Ron Artest fouled Ben Wallace, Ben Wallace overreacted, and it all ended with an all-out riot! Did anybody see this?
Gah! I guess I got a little excited. I forgot to put almost half of the post! Anyway, after Wallace came after Artest in retaliation for the foul, Artest went and laid down by the Pacers bench, to which a fan threw a cup and a bottle of beer at Artest. Artest took offense to this, and rushed into the crowd, followed by Stephan Jackson, and it just all got ugly after that. The officials called the game before the time ran out, giving the Pacers the victory.
Personally, while Artest shouldn’t have went into the crowd, I really don’t blame him. If bottles were being thrown at me (especially when I was already worked up from a previous encounter), I would go after the guy, too. I blame the Detroit fans. And you wonder how they have this reputation?
So where did Artest get the energy to jump in the stands to fight fans–I thought he was exhausted from working on his rap album.
Dunno 'bout you, but if I was in a heated encounter and someone threw stuff at me from behind, I’d very likely be up and at 'em real fast.
It will be interesting to see how the various league/team offices handle this debacle. I’m under the impression that, at least in football, there’s some sort of decency/behavior clause wrt fans in attendance, and ISTR that one can be banned from future team events for … well … shit less heinous than this. I would be thoroughly unsurprised to see anyone caught on tape (and there were definitely people caught on tape) who has season tickets have those kissed goodbye. I would also not be terribly surprised to see charges pressed if for no other reason than to emphasize the utter embarrassment of this all.
I’d quote Jack Buck, but that sort of thing should be reserved for good Moments in Sports.
It was just dumb luck that I saw it. I was channel surfing and saw almost the whole thing. I didn’t know the names of any of the players, so I dubbed them Afro-Man and Punchy.
Saw the whole thing replayed on SportsCenter just now.
Man, that was fucking disturbing. I heard a snippet about it on the radio and assumed the whole thing was Artest’s fault, but after watching it… wow, those Detroit fans are rabid.
I’ve actually gotta hand it to Artest for cooling off after the dust-up with Big Ben.
That was the ugliest thing I’ve seen in pro sports in a loooong time… maybe ever. Hopefully, a whole lot of fans will be arrested, and perhaps even some players. Heavy fines and suspensions at the least.
I realize that getting hit with a beverage at the most heated point in the game is infuriating, but that gives no one any excuse to charge into the stands for retribution. Which is what it was - retaliation, not self defense.
And to the fan who hit Artest with a cup while he laid on the table - you are the biggest idiot in the building.
To the fan who got on the court to square off with players - you are the second biggest idiot in the building.
LOL!
Wow, that was bad. Don’t those guys know that type of behavior is only acceptable at hockey games? I guess it’s time to raise the violence alert level at sporting events to orange for a couple months.
But seriously, that was a scary scene. Luckily no one was badly injured, an angry mob can be a lethal weapon.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few serious injuries. There was the fan who went on the court to square off with Artest, and after a brief scuffle, another Pacer (didn’t catch who) charged in from the fan’s left, and landed a very solid right punch square to his face. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if that fan ended up with a broken jaw, or face or whatever else happens when you get blindsided by a truck.
Jermaine O’Neal (the best player on the team) got a SOLID punch on a fan on the field. It was UGLY.
I couldn’t see Artest playing in the next month or two. Of course, he wanted some time off…
Stephen Jackson is probably second in culpability.
Others getting Stu Jackson’s attention:
- Fred Jones
- Jermaine O’Neal
- Ben Wallace (because he threw that towel, he will get at least a fine.)
One thing that made me laugh. I don’t think the fan that Artest initially attacked was the bottle thrower. When he saw Artest come into the stands he was laughing and smiling. Then he realized Artest was locked in on him, his eyes bugged out.
Professional sportsmen have it drummed into them from their earliest days that getting involved with spectators is out. Actually climbing over rows of seats to assault them is another, much more serious, matter. I hope for the sake of all the children who watch the NBA and love basketball that the offenders will receive lengthy bans. If the person who threw the plastic container can be identified, then he should be banned from games too.
ESPN showed footage last night of some of the more memorably North American sporting incidents it had on tape. The only thing that came close was a hockey fight in '79 involving the Bruins and … Rangers? This incident was bad to me not because of how brutal it was (other than the chair and a few other - heated, but by far not the majority of the debacle - things) but just because it went on so long and there was so much ugliness to it. It was just ugly.
Marc Stein has an interesting column out today.
Yup, that was, former ESPN analyst Mike Milbury. They should bring him back for this story…
“So Mike, back when you beat the crap out of some fan in the stands, what was going through your mind…?”
Like ESPN game announcer and basketball great Bill Walton said, this is the lowest point he has experienced in his 30 years in pro basketball.
I missed it. 
The one night I don’t watch the NBA, too.
In all the ugliness that happened, I found one thing to be pleased about:
Detroit Piston and former Kentucky Wildcat Tayshaun Prince never left the bench, making him the only player not to.
Just goes to show you how not EVERYONE in the NBA is a thug. Then again, not everyone in the NBA had Tubby Smith as a college coach.
YAY for Detroit!
When we make the news it is nearly mostly always NEGATIVE!
FTR, the Pistons haven’t been known as The Bad Boys in, what? 10 years?
Our fans, like any fans out there, can be idiots.
This is what happens when Hockey Is On Lock Out. Detroit Sports Fans, mostly male, suffer from Dreaded Testosterone Build Up that they usually get from a Baseball-Hockey-Football-Basketball continous season.
It wasn’t him. The Detroit media just ran a big piece on the 11:00 news; they replayed the initial beer-toss, and highlighted the guy doing it. They grabbed a clear still shot of Beer Ass’s face and did a “Do you know this man?” thing on him, with a number to call, so he’s one of the people the police haven’t rounded up and charged yet.
They had an interview with a friend of the guy who Artest zeroed in on. He got roughed up a bit but apparently is OK. The guy being interviewed got punched around too, by Jackson.
Neither of them knew who Beer Ass was. He’d come down from higher up in the stands.
In other news, Wallace is suspended for 5 games, Artest 30, the other two 20 each.
So which guy initially threw the drink at Artest as he lay on the scorers table? Was it the guy with a white hat and a Wallace jersey, who later grabbed Artest from behind? Someone else?
Not really sure. The last I heard the Detroit police have a picture of the guy from the video and they are showing it on local TV stations, trying to find the guy so they can arrest him.