Pacers - Pistons ....WOW

[tutall]

Originally posted by john1170
You are probably right that Stern is concerned with advertising dollars but I do not think he was out of line with the suspensions. He is also concerned about the imagine the league portrays and in this day and age their image is at an all time low.

how can you possibly say stearn was out of line... your saying players leave the bench to fight its one game, can be caught with illegal drugs and get 3 games, fight with each other and get 10 MAX, and get 6 for putting your hands around the throat of a plyers and pushing him yet as soon as you hit a DRUNK that threw a beer at you it automatically jumps to 73? how do you justify that?

[john1170]

The man entered the stands going full out and attacking a fan(who didn't even throw the beer). Do you realize that he could have killed someone. All he needed to do was run over an elderly person sitting near there, knocking them down and causing injury or death. He was able to refrain from the initial Wallace push but couldn't refrain from a beer thrown on him?

I also believe his past history helped in the severity of the suspension. I am also all for any fan caught on tape doing anything should do jail time.

You do not enter the crowd, there is no excuse.

These are my opinions as what you say are yours.

[tutall]

Originally posted by john1170
The man entered the stands going full out and attacking a fan(who didn't even throw the beer). Do you realize that he could have killed someone. All he needed to do was run over an elderly person sitting near there, knocking them down and causing injury or death. He was able to refrain from the initial Wallace push but couldn't refrain from a beer thrown on him?

I also believe his past history helped in the severity of the suspension. I am also all for any fan caught on tape doing anything should do jail time.

You do not enter the crowd, there is no excuse.

These are my opinions as what you say are yours.

so, are you saying that no one else would have done the same thing? i have been in a similiar situation as this and reacted very closely.. the difference was i was in a high school game and got hit with a peice of wood off the bleacers and artest was hit with beer... given the chance to do it over i would have handled it differently but i didnt... whats in the past is just that however you cant control yourself in this situation..

do i realize artest could have killed someone? yes.. but do you realize what bens shove COULD have done? or the chair that flew in?

what could have been done and what was done are two different things.. you arent suggesting you should be punished for what COULD HAVE happened are you?

[cardbuyer66]

I am not sure if I feel the suspension was fair.

does anyone know if Artest can play if the team makes the playoffs? If he can still play in the playoffs, the suspension was rough but not horrible. He wanted the tme off anyways, so I guess it is not the worst situation for him.

As far as him going in the crowd, yes it was wrong. But in the same situation....Pushed hard in the face without starting anything yourself, then having something thrown at you, then having an object thrown out of the stands at you and hit you in the face. Anyone who has just been shoved as was in technically a fight in sports would have been on the edge.

After the guy in the blue shirt got some punched on the back of the head to Artest, I do not blame Artest at all for hitting the fan on the court. He went into the stands (fans area-his fault.) Artest hit the guy who ran onto the court (players area, the fan was as guilty for coming on the court as Artest for going into the crowd)

A fan threw an object onto the court which hit Artest, provoking him to go into the stands after being assaulted by a thrown object. Nothing happened personally to the reject Pistons fan who came on the court to fight with the player. I am glad both fans on the court get punched and punched hard.

The thing that flat out pisses me off is that fans will most likely try to sue the NBA, but the NBA will not try to get the fans in any trouble. The 2 fans running onto the court should be charged, as well as the fan punching Jones from behind, and the fan punching Artest from behind. The players will pay for the fight, but the fans who provoked the fight will get away clean .

I guess if you want to hurt your rival team, just start a fight with the other teams player(s). Maybe I should go to the SU game and pick a fight with the Uconn players and have them hit me, then SU can benefit :-) It just pisses me off that the fans fighting hurts the rival team so badly and the fans get off without any punishment, that is bullcrap

[Deadshot]

In response to your question - Artest is suspended for all playoff games (if Indy has any) as well.

***

Some odd pieces of information about the fans you wrote of:

*The one in the blue that was punching Artest from behind has been proven to be the one who threw the cup at him - thus making the fan Ron attacked to be the wrong one.

*I read in an article online that the person who was punching Jones from behind was actually one of Ben Wallace's brothers (I don't have proof of this, just reporting what I read).

[LakersMC]

Yes, I read in the LA Times the big brutha punching Jones was Ben Wallace's brother.
The kid crying & being hugged by another kid is the son of Darvin Ham.
Rick Mahorn (ex-bad boy) is wearing a brown suit in the videos trying to break things up.

[john1170]

Originally posted by tutall
so, are you saying that no one else would have done the same thing? i have been in a similiar situation as this and reacted very closely.. the difference was i was in a high school game and got hit with a peice of wood off the bleacers and artest was hit with beer... given the chance to do it over i would have handled it differently but i didnt... whats in the past is just that however you cant control yourself in this situation..

do i realize artest could have killed someone? yes.. but do you realize what bens shove COULD have done? or the chair that flew in?

what could have been done and what was done are two different things.. you arent suggesting you should be punished for what COULD HAVE happened are you?

I am not saying no one else would have done the same thing. The fact of the matter is that Ron Artest did it. The same guy who has been suspended countless times before. The same man who smashed TV monitors, the same man who asked his team for a month off to make a record. This man needs help and every radio and TV station I have listened to have said the same thing. Not just the hosts or the analysts, former players have said the same thing.

You say you can't control yourself in a situation like that. I realize that I have never been in a situation like that and don't know how it feels but you can control yourself. Granted it might be tougher to do but you can. It's not impossible. You make your own choices.

As far as Ben Wallaces shove goes, he shoved Artest during the game, something that happens in the NBA where players get into it with each other. The fact is Ben Wallace never left the court. He is taking his punishment for what he did on the court. If he would have hurt Wallace he would have been suspended even longer.(Ex. Kermit Washington) The whole incident afterwards is a result of Ron Artest getting a cup of beer(a cup of beer!!) thrown on him and acting like a mad man thus inciting a riot.

In conclusion and I really don't know what else to say, Artest got 73 games because it is Ron Artest. I would say that if it was a first time offender it probably would have been about half that but because of his history he got what he got. Hat off to David Stern. Take a stand now before someone gets killed. Players need to realize that they are not Gods. How many times do we discuss incidents when athletes get off scott free when they commit crimes. How they get special treatment. Well, finally Stern(and the rest of the sports world) sees a guy who is clearly a loose cannon and is taking action.

[Deadshot]

You bring up Artest's past - this is one circumstance that doesn't make sense to me (not what you said, but Stern's rulings):

Dennis Rodman got only 11 games for kicking an innocent cameramanm and we all know what type of past he led.

[Deadshot]

Looks like the fan who threw the drink on Artest already has a criminal record....

http://www.clickondetroit.com/sports...54/detail.html

[tutall]

i like the guy suing for getting hit with a chair... ok... so now jermaine threw it right? someone wants some free money