I had just graduated high school when this happened. It was the next big sports news event after the infamous OJ white bronco chase in California. People make mistakes, have moments of bad judgment - in sports using performance enhancing drugs to gain an advantage, etc. They get caught, do some rehab, get clean and move on, not a major deal. But when you inflict, or are part of the plan, to inflict physical harm to another athlete to gain the advantage there is no excuse for that. That's not something you should get a do-over for.