Holy balls almighty (Pistons-Pacers riot)

The BBQ Pit
41

Being that I’m in the burbs of Detroit this weekend, here’s my take on the situation:

A) The dude who threw the first beer should be arrested (he was).

B) Artest should have just left the court instead of jumping into the stands.

C) Artest punched an innocent bystander first, mistaking him for the dude from point A. If I did this, I would be arrested for Assault. I believe in fair treatment, so Artest should be arrested. Why should the fact that he’s a rich athlete determine whether or not he’s arrested?

D) If no arrest is made, Artest and Jackson need long suspensions.

E) Ben Wallace needs a short suspension (1-3 games). I’ve seen way worse retaliation at many levels of basketball.

F) If points C or D are actually followed, the Pistons will have no more competition in the Eastern Conference. I will be very happy with that.

42

Regardless of whose fault it is, I hope all involved get what they deserve out of it. The video is going to show almost (if not all) everything we will need to know o properly assign blame and redress.

I used to be a huge NBA fan (I lost weight!), but haven’t even bothered for several years now. It used to be a team sport filled with true talent. Now it’s a bunch of hooligans constantly whining “Look at me, Wahhhh.”

Any fans that behaved as horribly as what I saw most of those guys doing should be fined and banned from any future games.

Any player that did what I saw happening should be thrown out of the sport.

We’re all going to lose on this one, sports fans. Do we want our NBA, MLB, or NFL games to devolve into the soccer riots of death we saw worldwide in the last few decades? NO! Fine the hell out of each and every person at fault in that NBA riot. Ban all involved for life, whether a player or a fan. There was no need for this to happen, and steps should be taken so that it NEVER happens again.

Over reacting, you say? Maybe in your opinion. Mine is that none of these people should ever be involved in NBA basketball ever again, fan or player.

43

What the fuck is wrong with people? Pretty soon, we’re going to have to put one of those chain link cages around every court, rink, theatrical stage, like you you see in movies like Roadhouse where the bar is so rough the band has to be protected from projectiles.

Audiences, spectators – they seem to be forgetting their little “social contract” to be a WATCHER and NOT a PARTICIPANT.

At Canada’s world renowned Shakespearian stages, shows have had to be stopped because stupid fucks were throwing pennies at the actors. So this kind of bullshit isn’t unique to the adrenalin and testosterone fueled environment of pro-sports. This problem is growing and it’s not just “bad fans”. It’s getting to be generations brought up watching shit like Jerry Springer which makes them think that the role of an audience/spectator is to pipe up with their opinion and “get in on the action.”

Stay home and throw shit at the TV. At this rate they’re going to have to install 6" glass between the stands and the players, so you’re going to be so separate from the action you may as well be at home anyway. You throw shit, and you could hurt the kid sitting down in front. You could injure a player and end his career (wanna get sued for loss of income by a guy who earns a gazillion dollars a year?)

I propose that to go get into an arena, all spectators have to wear a electric collar so security can jolt you with 5000 volts the second you wind up to throw something. Just taser you before it leaves your hand, then throw your unconcious ass out the door.

Athletes: Stay the fuck out of the stands. Let security get the fool’s name and address, and get him up on criminal charges for assault with a weapon (I don’t care if it was just a cup of beer). Ruin his life. But stay the fuck out of the stands because you’re going to hurt a LOT of innocent bystanders getting up there. You’re going to hurt innocent, well-behaved, good spectators when you throw a chair into the crowd. Stay out of it. Let security deal with the immediate problem and then sic the best lawyers your million dollar paycheck can buy on the asshole.

44

I’ve got it. Artest is a recovering alcoholic. If any of the thrown beer had gotten into his mouth, it would’ve sent him on a fast spiral towards rock bottom. The Pacers that jumped into the stands with him were his AA sponsors. :stuck_out_tongue:
Okay, maybe he just listens to too much rap music.

45

It’s about time the real issue in all of this is brought up:

Why can’t NBA players throw a decent punch? They’re worse fighters then baseball players. With all the hockey players not doing much, maybe they could give lessons on the short jab, an inside counter, right cross, etc. Those looping round houses the NBA guys throw are just not going to do much damage.

46

I’m going to go ahead and guess that the people who think what Artest did is incomprehensible have never been athletes playing before large crowds. You think that cup that hit him in the eye was the beginning of the story? Every game he plays in, he has the fans screaming the worst shit imaginable in his face. Getting hit with some kind of projectiles when he leaves the court is nothing new to him, I promise you that. I’ve seen it happen live and in person. Every single game, fans do things en masse that in an individual setting would get you slapped with a lawsuit or worse. Hell, at a Sixers game a few years ago, I saw a middle aged man, holding his two young daughters by the hand, leaning over the railing at the tunnel, calling Baron Davis a dumb n-----. These people get into a setting where they think they’re safe to do whatever stupid shit comes into their mind, and they lose all semblance of fucking control. And this is the environment Artest works in every other night.

Ever been in a physical altercation? How reasonable were you during and immediately after? You’re telling me that after biting back his anger at Ben Wallace for the two hand shove to the face, and biting back his anger at the rest of the Pistons for the mob scene that followed, including the towel to the face, Artest is supposed to evaluate the beer cup in the eye rationally? Jesus, the man’s crazy as hell, and he composed himself better than most of the people I know would have in the same situation. Obviously, going into the stands is dangerous, and obviously, Artest is going to pay dearly for his mistake, but if you think it would be easy to just walk off the court in that situation, you must have had a very safe life.

47

So, what you’re saying is that every example of alleged police brutality is justified? After all, they’re only human, and when someone does something violent to them they certainly can’t be expected to restrain themselves, can they? I mean, all they’re doing is defending themselves, or perhaps asserting their manhood, as it were. And there’s nothing wrong with using force well above and beyond what is required given the circumstances, is there?

It doesn’t wash. It’s bullshit. Artest is a goon, plain and simple, and there was no justification for what he did. None.

48

NBA players aren’t sworn to uphold the peace and given weapons with which to do so, nitwit.

49

Has the league announced anything yet?

50

Oh, wait. I’m not justifying anything. It wasn’t right. I’m not even saying it was excusable, although I’m not sure how I feel about that. All I’m saying is, I completely understand.

51

The hell they’re not. Do you think that fan with the glasses that Artest attacked paid good money to be attacked by a player? Do you think that players should be allowed to settle accounts with everyone who does them wrong under any circumstances?

And as far as lethal weapons go, the players are so well conditioned above and beyond the general populace that if they attack someone they ARE a lethal weapon. Remember that boxer who was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon simply for getting into a fistfight outside a bar?

Your arguments are bullshit. History has shot them down time and time again.

52

Gee, for someone saying that something isn’t excusable, you’re sure making a lot of excuses.

53

Gee, fuck you.

54

Artest was on thin ice with the Pacers for a series of extreme misbehaviors. He’s been going down the anger management path, and lots of Pacer fans didn’t believe the therapy was going to “take.” I’ve seen the endless replays of the foul, the fight, and the excursion into the stands, in real time and slo-mo.

Players are paid to restrain themselves, and fans have agreed not to throw objects on the court (check the back of your ticket.) Both obligations were broken.

Artest’s foul on Wallace was a hard foul, but nothing that would have drawn a “flagrant foul” call. Wallace responded with an open handed blow to Artest’s throat, with both hands. In most games, with most players, that would have ended in a screaming match or a scuffle. Artest, though, backed away, not offering to throw a punch. When a big fight happened among other players, Artest stayed out of it. He lay down on the scoring table in a classic posture of passivity. After several seconds, the debris began to rain down from the stands. Somebody, several rows up, threw a full container of beverage (not just a spray of beer) hard enough to hit Artest on the scoring table. He lost all his serenity, and pursued his attacker. One of his teammates followed him, trying to restrain him, but he was having none of that. Fisticuffs ensued, fans vs. enraged player. The TV cameras were torn between Artest and other violence happening on the court, so viewers didn’t see all of the fight in the stands.

If the beverage throw had happened during regular play, the fan would have been cuffed and hauled off to jail. Security, though, was busy with the dozens of fans on the court. As of this morning, the NBA was still deciding what to do, and the police had not announced any arrests.

Fines to multi-million dollar players should be massive, in line with their salaries. Otherwise, a $25,000 fine to Artest or Wallace, for example, is pocket change. As I said, Artest was already on this ice, and he might lose his job over this. In my opinion, he should have been fired before this game. Face it, though, this rumble would have been Hall Of Shame material even without Artest’s fan attack.

55

Artest was suspended at least five times in the 2003 season and fined on multiple occasions for acting like an asswipe. It’s obvious he doesn’t care about being fined or suspended. I hope that Artest and Jackson are both banned from the NBA for the rest of their lives.
I know it won’t happen, though. The NBA is a fucking joke.

56

I guess Detroit owes Jimmy Kimmel an apology.

57

Just read on AP that the NBA has suspended Artest, Jermaine O’Neal, and Stephen Jackson of Indiana and Ben Wallace of Detroit indefinitely pending the completion of their investigation into the brawl.

58

I was thinking that for, say, $3 million a year, I would be really happy to let a number of people spit on me, yell at me, and throw beer on me.

In fact, I’d be so happy about it that I would want a multi-year contract. I wouldn’t even have to play basketball.

59

There is a huge difference between “excusing” something and “understanding”.

I can understand how tempting it would be to pet an exotic wild animal. I mean, wow, that would be incredible! But that doesn’t excuse a stupid asshat for opening the cage door so the lion gets out.

Jimmy is a saying he can totally comprehend how the players’ environment could provoke them into a blind rage. If someone called me a “cunting-nigger” everyday at work, I’d probably blow a gasket too. It’s understandable, BUT it is still completley unacceptable for a player to attack anyone.

It is understandable for someone to be in a blind rage given unrelentingly abusive circumstances, but violence in those particular circumstances (the game) is neither acceptable nor excusable given the many other alternatives to violence he had.

It’s okay to be angry with someone. Busting heads in anger, not so much.

I can understand how the guy snapped (it’s always the little thing that finally breaks the camels back), but I do not condone or excuse his actions.

He could’ve expressed his rage by going to the dressing room and pitching the NBA’s greatest ever hissy-fit – trash the dressing room, scream at the sky and tear his hair out, if he wanted to. Going into the stands to “smash like Hulk” was just wrong.

60

Don’t worry dave. If that’s as bad as you get, you’ve got nothing to worry about. It did scare a few Hopkins natives a little bit, though. :smiley:

I think there’s hardly anyone blameless in this whole thing. I tend to agree with those who think that Artest should have stayed on the court and let security deal with the beer-throwing fan, but that his intial reaction was also quite understandable, given the circumstances. Even my wife, who doesn’t really like sports and who hates violence, says that she understands his impulse to jump into the stands and whack the guy who threw the cup at him. Still, these guys get paid the big bucks, and he should have left it to the security and police people who were at the arena.

And whether or not the players’ involvement was justified, some of those Detroit fans are just fucking pigs. The players deserve a suspension (some have suggested they even be banned for life), but those fans who were throwing cups and chairs and all the other crap should never set foot inside a stadium again. The players should have left things to security, but the fans should have as well, especially once the actual hand-to-hand stuff was over and they just kept throwing shit.

I think the most depressing thing about the footage was seeing young kids sitting there crying or with stunned looks on their faces. Great example to set, you fucksticks.