...let's be clear about that.
Steven A. Smith, sports pundit, is a jerk as well; it is his stock-in-trade - however, his comments leading up to this-
ESPN suspends Stephen A. Smith for comments about provoking assault | Fox News
-while clumsy, were close to the mark.
Rice's then-fiance/now-wife, by way of instigation, spit on Rice at some point before Rice decked her.
I hereby comdemn Rice for his actions, and I believe Roger Goodell's (NFL commissioner) institution of a two-game suspension is sadly lacking in severity; one recalls season-long drug suspensions, dog-abuse suspensions, and wonders how this incident DOESN'T compare.
In any case, I have seen precious little attention paid to the actions of Janay Palmer, Rice's wife.
If she spit on Ray Rice, it's a comparatively benign act; while we don't (and probably never will) know what might have happened beyond that minor offense, I find myself once again flummoxed not only by the lack of attention given her provocation, but also by the outrage engendered by Smith's comments, however clumsy.
I recall an incident a while back where a male New York Jets fan was prosecuted for smacking a female Buffalo Bills fan - this after video of the event clearly showed the woman assaulting the guy first.
I'm not calling it an epidemic, but I have myself been assaulted by females (without similar response), then grilled about what I might have done to provoke an attack while I was getting stitched-up.
I've been run through with a fishing spear, clobbered with a cinder block, and beaned with coffee mugs, among other things.
No one has ever questioned the female's motivation in any case, or posited that she might have committed a criminal act.
I am not alone in my experience.
I would hear any speculation as to how/why women are generally issued a de facto pass in the vast majority of such incidents, and also why, in the case of an incident that is news-worthy (Rice), why any and all males should consider it not worth comment?

