knok

A victim of “Knockout,” a violent game where an unsuspecting person is sucker-punched by an assailant in hopes of knocking them out with one blow says the trend is nothing more than a media fabrication.

In October 2012, James Addlespurger, a Pittsburgh teacher, was struck in the back of the head so hard that he instantly blacked out and fell face first into the pavement.

Despite that and other incidents of similar attacks occurring, Addlespurger contends that he was no victim of the so-called “Knockout” game.

From Huffington Post:

Addlespurger says the security footage has been used to identify the supposed “trend” — and it’s played on TV news shows countless times — but he doesn’t call the attack a “Knockout Game.” He simply calls it “assault.”

“I feel like I’m exploited,” Addlespurger told HuffPost Live. “People need a label. If they’re selling toothpaste or CDs, or news stories, they need a label … To me it’s an assault, plain and simple.”

Read more on Huffington Post

Addlespurger says that he was walking home from school through the alley that he walked through for nine years when he was struck.

“To me, its an assault period plain and simple so I’m not buying into any of that label or terminology and the game gives it a connotation that its a playful thing.”

Thoughts on Addlespurger’s take on the ‘Knockout’ game?

Is he right in his assertion that the media is blowing isolated incidents out of proportion to generate controversy?

Sound off below!