[Mr. Mojo]

You're evading the point, of course. I'll try again: If you were in Artest's shoes would you physically go after the fan you suspected threw beer at you - he ended up going after the wrong guy, btw - or get the hell out of there as fast as possible before you got yourself into a heap of trouble?

[FITZ]

It might depend on what kind of mood I was in. If I was 290 pounds of pure muscle and maybe interested in maintaining my image as a bad guy -- a thug --- I might decide to go after the little joker -- but maybe also wouldn't hurt him too much.

If Artest seriously injured or killed the guy it would be different (and he easily could have)--- apparently from the news stories, no one was injured too badly and only a handful needed any treatment.

[jennyjenny]

If you can find a career where what is expected from you is to stand there and let people throw beer, trash, fists, etc. at you, and you will get paid 6-7 figures, go for it. I don't think you'll have much luck. That's not what these players are getting paid to do. I really think the drunk "fan" should have given it more thought, because if I decided to throw a beer on someone, unprovoked, I'd quite expect them to come after me, regardless of how much money they make.