NBA suspends Pacers’ Artest for rest of season
Pacers lose O’Neal for 25 games, Jackson for 30
Melee another black eye for Detroit
NBA players familiar with taunting but not to level of Detroit fans Unruly fans must pay a price
The NBA has an opportunity to make a bold statement here. If teams insist on selling alcohol at venues, keeping a potent revenue stream flowing as easily as the beer, then the league should hold the teams accountable when fan conduct goes over the edge as was the case Friday…. But there has to be more to fan accountability than merely charging those isolated idiots with inciting a riot, slapping them on the wrist — a small punitive price to pay for the self-gratification they disgustingly gain for putting a pampered prima donna “in his proper place.”
There is plenty of angst yet to be displayed over the travesty that was Friday night’s nationally-televised PowWow at the Palace. While there has been, and will continue to be, much gum-flapping and many column inches spent in the pursuit of condemning whomever one feels is most responsible for the Throw-Down in TigerTown, there are those of us who thinks there is plenty of blame and responsibility to go around.
Yes, the NBA in particular, and professional sports in general, is filled with spoiled brats who woke up on third base thinking they’d hit a triple. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that while pampered prima donna head cases may dominate the news (Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest, anyone?), there are many decent, well-adjusted, and grounded human beings who are well-aware of just how blessed they are. We should not condemn the many for the arrogance and ridiculous excesses of a few.
We should also be taking a look at the fans who instigate incidents such as these. Players do not work in a vacuum, and while players would not be working in their chosen field without the fans who pay their freight, there are too many fans who think that purchasing a ticket gives them license to behave as they would never dream of in another venue.
As one who works the sidelines during NBA games, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy can see both sides of the debate, and he sees Friday’s free-for-all as symptomatic of a deeper social problem:
Van Gundy described taunts from fans as symptoms of the problem that might help explain how an incident can escalate from a confrontation on the court to violence in the stands.
“Certainly fans in that situation bear a large burden of responsibility,” Van Gundy said. “We have gotten into a mentality that anything goes. As a fan, you can say anything. I think civility needs to make a comeback as far as fan behavior. Be more positive for your team vs. negative toward opposing teams and/or players.
“Paying money to go to a game does not entitle you to do uncivilized things that would not be tolerated on the street. You can’t walk up to somebody on the street and pour something over a guy, say anything you want to a guy, and have no ramifications.
“I’m not trying to say Artest’s response was correct. I’m saying, `Do not put all the burden on Artest.’ He’s an easy target for all the things he’s been through.”
Yes, Ron Artest is an unreconstructed, spoiled, clueless idiot with a chip on his shoulder. Ben Wallace is a thug who cannot take the same punishment his dishes out. Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O’Neal…well, frankly the should be expected to have the maturity and the wherewithal to avoid biting the hands that feed them. Still, how many of us faced with the same situation wouldn’t have reacted the same way? How many of us wouldn’t have raced to the defense of a friend or teammate in the heat of the moment. Even I, who haven’t been in a fight since fifth grade (I got beaten up twice; I promptly retired from the fight game….), cannot honestly say that I would not have done the same thing. That hardly makes what O’Neal and Jackson did right, but it does mean that we should maintain at least a little bit of perspective before roundly condemning them.
I fear that we as a society may be heading in the direction of soccer hooligans across the pond. One thing that has always separated us from Europeans has been our historical ability to recognize the dividing line between sport and life. Sport is a diversion; our team may win or lose today, but the sun will come up tomorrow and life goes on regardless.
I once went to an English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Fulham Broadway. I’ve lived and worked in three different war zones, but I cannot recall being as fearful for my safety as I was on that Sunday afternoon. As I stood on the Chelsea side of the terraces, looking over the chain-link, razor-wire-tipped fence at the United supporters on the other side, it didn’t take much of an imagination to visualize the riot that would have taken place absent the fence. United won the match 3-1, but about all I remember is wondering how I was going to make it back to the Tube station in one piece. All afternoon, I kept thinking, “It’s a game….” And yet I legitimately feared for my physical safety.
Is this where we are headed?
Of course, if we were to look on the bright side, you don’t hear any more chest-thumping about this anymore….
That can only be a good thing, I suppose….
And another “good” thing: the Indiana Pacers are going to save a total of $11.8 million on the combined salaries of Ron Artest, Jermaine O’Neal, and Stephen Jackson due to their suspensions. Let’s hope they don’t spend it in one place, but here’s a suggestion for what the team might do with some of the money: invest in anger management classes. If the Pacers want to make the playoffs this year, it might just be a sound investment.
