We’ve all seen it, a Padres fan walks up to a Rockies fan and without warning, clocks him with a right cross. Rockies fan goes down like a sack of wheat. I didn’t find the blow surprising. Bleacher fights happen – usually between willing pugilists and more often they resemble two teenage girls with flailing arms and hair-pulling.

What knocked me out was the reaction on social media. Talking heads from sports websites celebrated it. Former MLB players David Freeze thought it was justified.

Celebrities egging on twitter trolls causes a cascade of trolls to descend and offer their stupid take for their 5 seconds of fame. Closest your usual Twitter troll has ever been to a real fight is throwing a game controller at a TV while playing Grand Theft Auto but that doesn’t stop them from glorifying a coward’s blow. The whole thing – justifying criminal battery and celebrating a coward knocking another man unconscious is a sad reflection on America’s sense of justice. Words are not violence. You are not harmed by someone insulting your team or for that matter insulting your mama.

Rockies fan didn’t press charges no doubt because he thought, or was told, that he would be seen as a pussy. Me? I would have pressed charges (its likely misdemeanor battery) and insisted on prosecution. And I would have sued Padre fan. Call me a pussy. I don’t care. Padre fan would spend thousands on a criminal defense lawyer, and then spend a couple of weeks, or weekends in jail. He’d lose his right to own a firearm and I’d eat into his bank account after he spent several thousands on a civil defense lawyer. “Well insurance would pay for it” Nope. No insurance for intentional acts. Welcome to adulthood, clown.

In 2011 Bryan Stow attended a Dodgers game and was beaten into a coma by a couple of cowards. Both criminals were caught and sentenced to prison. Stow is still in his own prison of brain damage.

I litigated a case where the plaintiff died after being punched in the face. He fell backwards and hit the back of his head on concrete. He suffered a brain bleed and died.

Had Rockies fan been hit a few inches higher he might have had life-long damage to his left eye. He still might have broken bones in his face or neck. He might have fallen forward and bounced his head off of concrete and died. Then it’s not so funny to most adults. Still might be to the twitter clowns.

Heard the expression “grow up”? Apt.