No Ron Artest is a very calm, cool headed individual, who was forced to defend himself. I heard some player say “what if we harassed one of these fans at their jib and then threw something at them as they were about to leave?” I’d allow it if they paid $100 to watch, and I was payed millions for doing something I (should) love.
Here’s a Peter King 3 questions with Dhani Jones on cnnsi website:
MMQBTE: How is fan behavior in the NFL compared to when you came into the league five years ago – the same, better, or worse?
Jones: Worse. I’ve had hamburgers and beer cans thrown at me. I’ve had an ice ball thrown at me. At training camp this year, I was talking to my mom after practice, and one fan reached over to try to get me to sign a mini-helmet, and he hit my mom near the eye with it and opened a cut. He never apologized.
MMQBTE: Did you do anything about it?
Jones: If you do something about it, like challenging the guy or going after him, you’re all over ESPN that night, the league fines you, you’re a hothead and you’re forced to take anger-management training when you don’t have an anger-management problem. So I didn’t do anything to the guy. I can’t.
MMQBTE: But it sounds like you’d understand if a player who was provoked goes after a fan.
Jones: We’re fathers, husbands and brothers. We’re human. We’re taught to be professional, no matter what a fan screams or throws or does. But I want to know where the professional stops and where the human begins? You’re asking someone to be pretty strong to take everything the fans dish out.
How is Ron defending himself when you goes ten rows up to hit somebody? It seems to me he is putting himself more in harms way by going up into an area he does not know. He went after the wrong guy anyways.
The fans were out of control, and so were the players. The whole situation was ugly.
I was just at the Timberwolfs game tonight. 2 rows up from the players. I could see every drop of sweat comming off there faces. I like being that close to them. It makes it more fun. It is the stupid people that are alowed to drink too much at games without security over them is when it gets out of hand.
The security was a lot heavier tonight than it has ever been before. That is the way it should always be. So the players are protected
That fight got me pumped. The very next day I went out and fought some dude in lacrosse. Most people will never understand the pure enjoyment of punching somebody in the face repeatedly. Good times…
As far as the suspensions go, those are the most rediculous suspensions I have ever seen in pro sports. The NBA is an embarrassment. The most amount of time Artest should have been forced to sit out is 15 games. The commissioner has no idea about how intense people can get ESPECIALLY when they’re provoked.
Whether the foul was justified or not, it was definetly over-reaction on the part of the Pistons to even let it get this far, granted however, I do not watch BBall and I did not watch the entire game, simply the incident, so I don’t know if there was previous tension in the game.
ALso, the fans were jerks, to even do stuff they were doing, there were kids getting knocked around and an old lady pinned on the ground underneath a crap load of ppl, some fight and some trying to help this helpless lady…pityfull…
I was being (overtly) sarcastic
Most people don’t see the point. Maybe in hockey, but lacrosse give me a break.
He wasn’t “holding up the game.” That was Ben Wallace crying like a baby over a foul. So maybe the foul wasn’t justified, but is Wallace’s over-reaction to it justified? Artest walked away, while Wallace stomped around like a kid that dropped his ice cream cone. If it was anyone in the league but Artest, Stern would be on his knees sucking them off, telling the world that it was the unruly fan’s faults. This just gave them a reason to get rid of a league bad boy. Artest may be not be the most upstanding member of society, but to blame this entire thing on him is ludicrous.
People blame Artest for being human. Well how bout this…you’re at a bar and someone throws (note: not spills, THROWS) a beer at you. Are you going to laugh it off and walk away or are you gonna go pummel someone? These players put up with more shit than any person on the street would, yet they’re expected to have stuff thrown at them and just go on with life? Personally, I’m glad to see some fans get an ass-whipping. Maybe next time they won’t think “I’m 150lbs. He’s a 250lb athlete…I bet I can throw something at him and he won’t do anything.”
Oh, and for the record, they figured out which fan did it. He has previous arrests for assault and battery (battery being the charge for throwing something on someone as well), DUI’s, and is not supposed to be in possession of alcohol…real upstanding member of society. Last I heard, they had revoked his season tickets.
Fans=Dollars
Unhappy Fans=Less Dollars
Severe Punishment=Happy Fans
Happy Fans=More Dollars
First off his actions started the whole series of events, second he was lying on a table delaying the game (he had no business being there in that position), I am not saying other people are not at fault for their actions. But the reason Artest was under control this time his fear of Big Ben, if it would have been Iverson his fists would have been flying.
The bar question does not relate exactly to this situation, since the whole series of events were started by Artest. If he was just an innocent party then yes I would completly agree.
I do not know if you are aware of it but the person who Artest hit was not the person who throw the beer. Which is one his other poor judgement issues.