I didn't exist when this punch occurred, so I watched the youtube video of it. It was a very sad incident since it's obvious Rudy T. tried to break up the fight that was going on, and Kermit just knocks his lights out. Rudy did not die, and he won two titles with the Rockets as a coach. Kermit's career and life went down the drain. I would forgive Kermit based on that. What was your initial reaction if you guys were around those times at the punch, if ya'll could explain the whole situation, I would appreciate it since I have little knowledge of it? Do you guys forgive Kermit today or not?
Isn't it funny how we wonder these things today only because Rudy T got badly injured? What Bynum did to Wallace, Beasley, and Barea just as dangerous (if not worse considering he did it 3 times, and the person is way up in the air), but because they were luckily not hurt in any visible blood/broken bones (Wallace collapsed lung, Beasley missed a few games, and who knows how but Barea got right back up), it is going to be all but forgotten unless he does it again. NBA hasn't really learned anything from the Washington incident, they still require a pool of blood, a career ending injury, or running into the stands for them to make any real statement (full year bans).
Watch the Kermit Washington Story on youtube it is really good. He seems like a great guy just made a bad decision.
<iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1k1i4Ddngg8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
That's not cool dude. It was okay when I parodied Nate because he never got hurt... but Rudy T. was seriously injured when this happened; tasteless whoever created the vid.
doesnt look like Kermit 'accidentally' hit Rudy because he felt someone running up. He was completely turned around and facing him. btw, tasteless vid Aggie.
How is it tasteless? I didnt make the video, i only posted it because someone had said they had never seen it, and it was the only one where they wouldnt have to sit through long videos to find a 20 second clip of it.
tasteless b/c it pokes fun at a situation where Rudy almost died and his playing career ended. tasteless to whomever made it. here's a 4 minute video shows it multiple times. <iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jgqUZ1IAA_8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Well Kermit suffered for it and Rudy T became a Championship coach. Everything has turned out as it should have over someones bad decisions. Perhaps Kermit was the one who really punched himself that night?
From Rudy's book... Calvin Murphy, the little guard whom no one in the NBA wanted to fight, had raced past Washington to get to Kunnert, who was staggering in Abdul-Jabbar's arms. When he heard the punch and saw Tomjanovich go down, he left Kunnert and reached his best friend's side no more than a second or two before Vandervoort. Washington was a few feet away, being ejected by Rakel. Murphy stood rooted to the spot, staring first at his unconscious teammate, then at Washington. "My first thought was, 'I'm going to kill the sonofabitch,'" Murphy said. "There was no question in my mind about it. I couldn't believe what I was looking at. I couldn't believe he had done that to Rudy. I saw the security people starting to take him off, and I took a step toward him, because I was going to kill him. That was absolutely my intent: kill the sonofabitch who had done that to my buddy." But when Murphy tried to put one foot in front of the other, he found he couldn't move. His legs were rubbery. It certainly wasn't fear. Murphy was one of the league's smallest men, but he was every bit the enforcer that Washington was. He had been a Golden Gloves boxer as a teenager, and unlike most of the league's players, he actually knew how to fight. Unofficially he had been in seventeen full-fledged fights during eight years in the league and had never lost. The fight that people remembered most was one against Sidney Wicks, then of the Boston Celtics. Like Washington, Wicks was 6-8 and about 225. Murphy had jumped into the air, grabbed Wicks by his Afro, pulled him down to his level, and punched him into submission. Now he stood frozen as Washington left the court. "It was an act of God," Murphy said years later. "It had to be. On any other night I would have killed him. But something happened and kept me there, right where I was. It had to be an act of God. There's no other explanation."
Back then every team had a hardwood goon. It was as if hockey (which was way more popular then) and basketball was competing in terms of fisticuffs It was expected for teams to "go at it" every so often. No way I'm defending what Kermit did, but it was part of the overall mentality of the NBA back then. It was just an unfortunate freak incident that really affected both parties. If it were to happen today though, I think Rudy would have bounced back a lot quicker, and Kermit would have been way more cociliatory and wouldn't have ended up a pariah.
It's great that there is public forgiveness all around among the people involved, but I was a kid when that happened and Rudy was one of my favorite players. I'll never forgive Kermit for that punch. Never. Ever. It wasn't accidental. It wasn't reflex. It was a determined hit. Is it fair that Kermit has been marked by that episode his entire life and regardless of what he does, people don't let him forget it? Yes, it is fair. We all do things in life we have to live with and pay for the rest of our time here. He happened to do his on camera and it affected more people than most of our major screw-ups... but we all still have to live with the consequences of what we do. Should he be released from that just because he does charity work and engenders sympathy among some people (and reporters)? Hell no. The punch is his burden in life and I'm not at all ready to release him from it. And what is this "Kermit Washington Story" BS? There wouldn't be a Kermit Washington story if he hadn't planted his feet and drove his fist into Rudy's face. He had a choice, he made it. The guy has had this woe is me shtick going ever since the punch and it's getting old. Every few years, some writer latches on to the story and writes the same story about how miserable Kermit's life is because of the punch. Jeez, Kermit, go do your charities, go try to make amends, make peace with yourself, but don't insult me about how nearly killing a guy with a sucker punch has made life miserable for you.
