Ignorant statement.
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You had one thing right there. I'll explain in a moment.
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*shrug* That's sort of a non-issue.
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Alright - let me break down what really happened. You would actually have had to watch the game to understand this, of course. About two game minutes before the foul in question, Ben Wallace had a similar defensive play on Artest at the other end of the court that was called a clean block - a call I didn't disagree with. Artest didn't get back on defense, and when the Pistons turned the ball over on the next possession, Artest was the easy outlet man and glided in for a dunk, after which he and Ben Wallace traded glares. The Pistons, at home, for the next couple minutes, watched the game slip away after they'd gotten to within five points.
Now, the Pistons are on offense with less than a minute remaining. Wallace goes to the rack to throw it down, and Artest fouls him from behind. These little on-court single serving rivalries are entirely commonplace - you see players gunning for each other like that all the time. The foul itself, which was not a very hard foul, was - you could say - relatively unnecessary. Wallace takes offense, as he has every right to do, and shoves Artest in the chest/neck area. Artest falls back, the benches empty, and after about 15-20 seconds of some spirited shouting and shoving, the coast is effectively clear.
Here is where the problem starts. Ron Artest, knowing perfectly well what his reputation is, knowing perfectly well how much people hate him, knowing just as well how big the rivalry between Indiana and Detroit is, does not shove back. He does not throw any punches. He submits to his teammates and coaches and finds a spot on the scorers table to get out of the fray and cool off.
Some pin-dick white bread cocksucker, who very likely was plastered on a night's worth of six dollar Budweisers, sees Artest lying on the scorer's table and decides that the best thing he could probably do to make up for the fact that his team just got trampled would be to throw a cup of beer and (what I understand to be) a plastic bottle onto the prone Artest. The one thing you got right, guy, was that the fuckstick fan should never even have let the notion of throwing anything anywhere near the court - let alone directly at a player from close range - enter his faggoty little head. Unfortunately, people (especially fans) are really no more intelligent, rational or civilized than a bunch of shit crazy baboons. One white monkey throws a cup at Artest, and the gauntlet is down. Like almost any other player in the league would have done having seen the guy who did it, Artest crawls over a few rows of seats and teaches the little prick a lesson. All the other monkeys see the first monkey throw his feces, and ooh ooh ah AH AH AH! Hey, I've got poo too! Let's get our ugly fucking faces on television!
Here's where you'll probably get upset. Not only do I blame this catastrophe (that, unfortunately, will probably never be forgotten) entirely on the fans, I am 100% in Ron Artest's court. In point of fact, I love Ron Artest. Apart from the fact that he's an extraordinary talent, I applaud him for his ability to be his own person. You say he's crazy? A couple olives short of a martini? Fucking right. It's an acquired taste, I suppose, but the Ron Artests, Milton Bradleys, Dennis Rodmans and Ricky Williamses of the world - for me - are a huge part of what make sports so great. You want to know why people hate Ron Artest? Because they can't handle the concept of someone just not giving a fuck.
Here's how I - if I were David Stern - would handle this situation. (1) Suspend Ron Artest, Ben Wallace and Stephen Jackson one game apiece, and fine them each $5,000-10,000. (2) Enact a new policy concerning the treatment of fans who engage in the sort of activity in question. (3) Ensure that each and every fan who was involved in inciting the melee is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for disorderly conduct, assault, and whatever else that can be thrown at them. Obviously this isn't the same sort of situation as the attack on Tom Gamboa at Comiskey. It also isn't anything like the chair throwing incident at the Texas/Oakland game, which itself was mostly the fans' doing. This was a direct assault on a player, and that is completely unacceptable.
Expel Artest from the league? Please. You may not like him - that's fine. I'm sure you, uh, have your reasons. Just try not to do him and the league the disservice of crucifying him publicly over something he has little to no responsibility for.
), and that was for punching a player, so I see Artest as getting at least in that ball park if he punched a fan who didn't throw the cup at him, which obviously he did. A suspension until the All Star Break is not out of the question. The other guys will get 10 or less, but porbably closer to 10. I also expect a record fine for Artest, which of course will all be appealed, and we will get to listen as with a straight face Artest and his lawyers say the suspension and fine are way over the top because he is "misunderstood".
