society, we implicitly take bad behavior into account because it shows that people just aren't learning. This is the idea behind Three Strikes and You're Out. I'm not suggesting that MLS adhere to such rigid standards and send Jean Valjean to prison for stealing bread. And I'm not suggesting that hardnosed defenders be suspended for multiple games because it's their job to foul... a lot. But if you've got a history of smacking people around, then yes, the league needs to keep giving longer and longer suspensions for that kind of behavior.

And Carlos Ruiz's record ain't great-- he racks up cards and fouls as if he were paid to defend instead of score goals. His bad deed isn't as bad a Rico's, but given his history, perhaps his punishment should be.