Today David Stern suspended Ron Artest for the rest of the year; essentially screwing the Pacers from any post season run.
I personally do not agree with the suspension. While Artest should be suspended for running into the stands, I do believe that Artest was provoked by the fan who threw the drink at him.
Here’s where I draw a parallel to it. If someone in my office came up to me after a discussion and threw a drink in my face; that is considered assault. Now you can sit there and say he wasn’t in any danger from it, but in the end, it is assault. The asshat fan who was jumping up and down going “I hit him, I hit him…..oh sh*t” fucking deserved to get his ass whipped; along with the guy who came running up to Artest on the court in what can only be considered a threatning manner.
Unfortunately for the commissioner, I think he will lose in arbitration. The two precedents that I can see (a previous fight with fans and Rodman’s kick of a cameraman) were only 10-12 game suspensions.
But in the end, it completely sucks what happened. I honestly lay a good chunk of the blame on Wallace for that stupid hit on Artest which started the whole thing. I do think that NBA fans are going to start seeing some sort of seperation from players, whether that’s a screen around the bench or the removal of the first row of seats around the arena. Mr. Nicholson can kiss his courtside seats goodbye.
How Do You Spell That? 
I don’t agree at all. He was out of control, if I acted like that in the work place I’d be fired immediately, he shouldn’t be treated any differently just because he’s a good player. In his rage he even managed to beat up the wrong fan in the stands.
I haven’t seen the news reports that it was the wrong fan he beat up. From watching the video, I thought he did hit the guy who threw the drink at him.
And yes Lynne, you might be fired/reprimanded if you retaliated, but your coworker who did dump the drink would be fired on the spot. If the NBA is going to suspend Artest for the year; the asshat who threw the drink should have his season tickets pulled as well.
Yesterday NY Post pg 41
Don’t get me wrong, I think charges should be filed against the idiot who threw the drink and those who poured beer over the players as they left the arena.
No one should be exempt just because it was a sports event. All should be held accountable.
I don’t read the Post, but I’ll look that up shortly.
What I’m waiting for are the lawsuits against the Auburn Hills Police for use of pepper spray against the crowd. There is one thing repeating on ESPN where it shows the cop pepper spraying two guys hanging over the fence. I know that anyone with a license to practice law in Michigan was most likely shopping for a new vehicle this weekend with dreams of the settlement monies they are going to earn from this incident.
Here it is in picture, I rescued the paper from the garbage, couldn’t find it online.
BIG photo 18.885KB http://cariadsrealm.com/images/paper.jpg
Thanks for saving that, it was a huge file.
I Tivo’d the SportsCenter Saturday morning and it showed the unedited footage of the entire melee. The guy in the glasses was jumping up and down looking like he was happy about something. The one thing that came to my mind when I first saw it was “I hit him, I hit him..” followed with “oh shit…”.
From what I’ve seen so far, the NBA is putting zero blame on the idiot who started this; namely the fan who threw the bottle at Artest. My guess is they will consider this a “law enforcement issue” instead of doing the right thing and pulling this guys season tickets. They can scream all they want about being fair, but the NBA in acting like this is pissing off their players and a large group of viewers outside of the Detroit area.
Oops…now that posted that…you’re right. He did hit the wrong guy. It was the asshat who was hitting him from behind that threw the cup.
Oh, give me a break.
Artest should be fired. Period.
I listened to some REAL asshat on CNN last night talk about how the whole issue is race related, which I think is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. His claim was that the BLACK players feel threatened by the WHITE fans taunting them.
It’s sad that no one can see this for what it is: an overpaid asshole who has no control of himself attacking fans. Period.
Can anyone actually tell me that you would feel THREATENED by a CUP of water (not a bottle) hitting you? If that is true than every coach that has had the gatorade dump after a game should come up swinging.
You might be pissed that someone tossed a cup of water at you, but I sincerely doubt you will feel ‘threatened’ and be thinking you are in danger of bodily harm.
How much does Artest make each year? $4 million plus, yeah? If he is making that kind of cash he should be smart enough to stear clear of anything stupid like this.
Unfortunately, these days the public is all about paying thie highest price to the biggest moron.
Sorry, don’t agree Jason. Artest might be/is the biggest ass in the NBA, but that doesn’t change the fact that someone threw a drink at him which with 98% of the men on the planet, would consider that an assault and act appropriately. Throwing anything in someone’s face isn’t a playful gesture, unless you know intent. Intent on the sidelines during a gatorade dump is well known. Unless of course, you don’t mind people throwing shit at you. 🙂
Now, if what I’m hearing about Artest in the stands yelling “was it you?” to the guy in the glasses, then I completely agree with Stern’s ruling. From what I saw, I thought that Artest saw the guy throw it and responded appropriately to the issue. If Artest did not see who threw the bottle, then this is a completely different issue.
Who do I blame in the end?
#1. Asshat fan who threw the bottle.
#2. Artest for running into the stands.
#3. Wallace for his stupid overreaction to the foul.
#4 Et al…
One thing I was glad to hear is that the guy who started this had his season tickets pulled and he has now been banned from the Palace for life. I also heard he was on probation as well, so his possession of beer and throwing it will most likely get him sent back to jail. Maybe he and Artest can share a cell. 🙂