You can't handle the biff

So, Reg Reagan is to blame for Danny William's brain explosion (hang on, you have to have a brain for it to explode...erm...) last weekend. This would have to be one of the most stunning things I have heard in some time. Reg Reagan isn't exactly an inspired piece of characterisation. He's the Warwick Todd of League, with far less wit. He's meant to be offensive, he's meant to prove to all the Leaguies how far they have moved on from the days of biff, belittling women and buggery, sorry, I meant bad playing surfaces. The reality, obviously, is that things inside the game itself have changed little, even if the wrapping looks a little different. All that money spent on production values doesn't really change much. (Longtime readers of Blogballer will remember my reaction to League in the flesh). The players are just kept in check a little more, they don't punch people because it may endanger their modelling deal. I can see the appeal of Reg's catch-cry: Bring back the biff. A little passion would do the game good. Even I admit to a sordid delight in seeing blokes bring out the fists instead of the usual handbags-at-ten-paces they usually manage to deliver. A dust up in the heat of the game is acceptable, what Williams did, concussed or otherwise, was clearly outside the boundaries of even Reg Reagan's very loose interpretation of gentlmanly conduct.

Those who blame Reagan don't want to face up to the very obvious fact that League is like that. No amount of advertising dollars will stamp out the more unseemly sides of the game. Characters like Reagan, although rather crass, are not to blame. That sounded rather high-horse-ish didn't it? I mean: don't be bloody idiots, these blokes are going to punch each other no matter what you do. Get over it.