Law and sports?

Question

If a lacrosse player hits other player with the stick and as a result he loses both eyes, it was not intentional. What happens to the player who did the hit? Nothing happens?
What about if as a result he dies? What happens in that case?
In the eyes of the law, if something like that happens in home or on the streets, is it any different than if it happened in sports?
Thank you.

Answer 1

Participation in contact sports is an agreed upon waiver of liability for accidents. If the contact was outside of the rules (a penalty was assessed) then there is room for interpretation. There are instances where law suits are brought for egregious injuries, but if they were within the rules of the game, they have not been successful.

Answer 2

the easy way to understand it is when players agree to play a sport where they might get hurt, they agree that if someone gets hurt they won't sue or call the police. Its called "assumption of risk", and it also covers people who watch sports from the stands, and get hit by a stray ball or something. Sometimes somebody gets hurt outside the game (a fight breaks out on the field, or a boxer hits someone after the bell) and for that kind of stuff, the person hitting can be sued or even go to jail, even though its unlikely. Sometimes players die during the course of the game, but if nothing was done outside the rules of the game, there is no criminal or civil liability. Weird, right?