Your right about the emotion Windtunnel...it is SO INTENSE!
We have to appreciate that side of the sport or none of us would stick with it the way that we do.
We can all point fingers somewhere trying to analyze the situation. We can point fingers at the refs...but do you wanna be in their position? It is a tough decision to be in. The hardest thing about looking past our self is objectivity.
For me...unsportsmanlike conduct doesn't change from grass roots to amatuers to the pros. Think about the overall message Chads behavior sends to little Johnny at home.
His actions (not disciplined) say it is ok to purposefully take out another rider after a "racing incident" occurs just because your mad about the situation. I certainly wouldn't teach a child that. Would you?
I have even come across parents that told their kid to take another kid out in our local scene. Shame on that parent.
If we all behaved like that in life...none of us would have friends or be mature.
The mature thing to do, would have been to keep racing and address the issue after the race is over with. That's what Reed is asking from the Ref's but didn't uphold that himself...especially as a team owner. Reed says the Ref's made an emotional decision, but so did Reed.
And comparing his actions to rough racing is apple to oranges. The tough passes are made going for positions. Reed made it personal when that wasn't the case. To say the AMA is getting soft is some what of a joke too...if that was case, then many riders in every season would be fined money and points at every race. We would also have to assume that the AMA has missed calls and made wrong calls too...is this one of them? That's a matter of opinion...the Ref is a matter of fact.
The only possible mercy I could see giving Reed is letting him finish the race, but that ended when Reed didn't give himself, Canard, or the officials that chance. Reed won't even own up to the fact that he shouldn't have thrown a punch when no punch was thrown to begin with. Reed is a sore loser and usually has been.