After a night out with the gang, we were listening to The Score (of course - Dave was driving) because Dave wants the Illini score from the night’s game. Then we heard about the fight against the Pistons and the Pacers in Detroit. They said it was a pretty ugly fight, but we had no idea how bad it was until we got home and saw the replay.
It all started when Detroit’s Ben Wallace went in for a layup and was fouled hard by Artest from behind, and escalated when Artest stormed into the stands after being hit by a full cup.
After being fouled, Wallace wheeled around and pushed Artest in the face. The benches emptied and punches were thrown.
As the players continued shoving each other near center court and coaches tried to restore order, Artest sprawled out on his back on the scorer’s table, looking relaxed.
Just when it appeared tempers had died down, Artest was struck by a cup and beverage thrown from the stands. He jumped up, and charged into the stands, throwing punches as he climbed over seats.
Fans were punching back, and Jackson and another teammate joined Artest in the melee.
Actually, the fight between Artest and Wallace was over, with Artest laying down on the scoring table. Ironically, after the goul it was Wallace that was going after Artest and Artest was just walking way, eventually getting pushed down on the table and resting. Nothing more would have happened. But then someone threw a drink on Artest’s face, and he just lost it, running up and climbing over the stands and starting to hit the wrong guy, with the dude who threw the cup trying to restrain him and then later throwing some cheap punches in.
Then the whole thing blew up.
It was fucking crazy, and pretty upsetting.
Ron Artest was at fault for losing his temper like that and crossing that invisible barrier. But a lot of the blame goes to the fans that take it too far by assaulting Artest, and the other ones who made the cheap shots on the players when they weren’t looking during the melee. I don’t care if these guys are making millions - when you’re provoked, you’re provoked. When people are throwing things in your face, when they’re throwing cheap punches at you, you’re going to fight back.
But those idiot Detroit fans made fools of themselves. I’m not talking about all of them. But those guys who were in the the fight, who threw the punches, the people who were throwing things on the team and the coaches as they were leaving the court. Something said on ESPN was “Fans believe that when they pay to go to these games, they are not only watching the games, they’re a PART of these games.” Which isn’t the case. We go to these events to support the athletes. To watch them and enjoy the games. Not to be in their faces. Not to harrass them.
Where was security? Security should have been in there like THAT. Quicker than lightning. Surrounding the players right after the original scuffle started. But I didn’t really see anyone. I saw a broadcaster coming out and try to control people, but I hardly saw any security in there.
Thanks to this, the fans and the reaction of the players, the game won’t be the same. There’ll be barricades separating the court and the seats. Courtside seats? Gone. Forget it. Beer in the second half? No way. Anal probes before you go into the stadium? You betcha.
Sadly, the line between what fans can do and what fans cannot do is getting blurred. Athletes not only have to worry about getting injured on the court, but now they can worry about getting injured by a fan.
I’m not excusing Artest’s actions. He lost his temper. He should get suspended. But it could have all have been prevented if some asshole in the stands didn’t try to be cool and throw his drink on the opposing team.
Lamar Odom of the Lakers saw it for the first time as he was being interviewed.
“Whoooo. When you see things like that, just think about what it takes for NBA players to go into a crowd,” Odom said. “Sometimes fans get kind of out of hand, but it must have taken a lot for NBA players to go into a crowd and start a fight.”
Poor Jim Gray, the reporter for ESPN who was at the game. Just watching him talk about his experience is saddening. You can tell that he’s affected by it, as he speaks his voice is shaking as he says he’s never seen anything like this.
Neither have I.
And I pity the people who were at the game to enjoy it. They’ve been showing a shot of one of the player’s kids, who’s hugging his older brother, crying because you could tell he was scared for the safety of his dad.
What’s happening to our society?
Is this the NBA or the Vibe awards? It’s getting really hard to tell the two apart.
Tags: Cool Link by Yano
11 Comments »
Streetfighter
