Violence used on the court! Can't believe it!

[Dedans Penthouse]

Originally Posted by jaggy

Living in america I would say you have 2 choices. Contact your lawyer and give him a darn good suing or alternatively pack an assault weapon in your bag like most of us do.

Originally Posted by Bobby Jr

It entertains me greatly to see a situation like this discussed by mostly American people and it basically revolves around the "you should sue him.." theme.

What "sue him" theme? In 40 posts there was one (obviously facetious) reference to suing for monetary damages (and jaggy's assault rifle reference along with it should've put it into context for anyone with two brain cells).

No, the posts here did not stress "suing for money" but instead addressed a potentially injurious assault with the varying avenues of response available to the OP .... not to mention the over-the-top humor as well.

Besides, why should anyone care whether you're "entertained greatly" or not, especially when you disingenuously prefaced it on a false premise? Poofter.

[max]

Originally Posted by WildVolley

I wasn't there, but I tend to think that the OP could have been fully justified to call the police.

A water bottle, especially if full, is heavy enough to do some serious damage. I could probably easily cause a concussion by chucking a water bottle into someone's head.

I might have called the police, especially since my natural reaction would be to settle that particular problem with my fists. Better to have clearly defined boundaries than to potentially escalate into a situation in which I might be arrested.

This is called "ramping it up." Again, the mature thing, for me at least, and most people I know, would be to chalk it up as an error (for the server and for the water bottle thrower) and not compound the problem by escalating it. I think forgiving and asking for an apology is the thing to have done. But heck, I live in the *******, and not crazy land.

[Nostradamus]

Originally Posted by max

This is called "ramping it up." Again, the mature thing, for me at least, and most people I know, would be to chalk it up as an error (for the server and for the water bottle thrower) and not compound the problem by escalating it. I think forgiving and asking for an apology is the thing to have done. But heck, I live in the *******, and not crazy land.

Just call the police right away and file a report. That is the best way to handle things.

[max]

Originally Posted by Nostradamus

Just call the police right away and file a report. That is the best way to handle things.

What really does this do for anyone? It creates hard feelings all from an error. It settles nothing but creates more hatred. Not the way to go at all.

Often people who say "call the police" or who recommend going to law have very little experience with either, and modest notions of how much justice really gets accomplished with these things.

[Power Player]

Originally Posted by Nostradamus

Just call the police right away and file a report. That is the best way to handle things.

Really? A guy throws a water bottle at you and you call the police?

LOL..what a complete waste of police time. I hope you are not serious.

Hang on, wait..it's Fedace.

Of course you aren't.

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Really? A guy throws a water bottle at you and you call the police?

LOL..what a complete waste of police time. I hope you are not serious.

Hang on, wait..it's Fedace.

Of course you aren't.

Yeah, um Nostradamus.... that sounds pretty ridiculous...

If you called them, what would you actually say?

"Hello operator,

At a tennis club, an adolescent was serving the ball when other players were around the court and hit a guy. Then the threw a water bottle at me (which hurt really bad)..... "

I don't know if I would laugh or just hang up if was the operator...

[martini1]

In most of the civilized world it is called assault and battery. I hope you do not use yourself to test the boundary of the law and see if the operator would laugh and hang up on somebody calling the cops on you.

It will not be funny to say the least.

[SwankPeRFection]

What ever happened to the old days when this would happen, you could deck his *** and when he's on the ground rolling around you stand over him and say "It was this other guy who accidentally hit you with the ball you ****ing idiot!" Now maybe you'll think twice about just acting like you did next time something like this happens and at least blame the right person.


Oh yeah, that's right... people call the cops now or try and sue you over a bloody nose. Can we rewind back 20-30 years please? Things were simpler back then.

[NLBwell]

You guys must live in crime-free areas where the police have nothing at all to do if you think someone throwing a water bottle should take precedence over whatever else the police are dealing with at the time. Thank goodness the OP was good enough not to call the police.
Kicking the guy out of the group was probably a good idea. It wouldn't be good if, say a woman in the group, felt unsafe because of the guy's actions. Not so much to punish the guy so much as to have courtesy to the good people in the group.

[5point5]

LOL. You wanted to call the cops because he threw a water bottle at you?! Talk about being a baby...

[NadalDramaQueen]

Originally Posted by SwankPeRFection

What ever happened to the old days when this would happen, you could deck his *** and when he's on the ground rolling around you stand over him and say "It was this other guy who accidentally hit you with the ball you ****ing idiot!" Now maybe you'll think twice about just acting like you did next time something like this happens and at least blame the right person.


Oh yeah, that's right... people call the cops now or try and sue you over a bloody nose. Can we rewind back 20-30 years please? Things were simpler back then.

True, what is the point of spending hours and hours at the gym if you can't lay out a jerk every now and then.

Unfortunately, you have to sit there and take it and your only retaliation is to call the police if you want to stay out of trouble yourself.

Originally Posted by NLBwell

You guys must live in crime-free areas where the police have nothing at all to do if you think someone throwing a water bottle should take precedence over whatever else the police are dealing with at the time. Thank goodness the OP was good enough not to call the police.
Kicking the guy out of the group was probably a good idea. It wouldn't be good if, say a woman in the group, felt unsafe because of the guy's actions. Not so much to punish the guy so much as to have courtesy to the good people in the group.

Sorry that everyone doesn't live in the hood and that the police in our area care about light assault situations. This is the world we live in, adults shouldn't hit other adults.

Originally Posted by 5point5

LOL. You wanted to call the cops because he threw a water bottle at you?! Talk about being a baby...

Big talk. From what I see the people who are so quick to fly off their rockers are the same people who wouldn't last very long if law and order were to break down. They do things like throw around water bottles knowing that they are relatively safe from getting severely beaten in retaliation.

[scotus]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Hmm, his weapon was a water bottle which he lost after throwing it. At that point, he is defenseless against my Prince Exo Tour in hand assuming I can catch him...and I probably can...

Prince Exo3 Tour: a great weapon for those with tennis elbow. After all, it's only a tad stiffer than a water bottle.

[Overdrive]

Originally Posted by NoZak Djokovic

steal his racket and GONZO it

What in the world is gonzo?

[NLBwell]

Originally Posted by NadalDramaQueen

Sorry that everyone doesn't live in the hood and that the police in our area care about light assault situations. This is the world we live in, adults shouldn't hit other adults.

The OP wasn't hit. He was impacted by a plastic water bottle.
A punch would be different.

[NadalDramaQueen]

Originally Posted by NLBwell

The OP wasn't hit. He was impacted by a plastic water bottle.
A punch would be different.

I disagree that a punch would be different. From what I read in the OP the bottle was full of water. Getting hit in the right area with about a pound of water could hurt, at the very least.

Anyway, I will amend my statement to read that adults shouldn't attack other adults with their fists or otherwise. I hope that is general enough for you. If the police are too busy fighting serious crime, I'm sure they will put the water bottle attacks off until they finish.

[Big_Dangerous]

Originally Posted by martini1

This is something I never heard of let alone experience on the court! Unreal!

It's a group class for adults, with all kinds of people at the 3.0-3.5 level I suppose. I arrived early along with a couple other students, we were still waiting for the coach and the others to arrive. A teen (the only teen in the class, the rest are in their late 20's to about 40's) saw one of us started to warm up with some serves so he tried to follow. I stood on the other end of the court pretending to return. And the story begins...

At that time a few more people arrived, along with the coach. There is bench by the side of the court and people are laying their bags down to get their gears out. Naturally if you are putting your bag down your back would be facing the court. The teen misfired a serve and hit a guy probably on his butt. It was a ball with some force but no way faster than 50mph had it landed on court. We all knew it was a mistake and somebody made a "UUHHH" "AAAAH" sound. This guy suddenly charge at me with a water bottle in his hand. I must say he acted normal in the past classes and we had no problem getting along. At first I thought he would come to me make a joke or something.

He charged at me and threw the water bottle right at me at full force. I had little time to react and could only turn my body a little. The water bottle hit me on the side of my body. Just to say how hard he threw the bottle, the cap broke and water was spilled. Yes, it did hurt. Like somebody punched me.

He then walked away and acted like nothing happened. I was furious and started to drop the f bomb on him. He then said he thought I was the one to hit with a ball on purpose. He gave a half hearted apology after he found out he made a mistake, but kept saying I needed to chill out and it was "only a water bottle". I immediately said I could call the cops on this. The coach, who I have known for a few years asked me not to escalate the situation and tried to end the matter.

And he did let him stayed in the class. After a 10 min warm up the coach gathered the class again and ask the kid to apologize to the crazy guy, and the crazy guy in return gave me a more serious apology.

Anyway, I thought the coach should really kick him out of the class right at that moment (he did the following week after I called him). Yes, I know it would make the coach look bad if cops showed up and made a big scene where everybody else would watch it like a TV show. I did not call the cops only because the coach keep begging me not to, but in hindsight I think it is better to just let the police handle the situation, and more importantly have him on the record. You never know these days. He could show up in the next class with a knife or something. If we have a arrest record we can easily call the cops again as soon as we see his face, just to scare him not to show up ever. I swear to god if he ever tries to charge at me again I would just swing my racket to defend myself.

Hopefully he is out for good and doesn't try anything stupid like trying to come back to class or register for other future classes I am in.

Yeah I can understand being a little upset about getting pegged with an errant ball when you are just unpacking your bag, but to charge randomly at someone you think did it and to throw your water bottle at them is beyond ridiculous.

[Big_Dangerous]

Originally Posted by Overdrive

What in the world is gonzo?

This is Gonzoing a racket.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmVHk2efkZ8

[NLBwell]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[NLBwell]

Originally Posted by NadalDramaQueen

I disagree that a punch would be different. From what I read in the OP the bottle was full of water. Getting hit in the right area with about a pound of water could hurt, at the very least.

Anyway, I will amend my statement to read that adults shouldn't attack other adults with their fists or otherwise. I hope that is general enough for you. If the police are too busy fighting serious crime, I'm sure they will put the water bottle attacks off until they finish.

A water bottle thrown at the body is not going to break your jaw, smash in your eye socket, give you a concussion, knock you out, or give you permanent brain damage (especially if your head hits the floor while you are unconcious), all of which a good punch could do.

[martini1]

Originally Posted by NLBwell

A water bottle thrown at the body is not going to break your jaw, smash in your eye socket, give you a concussion, knock you out, or give you permanent brain damage (especially if your head hits the floor while you are unconcious), all of which a good punch could do.

That is NOT true at all. The force was equal to a punch - not a jab, but a punch. The bottle is made of hard plastic and full of water. It will break your nose if it is throw right at your face with some force.

You do not seem to understand what the common law addresses. Unless you are a little kid, if you think using an object to attack somebody is far less serious than a fist attack, you are in some serious misconception.

Permanent injuries are only justified in a civil court when damages are measured. An mere attack in force, no matter how small, is still an attack in a criminal court.