Craziest thing I've seen in sports

[Cold_Zero]

also miller was suspended for shielding artest from stuff getting thrown at him...didnt you know thats illegal? i mean jeez perish the thought you try to help a teammate whos getting various objects thrown at him...

Reggie's suspension sends this message. If you are not dressed for the game and leave the bench to be a peacemaker, you get suspended. If you are dressed for the game and you leave the bench, go into the stands to be a peacemaker you do not get suspended. Reggie gets suspended one game for keeping the police from macing Artest in the eyes.

People were pissed this morning on the local Talk Radio channels. They didnt make excuses for what Artest did and agree that he should have been suspended. Though typically not this harsh. Most people were fine with Steven Jackson's suspension, but disagreed with Jermaine's suspension. The guy does not go into the stands, but defends a teammate from a fan that (consciously) stepped onto the court, lowered his shoulder, clenched his fists and postured like he wanted to fight. Had Jermaine not slipped while running over to the fight, the guy would have had his jaw broken by Jermaine. You might see the players association try to overturn this suspension. When fans step onto the court, they are fair game. Do you really think that NBA players want another Monica Selles incident to happen to them?

[AZhitman]

Just read a great article in USA Today (Saraceno's commentary on the sports page).

[gniknave]

Funny thing I keep hearing is "Well now Ron has the time off to promote his stupid Rap album". Get the facts straight. 1. It's not a rap album, it's an R&B album 2. It's not HIS album. He just produced it for an all girls group called "Allure" that has been trying to get back to singing since their album busted back in '97. They couldn't get anybody to give them a chance til Ron came along. He was willing to take time off from his job and lose millions of dollars to help 3 girls earn some money. Not many producers go all out to promote an album. Most leave it up to the artists.

I think it's funny how the media is blowing everything out of proportion and not putting all the facts out there making Artest look like a selfish hothead. Read up on Artest. While the NBA requires it's players to do team organized events for the communities, Ron goes all out and gives back by himself too. The guys only problem SOMETIMES is controlling his temper. Nothing new to me, I see it all the time in road rage, and at department stores when a guy can't get his money back. He's a human being regardless of the amount of money he makes. I just wish people would get their facts straight before they speak.

[Bubba1]

gnicknave: And I'm sure he loves his mama and is kind to animals too. He sometimes has trouble controlling his temper??? I sincerely hope you're joking..

The man has a serious anger management problem, and clearly doesn't realize how horribly he acted. Stern pretty much said that his history of suspensions for this type of loss of control contributed to his decision to suspend him for so long. If you watched his appearance on the Today show, Artest was more interested in plugging that stupid (yes stupid) album, than showing remorse for his actions. IMHO He came off as arrogant

But You're right that he had the same kind of total loss of control that you see with road ragers. Doesn't make any less wrong. Do you realize the guy in the stands who's head he slammed into the chair wasn't the guy who tossed the beer on him? Oh yeah, that's right. Since he donates so much time to charity, and we don't know him that well, then that's okay? C'mon! He should be charged with aggravated assualt. Is he the only one at fault for the brawl? Of course not. But he crossed a major line when he snapped and went into the stands. He was WAAAY wrong.

As far as role models go, he makes a great case for being an example of how not behave.

[gniknave]

gnicknave: And I'm sure he loves his mama and is kind to animals too. He sometimes has trouble controlling his temper??? I sincerely hope you're joking..

The man has a serious anger management problem, and clearly doesn't realize how horribly he acted. Stern pretty much said that his history of suspensions for this type of loss of control contributed to his decision to suspend him for so long. If you watched his appearance on the Today show, Artest was more interested in plugging that stupid (yes stupid) album, than showing remorse for his actions. IMHO He came off as arrogant

But You're right that he had the same kind of total loss of control that you see with road ragers. Doesn't make any less wrong. Do you realize the guy in the stands who's head he slammed into the chair wasn't the guy who tossed the beer on him? Oh yeah, that's right. Since he donates so much time to charity, and we don't know him that well, then that's okay? C'mon! He should be charged with aggravated assualt. Is he the only one at fault for the brawl? Of course not. But he crossed a major line when he snapped and went into the stands. He was WAAAY wrong.

As far as role models go, he makes a great case for being an example of how not behave.

Bubba, my point was that people are portraying him to be a bad person overall but not getting their facts straight. Also, YES SOMETIMES he has his outbursts. It was more frequent 2 years ago, but he went through all of last season with a clean slate. He had no anger problems until that fan threw the cup of beer in his face. If you look at the ENTIRE tape of what happened you'll see that he was pissed off that Ben Wallace reacted the way he did when being fouled. Dispite what people say it was no flagrant foul it was barely even a hard foul.

Artest NEVER ONCE retaliated against Ben. He wanted to though which is why he went and laid on the table to calm down. As he was still a little hyped up but trying to calm down, Ben Wallace slammed a towel on him. A few seconds later the idiot fan threw beer on him. That's when Artest snapped. I think considering a hard shove to the throat by a man Ben's size, then having a towel whipped in my face, then having a cup of beer thrown in my face would have been enough to push me over the edge too.

I'm in no way saying what Artest did was right but I can understand what cased him to do it. As for the Today show appearance, of course he's going to use that to plug the album. He's very limited in what he can say about the incident as is the rest of the team and team management, what the hell would he say otherwise? Did you want him to say something to spark even more controversy? In case you didn't know, this day was supposed to be dedicated to his R&B group way before this incident even happened. I think he was pretty damn smart to use the media that was bad mouthing him to his advantage by plugging the album.

My view of the situation is that everybody involved should be dealt with accordingly. Like I said I just can't stand when somebody goes badmouthing when they don't have their facts straight.

BTW Detroit police are looking for the chair thrower: http://mfile.akamai.com/12942/...k.asx

[gniknave]

And as for the Beer thrower..check out his rap sheet: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/a....html

[Bubba1]

I hear what you're saying. And I agree the beer and chair throwers should have the book thrown at them as well. But fair or not, professional athletes that paid millions of dollars per year, have an unwritten responsibility to behave a notch better than the average beered up slob.They're not expected to be pure role models, but the expectation for acceptable behavior is there. And diving into the stands swinging is totally unacceptable.

As far as the appeal filed by the players union, I wouldn't hold my breath for a major reversal, as the way the NBA collective bargaining agreement is written, the commissioner is the one who decides all appeals. I understand the union requested an arbitrator but the decision to grant such a hearing still lies with the same commissioner that just handed out those suspensions. And judging by Artest's interviews to the press, I'm sure Stern will be convinced Artest deserves the full suspension, as ithe seriousness of his misdeeds clearly didn't sink in

I also don't think Artest's plugging that album was smart as much as opportunistic. I think the public was expecting some regret and got arrogance plus a cheezy plug instead. I kinda doubt he's gonna sell many of those albums based on his appearances. It goes back to a standard of behavior that he clearly lacks.I think his behavior will hurt that albums sales rather than help it.

the man needs therapy, not more millions of dollars.

[gniknave]

Allure's video premiered on MTV. Nice club hit if you're into that. Ron Artest had a few shots at the end driving a Benz or Bimmer: http://launch.yahoo.com/artist...00753

[getnrowdy23]

overpaid ignorant people! i think anyone who entered the stands should be banned from basketball forever!!! if pete rose gets banned for life, because of betting, then this is worse and they should have at least the same punishment. kids look up to these people, infact my little cousin was acting out that fight, he doesnt need to act like that. ban them for life. i dont care who agrees with me and who doesnt. i also think the guys that threw the beer and chairs should be prosicuted to the full extent of the law and banned from that arena in any capacity. thanks for listening to me rant.