Austin Watson arrested for domestic assault

[predfan24]

I’ve been debating about posting here about this, but give the dude a break, yo. Younger women these days really push guys’ buttons because they “know they can.” As someone who is 6’4 I have dealt with this all too many times. Girls think they can do and say whatever they want (from my experience) and expect no repercussions. I’m not saying I agree that Watson should’ve pushed her, but if you make a human mad enough, anyone is bound to snap at some point.

Bad post man. It's called being emotionally mature. You can't lay your hands on people just because they make you angry. The only time it is justified for a man to lay a hand on a woman is when that woman is a threat to do immediate physical harm to others. The same rules should be applied vice versa as well.

I'm not agreeing with all the social justice warriors here who want to jump straight to "burn him at the stake" consequences. I think the punishment should fit the crime. From what we know there should be an example made out of Watson. It should not be the death penalty though.

 

[FilthyScoresberg]

Bad post man. It's called being emotionally mature. You can't lay your hands on people just because they make you angry. The only time it is justified for a man to lay a hand on a woman is when that woman is a threat to do immediate physical harm to others. The same rules should be applied vice versa as well.

I'm not agreeing with all the social justice warriors here who want to jump straight to "burn him at the stake" consequences. I think the punishment should fit the crime. From what we know there should be an example made out of Watson. It should not be the death penalty though.

Didn’t say I’d do it because I haven’t, but maybe you’ve been lucky enough to not have girls like that but it happens.
I hate that it happens and I wouldn’t do it, but I understand at least a little but that there could be something to this we don’t know

 

[Gh24]

Bad post man. It's called being emotionally mature. You can't lay your hands on people just because they make you angry. The only time it is justified for a man to lay a hand on a woman is when that woman is a threat to do immediate physical harm to others. The same rules should be applied vice versa as well.

I'm not agreeing with all the social justice warriors here who want to jump straight to "burn him at the stake" consequences. I think the punishment should fit the crime. From what we know there should be an example made out of Watson. It should not be the death penalty though.

How is it a bad post? Because he brought up the fact that women can be manipulative, psychologically (and even physically) abusive and in fact, take advantage of being the "weaker gender"? Nah...

In a debate, one should never answer with physical force, but either come up with more reasonable argument or walk away. It's not always easy, not at all, and Watson clearly had enough of their debate. He made a wrong decision and is now facing the consequences. He's punished the way your justice system sees fit and I don't disagree with it. But we have to remember that there are always two sides in this kind of cases and to belittle the power of psychological abuse is also wrong.

 

[TitansVolsPreds615]

For an example of how men's lives can be ruined just because of false accusations look no further than the current sexual assault case going on in Knoxville. This guy likely had a promising NFL career derailed by a lying female who was embarrassed of her actions the morning after. As a society we swung quickly from "men can do no wrong, boys will be boys" to immediately assuming guilt on the man's part even before the facts/evidence come out.

 

[Drake744]

There's really no way around it. If you question anything about cases like these, you're viewed as being insensitive and defending the man, etc. Yesterday on Twitter a guy said he should be cut along with all the other drunk idiots. When I simply said actually she was the drunk one in this case I got slammed and barraged with insults and claims that I was "that guy" who would defend him and "victim blaming", blah blah blah. What he did was stupid and I can't imagine doing it, but this is a culture of outrage and any semblance of trying to question facts in a case like this will be met with hostility.

 

[FilthyScoresberg]

The girl I was so hung up on put her hands on me several times. Granted, I let it happen because I was blinded by my feelings for her, but still she ruined my confidence and self-worth. I couldn’t stand up for myself because she’s tiny and I’m 6’4. Multiple times she hit me, KNOWING I wouldn’t do anything because she’d press charges immediately.
I know how it gets, man. Sometimes these girls really take it too far then wanna be all boohoo when they get what they were pretty much asking for. We’re all just animals, after all. At a certain point, instincts kick in.

Again, he shouldn’t have put his hands on her. I totally support any punishment he gets, but let’s not crucify him. This isn’t a Voynov case where he beat the shit out of his wife/girlfriend. In the eyes of justice they are equal but let’s be honest here.. this would’ve been nothing had he not been a high profile athlete. I expect he’ll remain on the team. Lesson learned.

 

[predfan24]

Didn’t say I’d do it because I haven’t, but maybe you’ve been lucky enough to not have girls like that but it happens.
I hate that it happens and I wouldn’t do it, but I understand at least a little but that there could be something to this we don’t know

I would venture to say the vast majority of adults have been in heated arguments. That is not special to any one person. I have a feeling you are a fairly young person. I challenge you to look at yourself in the mirror on this issue. Essentially what you are saying is you understand, in theory, as a man against a woman, how one would use physical violence in response to emotional abuse. There is no argument for that. An emotionally intelligent person would not do something like that.

How is it a bad post? Because he brought up the fact that women can be manipulative, psychologically (and even physically) abusive and in fact, take advantage of being the "weaker gender"? Nah...

In a debate, one should never answer with physical force, but either come up with more reasonable argument or walk away. It's not always easy, not at all, and Watson clearly had enough of their debate. He made a wrong decision and is now facing the consequences. He's punished the way your justice system sees fit and I don't disagree with it. But we have to remember that there are always two sides in this kind of cases and to belittle the power of psychological abuse is also wrong.

Yes, it's a bad viewpoint.

No, it's not okay for women to be physically violent towards men just because they are upset.

No, it's not easy to restrain yourself. Obviously, as humans we have a instinctual propensity towards violence. But guess what? It's 2018 and we have evolved our society to control our violent tendencies. We even have laws now addressing violence! People who resort to physical violence because they become upset by something are generally less intelligent. Literally, if you looked at a random sampling of people's IQs in society there would be a direct correlation between violence and lower intelligence.

Emotional abuse does not justify physical violence.

Yes, I think it's fair to speculate in this specific instance Watson's girlfriend was probably unreasonable due to her being drunk. She probably antagonized him. But was she physically harming him? An emotionally intelligent person would find a way to either de-escalate the situation or remove themselves from the situation.

I would expect something like this from an emotionally immature teenager; ; not a 26 year old professional athlete.

For an example of how men's lives can be ruined just because of false accusations look no further than the current sexual assault case going on in Knoxville. This guy likely had a promising NFL career derailed by a lying female who was embarrassed of her actions the morning after. As a society we swung quickly from "men can do no wrong, boys will be boys" to immediately assuming guilt on the man's part even before the facts/evidence come out.

I don't disagree but that is not the case with Watson's situation.

 

[Armourboy]

I have a strange feeling this probably wasn't the first time she had been drunk like that and its entirely possible it was a factor in the incident. Let's be honest, most of us have been around someone who is just not good to be around when they are drunk. However, you still can't put your hands on her and you sure have no business doing it in a public place.

A line from Chris Rock keeps popping in my mind on this thing. It starts with " There is never a good reason to hit a woman " which he replies with " sh#t there is a reason to hit everybody, just don't do it ".

And that really is the bottom line. She might have deserved to get pushed in that car, but you just can't do it. Pretty plain and simple.

Oddly enough some have hinted that him being a pro athlete got him off light, tbh I think it probably is the reason it made it to court anyways. Generally if the party involved doesn't want to press charges they let it drop, which his girlfriend did but they prosecuted him anyways. His status in as much as it is, at least legally, may have been a detriment. I seriously doubt the DA would say one way or the other though.

 

[Drake744]

In all seriousness, I agree with the post above claiming this probably wasn't his first rodeo seeing her belligerent and out of control. You have to be pretty faced to not be able to attend a wedding.

 

[BigFatCat999]

You know it is ok to say 'I don't know.'

 

[FilthyScoresberg]

I would venture to say the vast majority of adults have been in heated arguments. That is not special to any one person. I have a feeling you are a fairly young person. I challenge you to look at yourself in the mirror on this issue. Essentially what you are saying is you understand, in theory, as a man against a woman, how one would use physical violence in response to emotional abuse. There is no argument for that. An emotionally intelligent person would not do something like that.



Yes, it's a bad viewpoint.

No, it's not okay for women to be physically violent towards men just because they are upset.

No, it's not easy to restrain yourself. Obviously, as humans we have a instinctual propensity towards violence. But guess what? It's 2018 and we have evolved our society to control our violent tendencies. We even have laws now addressing violence! People who resort to physical violence because they become upset by something are generally less intelligent. Literally, if you looked at a random sampling of people's IQs in society there would be a direct correlation between violence and lower intelligence.

Emotional abuse does not justify physical violence.

Yes, I think it's fair to speculate in this specific instance Watson's girlfriend was probably unreasonable due to her being drunk. She probably antagonized him. But was she physically harming him? An emotionally intelligent person would find a way to either de-escalate the situation or remove themselves from the situation.

I would expect something like this from an emotionally immature teenager; ; not a 26 year old professional athlete.





I don't disagree but that is not the case with Watson's situation.

Yeah completely ignore where I said I agree that he should serve whatever punishment the NHL decides upon. All I’m saying is, don’t crucify the guy. People make mistakes. That’s your opinion about my views. I think you’re being too harsh, but I’m not openly chastising you. Get off your high horse, bro.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

So far, aside from the predictable rush to judgement/counter-judgement, I would say things are probably going the way we should ideally like them to. I mean, a big big guy and his girlfriend are having a public tiff of some sort and I think in this case you probably WANT a passerby and a cop to get themselves involved. Cuz you never know, right? Make sure it isn't going somewhere worse or whatever. Break it up, protect any potential victim. Then you go to court and they can take a look at it from a legal perspective. The girl wants it dismissed, but you know in many cases (like Voynov) she might not be saying that in her own best interests, or she might be scar:ed, so you still proceed anyway. All good. The sentence is light and the record will vanish in 3 months. Ok, that says something about the severity of what happened, because they do have all the evidence and witness accounts in hand. And then past that because this guy is in the NHL, the league/employer is going to take their own look and come down with something.

I don't see anything disproportionate or untoward in the actual process that has played out so far. Like I said before, you want society to act this way, right? I'm not sure things have always played out this way in similar circumstances. But this way everybody gets their interests served, and it doesn't seem like anything has been handled controversially, neither in a sense of heavy-handed punishment nor in terms of sweeping something under the rug just because it was a relatively minor incident or because the perpetrator was a public figure. Aside from all of us jumping up and down from one opinionated stance to another in the general public, everything else seems to be proceeding sensibly. I say let that continue, not really any need for us to try to fill in blanks unnecessarily or speculatively.

 

[LCPreds]

Looks like Rexrode believes they should cut him. I understand his point to a degree but I also feel like we've turned into a society where we take the easy way out and cut loose the baggage. One could look at this another way and leverage it as a way to further educate and help the cause. We have to get away from this 'one strike and you're out zero tolerance' stuff and start assessing situations logically and without emotion because what we're doing now doesn't work. It doesn't solve the problem, it just shoves it under the rug.

Predators should – probably won't – move on from Austin Watson

Premise:

If the Predators organization is going to continue its admirable quest against domestic violence with equal or increased force, Austin Watson will not play again for the team.

This is an opportunity to put declarative action behind all the time and money devoted to AMEND Together (formerly MEND), a program started by the YWCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee. AMEND Together seeks to end domestic violence by focusing on men and boys, targeting negative stereotypes of women and girls that start early, often in sports. It has been the centerpiece of the Predators’ ample community service efforts for years, an emotional project for Predators CEO and President Sean Henry.

And there is no greater reinforcement for this effort – no stronger message to those men and boys – than parting ways with a player guilty of domestic assault.

Again, it's not a bad premise, but since Watson's alleged encounter was so minor (from what we know) it seems the better path would be to convince him to speak out even more than before. Mistakes were made. Don't be like me. Etc. But I also know that's not the easiest way to handle it so probably won't happen.

 

[Detelethisaccount]

Looks like Rexrode believes they should cut him. I understand his point to a degree but I also feel like we've turned into a society where we take the easy way out and cut loose the baggage. One could look at this another way and leverage it as a way to further educate and help the cause. We have to get away from this 'one strike and you're out zero tolerance' stuff and start assessing situations logically and without emotion because what we're doing now doesn't work. It doesn't solve the problem, it just shoves it under the rug.

Predators should – probably won't – move on from Austin Watson

Premise:



Again, it's not a bad premise, but since Watson's alleged encounter was so minor (from what we know) it seems the better path would be to convince him to speak out even more than before. Mistakes were made. Don't be like me. Etc. But I also know that's not the easiest way to handle it so probably won't happen.

Doesn't surprise me Rexrode feels that way, he seems to believe his job is to come educate us backward Southerners about the modern world. He is a really good writer, but his sanctimonious tone is very off-putting IMO.

 

[Preds Partisan]

Not to point out the obvious, but the NHL is running the investigation and they'll be the one to make the call about discipline. The Preds have the PR out on this one with the NHL providing cover. Whether you agree or disagree with the outcome, this decision will be with the NHL and this will be a well orchestrated decision to make sure Nashville isn't the one having to make the hard call. As dumb as the NHL can be at times, they won't let the Preds twist in the wind.

 

[Drake744]

Doesn't surprise me Rexrode feels that way, he seems to believe his job is to come educate us backward Southerners about the modern world. He is a really good writer, but his sanctimonious tone is very off-putting IMO.

Journalism is (unfortunately) dying. People do what they have to do to get clicks and reads.

 

[lstcyr]

Journalism is (unfortunately) dying. People do what they have to do to get clicks and reads.

I don't believe journalism is dying. The newspaper industry as we knew it is going away but there will always be a place for news and investigative reporting.

 

[Scoresberg]

We’re all just animals, after all. At a certain point, instincts kick in.

Underrated line.

 

[Gh24]

No, it's not easy to restrain yourself. Obviously, as humans we have a instinctual propensity towards violence. But guess what? It's 2018 and we have evolved our society to control our violent tendencies

And while we control our violent tendencies and punish those who are not capable of doing it, we let the psychological abuse grow and raise it's ugly head by not taking it seriously or belittling it. Even if it's already 2018, we still have a lot to do with this evolving thing.

If you complain about psychological abuse by any woman you are looked down like, you're a man you can handle it. If you're intelligent enough not to bring violence into it what can you do if this woman is much stronger than you in that field? Nothing but remain a laughing stock. And of course continue being abused by this woman.

Talk about it? Works so well for so many women under physical abuse by their partners. Could be the solution sometimes, but the abuse often comes from some kind of a need to dominate I think, so it might just be fuel for the fire.

Walking away could be an option, but how many times have you heard a physically abused women returning to their abusive partners? Too many. It's not always so easy. This time the table has turned.

We must keep working towards a society where you can seek for help without feeling the shame and it doesn't limit to physical abuse only.

Again, it's not a bad premise, but since Watson's alleged encounter was so minor (from what we know) it seems the better path would be to convince him to speak out even more than before. Mistakes were made. Don't be like me. Etc. But I also know that's not the easiest way to handle it so probably won't happen.

This makes sense and I agree, we must not just sweep it under the rug, but rather find more sophisticated solutions. It's 2018 after all.

 

[Enjoy i24 Traffic]

Looks like Rexrode believes they should cut him. I understand his point to a degree but I also feel like we've turned into a society where we take the easy way out and cut loose the baggage. One could look at this another way and leverage it as a way to further educate and help the cause. We have to get away from this 'one strike and you're out zero tolerance' stuff and start assessing situations logically and without emotion because what we're doing now doesn't work. It doesn't solve the problem, it just shoves it under the rug.

Predators should – probably won't – move on from Austin Watson

Premise:



Again, it's not a bad premise, but since Watson's alleged encounter was so minor (from what we know) it seems the better path would be to convince him to speak out even more than before. Mistakes were made. Don't be like me. Etc. But I also know that's not the easiest way to handle it so probably won't happen.

It's interesting that you have Tiger as your avatar. Was his wife ever charged for hitting him with a golf club?

You know something I had to do that no other woman has ever had to do. Sign up for the draft.

Some say they want equality but they don't really want equality.

 

[LCPreds]

It's interesting that you have Tiger as your avatar. Was his wife ever charged for hitting him with a golf club?

Wow. You need to look at my avatar again. hah

But to answer your question on Tiger, I'm sure the answer to that question is no. And it's been a few years but I'll bet the narrative would have been more along the lines of 'Tiger is a cheater and deserved to get hit with that golf club!'.

 

[Enjoy i24 Traffic]

Wow. You need to look at my avatar again. hah

But to answer your question on Tiger, I'm sure the answer to that question is no. And it's been a few years but I'll bet the narrative would have been more along the lines of 'Tiger is a cheater and deserved to get hit with that golf club!'.

Sure looks like him but my point still stands.

And that's the attitude we're grappling with. All of this "you never put hands on a woman" business shouldn't even be said. Take out 'woman' and replace it with person and I wouldn't have a problem with it.

 

[LCPreds]

Sure looks like him but my point still stands.

It's PK holding a golf club.

 

[101st_fan]

There are plenty of times when violence is warranted. From the details available about this incident there is nothing that indicates this was one of those times.

This is a complicated situation. Watson conceded to domestic violence and his plea of no contest does nothing to argue against that. One can argue that this is not to the level of Voynov. What one cannot argue is that Watson is innocent based on his comments. A "no tolerance" position results in his dismissal and possible banishment. Leaving things with the probation and possible expunging of the record sets an example that this is potentially acceptable by the team/league. Where does a push fall in the spectrum of reasonable punishment from the league? A few games suspension? A year? Leave it with the court adjudication?

There are no winners in this. Watson crossed a line that many view as a point of no return. His relationship is forever in the public domain with this event. He is forever an admitted perpetrator of domestic violence. How that translates to his employment remains to be seen. What the team and league do to counteract this in the realm of perception is the next big thing to watch for.

 

[BigFatCat999]

I don't believe journalism is dying. The newspaper industry as we knew it is going away but there will always be a place for news and investigative reporting.

OK, now I have to make comment. You WORK in the newspaper industry.