Yes it was deliberate, but so was all of the roundhouse collar ties, elbows tot he back of the head, etc etc. that I saw this weekend, that drew only the gathering at center mat, and a good ole "settle it down boys". and problem was solved.

I also am a believer in the "reputation" degree of punishment. Had we seen this out of Spencer throughout his career, he is on a short leash, and a flagrant misconduct is warranted. But with SPencer always being a good kid wherever I've seen him, you cut him some slack.

I don't know the ref's name, but since I've seen him refereeing, I"ve always thought he was one of the good ones. Don't know what he, the other ref, and the opposing coaches talked about to come to their final decision. None of us know what was being said right after it happened either. It appeared that Spencer was already feeling bad about it from his body language.........It would have been different if he was running his mouth still afterwards.........

My two cents......