Why is it that whenever a well-known athlete is involved in a bar fight, they're often the only ones charged? Who remembers the Al McInnis incident at the Whiskey night club in Calgary? Sounds hauntingly familiar... famous athlete involved, pleading his innocence, cops overreacting with charges.

How many of us here have either seen or been involved in a similar sort of fight at one time or another? Sometimes a person gets hurt, maybe an occasional bone gets broken, but rarely does it end up in criminal charges unless knives or guns are involved. This sort of thing goes on in countless night clubs, night after night in most Canadian cities. Usually the worst thing that comes out of it is someone spending the night in the drunk tank, not an "aggravated assault" charge.

The Calgary Herald quoted the bar manager of Cochrane's Stageline Saloon, Lyndie Sundby, saying:

The normally quiet tavern was flooded by "drunk cowboys" after a local rodeo wrapped up. Bouncers worked to keep the alcohol-fuelled crowd under control as the bar filled to capacity with a couple hundred patrons, Sundby said. "It was madness."

Given that, it's highly likely that there was a lot of confusion that night. It sounds a lot like the staff lost control of the situation. How is it that one person can be singled out in a big melee like that for charges? One has to wonder if the charges are more because of who Michael Ferland is rather than what he actually did.