LeGarrette Blount vs. Byron Hout

This is epic, everybody knows by now.  Boise State beat a terrible, lethargic looking Oregon team 19-8 Thursday night.  The best part is that LeGarrette Blount went Rocky on a Boise State guy after the game.  Well, it was a comination of Rocky's best punch vs. Tommy "Machine" Gunn and Mike Tyson when he was the most vicious ever.  So, naturally, here is the link to the punch:  click here.

But, I have a few thoughts on the subject.  Naturally, Blount needs to get tossed off Oregon for the year.  That was vicious, and if done in a street, bar, store, or anywhere outside of a public sporting arena he's getting arrested.  Prove to me that he's not.  I know things happen on the field; it's physical and emotions run.  However, this was after the game with nothing really going on.  I'm sure Blount wasn't happy with his big day on the ground.. and by big day, I mean his 8 carries for -5 yards.  NICE!  That coming after he trashed Boise State earlier this year, talking about how excited he was to play them after Boise upset them last year in Eugene.  So, he had some things going for him.  He talked trash about a mid-major that just beat them.  He ripped off an impressive -5 yards rushing.  And to top it all off, some stiff, Byron Hout, slaps him on the shoulder and screams something probably not intelligent into his face.  Sweet, nice job, Hout.

Now, I'm not condoning what Blount did.  I don't think he should have gone Tyson on Hout.  At the same time, to say that Hout is a victim is a little bit misleading.  This summer, I was in the State Capital building in Madison, Wisconsin and stumbled upon a state's bill of rights.  Including in those rights was, of course, freedom of speech.  Seldom thought of, however, is what appeared afterwards.  Now this is not verbatim, but it basically read that citizens have freedom of speech, but they must accept whatever responsibility occurs because of their speech.  So, here is my problem with Hout; he lipped off.  No doubt about it, watch the video, over and over.  A big ol' Northern potato farming handslap onto Blount and a primal scream into his face.  Should Hout now be excused because he got knocked out?  Should he have been punished in the first place?  No doubt Blount displayed terrible judgement and sportsmanship, but what Hout did, to me, was disheartening as well.  The game was over, you guys won, go celebrate with your teammates.  No need, NONE, to show up somebody on the field.  And don't give me any of that he was having fun, he was showing off youthful energy, blah blah blah, if a kid did that on my 7TH GRADE BASKETBALL TEAM I would put him on the bench and have him run at practice.  He should not be excused either.