Pacers - Pistons ....WOW

[starbury03]

yeah that guy was pretty boring, I would think he would be somewhat more excited that that after a massive fight, but then again, it's the cheif of police for part of a major city, who has probably had to go to a few murder scenes in his time.

[nuttynelly]

starbury03 - Would you say he is a Stiff! Sorry, could not resist

[aug06]

Originally posted by Deadshot
"I still don't see why you would run up to the fan and knock him in the head."

1) They came onto the court
2) They were going after players
3) They were probably drunk

I agree with #1 on that list..that wanna be thug in the Pistons jersey had no reason to walk out onto the court...I would of popped him to.....lol it was great...he thought he was all tough and got his ™™™™™ kicked....oh man halarious

[soxfan445]

I just saw this on ESPNews.

I don't even follow basketball, but this incident makes me embarrassed to be a sports fan.

This reminds me of a Steve Rushin article that was in SI after Francisco threw the chair.

Here's the deal:
Buying the ticket does not allow you to do whatever you want. Unfortunatly, people get drunk and start doing stupid things.

When I traveled to LA, I went to a Dodgers/Phils game. I sat next to a guy who continued to get drunker and drunker as the game went on. I was clocked in the head as he was trying to hit a beachball. Finally, he got out of his seat and had a yelling confrontation with a Dodger fan. He didn't come back.

The people who were with that guy kept telling him "It's not worth it, John. It's not worth it," and they were right. All these people were probably regular people everyday (like Bartman), but put in the context of heavy drinking and a losing team, they became the embarassment of the sporting world.

What ever happened to just enjoying a sports game?

This is embarassing, and the fans who started this should be banished from all sporting arenas for life. There is no excuse for this, especially the throwing of the chair.

BTW, Artest hit the wrong guy. According to ESPN, it was the gentleman in the hat, not the guy in the black shirt who threw the beer. The gentleman in the black shirt had a cup in his hand.

Regards,
Mike

[Deadshot]

It is now being reported that Artest, Jackson, O'neal, and Wallace have been suspended indefinately until the investigation is complete (no surprise). After injuries and suspensions, this leaves the Pacers with 7 players to dress tonight:

C - Harrison/Edwards
PF - Croshere
SF - James Jones
SG - Fred Jones
PG - Tinsley/Gill

Don't you have to dress 8 in order to play?

[AstroFan]

Artest punching the fan who ran onto the court




Wallace freaking out after the foul

[LakersMC]

Originally posted by aug06
I agree with #1 on that list..that wanna be thug in the Pistons jersey had no reason to walk out onto the court...I would of popped him to.....lol it was great...he thought he was all tough and got his ™™™™™ kicked....oh man halarious

I could not agree more.
One thing the tapes do not show is all the threats & profanity directed at the players.
Where I come from, people who think they can throw down with pro athletes are called "jock sniffers".

[john1170]

I posted this on the other thread but I guess this is the busier of the 2 so I am just copying it here also.

Just wanted to add my 2 cents on this situation. First of all, there are no excuses to be made by anyone involved, fans included. Everyone was to blame. Artests gesture of keeping the peace by laying on the scorers table was a little too much for me. If you want to keep the peace stay away from everyone. Ben Wallace has to take a big hit for this regardless of his good reputation in the league. This is basketball, you are playing in one of the most heated rivalries in the league and you react like that because you got fouled hard on your shoulder. Give me a break. He reacted like that because it was Ron Artest. I lost a lot of respect for Ben Wallace. Then after it starts to die down he throws a towel. Another idiotic thing to do which in turn incites the crowd and we know what happened after that. Wallace deserves at least 15 games.

As far as Artest goes, he does not deserve to be in this league and have a chance to earn millions of dollars playing a game. He obviously has emotional problems that needs to be addressed before he could ever step on the court again. My suggestion...BAN him from the NBA.

Stephen Jackson. What more can you say that this guy is a bonafided lunatic. Should be suspended for the rest of the year.(Sucks to as he was helping my fantasty team out big time. LOL) He was looking to fight with anyone last night.

Jermaine O'neal. Should get at least 10 games for his part. Not much more to say about him.

Others who could have helped the situation that blew it:

Officials- Automatic ejection for Wallace. NBA rules state once you get ejected you have a certain amount of time to get off the court and into the locker room.
Larry Brown- Stop arguing the foul call in a 15 pt game and get Wallace out of there. By the way, what the hell was Wallace doing in the game with under a minute left in a rout?
Security- was there any? didn't see much of them.


Overall, the NBA continues to take hits. This is the cream of the crop. Overall attendance around the league is dwindling and do you really think this is going to bring a family of 4 with children to the games. I don't think so. It's bad enough that the price of tickets are outrageous but to go to a game and have the chance of getting seriously hurt while you are paying to be there. I don't think so. David Stern better give out the harshest penalties in the history of sports on this one.

just my 2 cents.

[Deadshot]

Looks like the Pacers only have 6 players tonight. They have to dress 8, so the injured Scot Pollard and Jamaal Tinsley will be dressed on the bench.

[jon593]

i think wallace should be suspended for the rest of the year WITHOUT PAY. there was nothing wrong with the foul you see fouls like that in every nba game. he basically incited a riot his actions led to the entire thing artest and everyone else involved should be suspended for 10 games each WITHOUT PAY even if it means the teams have to go out and get some free agents and unsigned players to fill the spots on the teams.