Posted on 11/19/2004 7:54:02 PM PST by LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget
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snicker
cute ...... smile.
I wonder --- maybe it was just beer behind the emotions and fighting. I wonder if ahead of time any of the beer throwers actually felt hatred at all --- how many of the fans were just caught up in the moment?
The fans were P.O.'d their team got spanked. Period.
Skywalk, you have made some great points about this sorry mess and the larger context in which it occurred. As a long time hoops fan and long ago high school player, I have to make the following points.
1. The initial foul by Artest was hardly the worst in NBA history.
2. The push/hit by Wallace was not self defense, but retaliation, and deserved stiff punishment even if nothing else had happened.
3. The best way for Artest to have handled the confrontation with Wallace was to back away, verbally make it clear he didn't want a fight, and go back to his bench, not showboat by laying on the scorer's table. That did not mean he should have been hit with a beer bottle, or deserved it in any way, just that is was not the smartest thing to do.
4. Artest was NOT defending himself by going into the stands, he was retaliating, as others have pointed out.
5. The Piston fans who escalated the fracas by throwing stuff should be identified and charge for assault as appropriate by law.
6. The other Pacers, O'Neil and Jackson, were not defending anybody but launching their own little hoops jihad on the Piston fans.
7. The idea that if a fan comes on the court he is fair game to be attacked, as the ESPN guys claim, is laughable. Artest punched the chubby guy because fatboy was jaw jacking, not because Artest was physically attacked.
8. The ESPN take last night was unreal. As a business ESPN is shooting itself in the foot by not holding the players more accountable for their actions
Yes --- security should have been spread out and escorting the drunken fans out --- the beer thrower should have been taken out quickly by security instead they let Artest deal with it. The security doesn't seem to have earned their paychecks.
Yes --- that was unfortunate --- but still --- he didn't end up killed or seriously injured apparently. He had the misfortunate of sitting near an idiot who succeeded in provoking a problem.
Exactly. It's amazing how 3 large beers seems to give people a bunch of courage.
I agree with everything you said except for this point. I though Stephen Jackson and O'Neal went up to extract Artest from the melee, and were assaulted. O'Neal was clearly punched several times by some big black guy wearing press credentials. While Artest was being sucker punched by the guy in the blue shirt who actually threw the cup, another fan throws a big up of ice directly in Artest's face. Stephen Jackson decks this guy.
Would you assume that a 290 pound non-gangsta white guy would never respond to any insults and would meekly stand there doing nothing if some runt threw a beer at him?
Ya'll have beer at work? Are you hiring?
It wouldn't surprise me to see the beer launcher in the white cap, the guy in press credentials who hit Jones, O'Neil, Artest(for going after the wrong guy first of all), and Jackson to get charged with something.
Do you not agree at least that the second punch on fatboy, by was it Jackson, where he sort of slid in and decked the guy a little over the top?
A little? That was definately over the top. I thought the chair toss that hit the old guy was outragous too.
The fans do not have the right to throw things at the players just because they bought a ticket. Things were under control, or at least getting there, until the fans decided they somehow needed to get involved in this by throwing stuff at the players. I don't care if it happens all the time or not, it's not right. Maybe there shouldn't be alcohol served at these things, or at least not after the third quarter.
"Everything was under control until the stupid fan threw the first beer --- and what was his motivations for doing that?"
Does not matter what his motivation was. If Artest knew who he was, he should have pointed him out to security. The players do not want the job of policing fans. Artest has absolutely 0 businsss in the crowd.
BTW, Artest is a whacko. Certifiable. All NBA fans know this.
I still think those 2 guys that came onto the floor is one of the funniest moments ever in sports. I am going to go whip those 7 foot NBA guys. Yeah the bigger they are the harder they fall. Gets a nomination for a darwin award.
yep, it was a good throw for a plastic cup full of beer. Artest is a hot head who will get a lot of time to consider some impulse control. Fan in cap is a moron. He also took a couple shots at Artest. Mike Ryan deserves every dime he gets. I could see him saying "No,No..."
Watched it live as I was waiting for the Kings/Grizzlies game. Unbelieveable
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