f13.net

Half the Pacer's team and a good bit of Detroit fans need to be charged with assault and battery, no questions asked.  That was the worst display I have seen in my life.  Jackson needs to have his stupid ass in jail for punching all those people he did.  Ben Wallace needs to be fined and deserves to have charges brought against him too.  I really thought it was funny when O'Neal thought he could take on the entire crowd.  They proved they are all stupid ass morons.

Pistons fans?

Kidding aside, but Detroit fans have always been assholes. Only rivaled by Boston (Boston fans usually just get pissed at their own team though). Artest didn't even fight back when Wallace pushed him, so he was trying to do the right thing at first. He just got tired of taking shit. So would I. Blame it on the fans. Oneal's a dumbass, but people were coming after him, not the other way around. You can't blame him -- those people shouldn't even be on the court. I'm surprised by Jackson though. That was crazy. He used to be such a cool guy when he was on the Spurs too.

That being said...

I'm looking forward to the Eastern Finals for a change..If there is one.

Anyone got a link to video of this? I've only heard about it. I haven't seen a good brawl in days.

The fans may be dipshits, but you can't lay all the blame on them.   Players simply cannot do under any circumstance what those players did.  I would suspend any player that laid out a fan for the entire season, and yeah I wouldn't be suprised if some legal charges were brought against some of the players.

It definitely wasn't a good brawl.  I've never seen anything like it before.  Absolutely fucking ridiculous.

I agree about not laying the blame on the fans. Yeah, they acted like total shithead, but under NO cercumstances can a player climb into the stands and start punching fans. Yeah, Jackson was defending Artes, from having beer thrown in his face.

I happened to be at a sports bar when this happened, and they played it on the big screen over and over for about an hour.


Haemish, there is a link to the video on Drudge, but its NOT the good viedo. It doesnt show half the nasty shit that went down. Im still trying to find a link for that.

Watch any news channel or ESPN.  They have been playing it all day long.

I was at Friday's game.

Wallace overreacted a bit to Artest's foul because it was a hard foul by a dirty player in garbage time.

Artest laid down on the scorer's table, and was being a complete asswipe by putting on a headset and giving a radio interview.

*ONE* fan threw a beer at Artest, and he immediately flipped out and jumped into the crowd, grabbed a fan by the head and slammed his face into the permanent seating in the section. Other fans jumped in to restrain him, until Jackson and Jones came into the crowd and started throwing punches also. At that point, the Detroit fans said "FUCK YOU" and started beating the piss out of any Pacer within arm's reach.

Artest goes back onto the floor, and two young guys (teens/early 20's) who had courtside seats made the simple mistake of going into the bench area. Artest flat out cold-cocked one of the guys...prompting the second kid (looked like the first guy's brother) onto the court after Artest. The second kid was struck by 2 guys in street clothes, and then blindsided by O'Neal in that ridiculous cheap shot.

After that, they called the game....and after what had been a pretty decent game, the remaining fans were pissed.

The Detroit fans certainly didn't behave responsibly, particularly the guy that threw a folding chair, and the guy that threw the first beer. Artest was being a jackass by laying on the table for roughly 1 minute....beyond the point where Wallace was restrained. Jackson was being a dumbass, trying to challenge Derrick Coleman and Lindsey Hunter to fight during the initial shoving match on the court.

The fan should not have thrown the beer....but last time I checked, Artest is supposed to be a professional. He has a few MILLION reasons why he is supposed to just be the bigger man, get the fuck off the table, dry himself off, and enjoy the last 45 seconds of the game and his spectacular performance in  the win over the defending Champs.

Artest had no business going into the stands. None. Stephen Jackson had even LESS business going into the stands. The fan had no business throwing the beer. At all. The jackass that threw a chair needs to be put in jail. I'll even say that Wallace was out of line for reacting to the hard foul.

Fuck Ron Artest. Fuck Stephen Jackson. Fuck Jermaine O'Neal. Fuck the Pacers. Fuck the guy that threw the beer. Fuck the guy that threw a chair. Fuck the two young guys that fought in the bench area.

And fuck any last one of you for blaming this on the city of Detroit. The Pistons play in Auburn Hills, which is a lilly white affluent suburb, more than 30 minutes drive time from Detroit itself. Tickets in that section Artest launched himself into are about $75 each...and IIRC are season ticket packages only.

Bring the noise.
Cheers..............

Who gives a fuck how rich the beer chucking jackasses are? They still acted like it was D battery night in Philly with JD Drew coming to town.  Jumping onto the court to fight players? WTF  You're not going to see that in Phoenix, sorry.  Don't get in a hissy over people besmirching your town when your town acts like the US's perception of them.

And of all people to chuck beer at, they choose the looniest bastard in the entire league.  Artest should be suspended for a shit load of time, possibly the season.  Oneal and Jackson I'd give around 10-20 games to.  Same with Wallace though.  He started shit over a marginally hard foul with little time remaining in a game that's a done deal.  

Everyone's to blame.  Everyone except the fans are going to be punished for this.  It should stay within the league though.  No lawsuits, just let Stern suspend the shit out of everyone involved.

That's why Phoenix is a pussy city and Detroit is the town where the weak are eaten.

/Homesick Hamtramck resident off

Alcohol should not be allowed at sporting events.  Unfortunately, this would be a devastating (although not fatal) blow to the alliance between sports and beer, and would cost owners a ton of money.

What they really need to do is put transparent barriers between the players and the crowd.  You know, like the used to have in that one game they don't play any more -- what was it called?  Pocky, hookey, something like that.  Anyway.

Any fans who throw anything at anyone should be arrested for assault and serve 30 days in jail.  Any players that went into the crowd or threatened the fans were acting in self-defense, but the NBA should still suspend them for a few games for not following proper NBA procedures in such cases.  Number of security guards and cops should be doubled.

Bruce

That was precisely why he was pissed about the foul. The game was in hand, Artest had no business fouling that hard on a garbage time layup.

IMO, Wallace deserves a suspension of a game, maybe 5 at the most....but nothing anywhere near what Artest, O'Neal, and Jackson deserve. All 3 of them assaulted fans, which is inexcusable.

Artest was such a big man, and such a professional that he would back away from a fight with Wallace, but had no hesitation in jumping into the stands to assault a 160 pound whiteboy in the stands, nor did he mind cold cocking some fat kid at the edge of the court.

Those 2 kids on the court, IIRC, had been sitting courtside....putting them maybe about 20-30 feet away from where they were seated when the chaos began. Between the 3 multi-millionaires that punched them (including O'Neal dishing out the cheap shot while the guy was down), I expect their lawyer is salivating over this one.

Once a fucking retarded hoopster jumps into the stands, all bets are off...I don't expect the reaction would have been any different in New York, LA, Chicago, Philly, or Miami.

Bring the noise.
Cheers.............

I just don't know how anyone who saw that could call it self-defense.

When someone throws stuff at you from a distance, shouldn't you be allowed to close and punch them?

Bruce

Lawn darts, Chinese throwing stars, molotov cocktails?  Yes.

A plastic cup of beer?  Nope.  You're a goddamned professional athlete who's being paid millions of dollars a year to put up with that kind of shit.  Suck it up and act like a professional.

Did you see it Bruce?  Just wondering.  Because it wasn't just one beer thrower that got decked, it was quite a few fans, some of which were probably pretty innocent.

That's an argument for *league* punishment, which I'm entirely for - athletes should know better and let the security handle it.  However, if it was "self-defense" from a moral or legal standpoint has nothing to do with your profession.

Bruce

Yeah, I've seen it.  I'd hardly call the ones who started hitting players and coaches from behind innocent.  And there was another beer thrower, who hit an official.

Now, the two guys running out on the court, who got clocked, that's harder to say.  But at that point, it's like an innocent guy running out in the middle of the street between cops and robbers.  It's just stupid, and if you get shot, hey, you're to blame.  If you wanted to get out of there, you should have been headed for the exit.  I don't blame the players for not waiting to see if this guy was going to take a swing or not to take a swing back first.

Bruce

There was at least one guy in the stands who I think was innocent and in shock, and that cheap shot by O'neal was terrible no matter what. but otherwise you're right, many of those fans wanted to get punched by an NBA player, and were goading them as much as possible to get that to happen.

I still think Jackson, Artest, and O'Neal could have assault charges levied against them.  I'm not a legal expert so I can't say how it would do, but in my view they acted inappropriately and not in self-defense.  Self-defense, to me at least, has a meaning of protecting one's self from a threat.  There just wasn't enough threat here to justify the players being sent into a berserk state like this.  6'7-6'10, huge NBA players rushing the stands is just insane, and hell I'd be definitely terrified if I was in the front row.

Artest is a professional clown more than he is a professional basketball player.  They should give him time off to market his rap album - forever sounds about right.

I agree. The NBA already has a rep for being a bunch of Gansta' thugs. They need to start comming down a LOT harder of the athlets break the law. I think they should kick Artes out of the league for good. Not just the 30 game suspension he got.

Oh yeah, didnt see it in the thread.

Jackson and O'Neal both got 20 game suspension, and Wallice got 5.

Artest: Season
Jackson: 30 games
O'Neal: 25 games

Wallace: 6 games

Pretty appropriate.  Good way to say, "NEVER FUCKING DO THIS AGAIN!!"

I'm hoping the onslaught of assault charges and civil suits don't follow.  But they will.  Artest may have just stupided himself into a homeless shelter.

Seven foot tall weight lifting Athletes need protection from 5 ft 4 inch old overweight beer drinkers. No wonder we lost the Olympics.

http://www.nba.com/news/pacers_pistons_041121.html

Artest was suspended for the rest of the season, 72 games.  I'm guessing that would include the playoffs as well.

With him out, and O'neal and Jackson gone for 25 and 30 games respectively...well I guess if they can recover when O'Neal/Jackson get back they can still make the playoffs in the weak eastern conference, and they could do pretty well even without Artest.  Still, a huge hit to the Pacers, but it was deserved.

I hope the NBA finds some way to permanently exclude fans that show that sort of ridiclous behavior from games as well, but I don't know how exactly they would be able to pull that off.


edit:  I took too long to find the link and to post.  Oh well.

This just gives him plenty of time to promote his new rap album.  Which already got him a two game suspension for asking for the time off.

Crazy, or crazy like a fox?

Artest should go to jail for what he did.  That is all.

I found this pretty fucked up, being from Indiana and having it plastered all over the news here.

The foul wasn't even that bad, some idiot pegs Artest in the head with a cup of ice to show his disapproval, then Artest (who is batshit crazy to begin with) goes into the stands to educate said idiot on why you do not throw things at men who stand over 6'5" and weigh 250+ pounds.

Artest got what he deserved in the end though. Christ, I'd take a cup of ice in the head for millions a year.

My only regret is that Reggie Miller didn't get his ass kicked instead.

I in no way approve of going into the stands and beating up fans (especially fans that didn't actually do anything), but an event like this was a looong time coming.  Fans have been getting progressively more and more obnoxious.  It's worst in basketball, because the fans are right in the players face, so it isn't some random voice in the crowd calling out "you are a fag n****r" over and over, it is one particular, visible and identifiable guy chanting "you are a fag n****r" at you it all night long, just like the guy last night and the guy tomorrow night.  People get drunk and insanely overidentify with their teams, and are dying to become part of the event.

If they want to fix this, they need to rip out the first 5 or 10 rows of seating so there is some space between the players and fans, like every other sport, and they need to increase security.  That means more cops and guards taking drunk assholes and throwing them out, even when they pay $200 for the nice seats.  It means more security cameras to catch people throwing shit on film and actually prosecuting those clowns.


On the suspensions, I think Wallace got screwed a bit.  He got an unnecessarily hard foul during  garbage time from a known cheap shot artist and shoved him.  That's a 1 gamer at most.  The fact that the crowd went apeshit throwing things and Artest snapped and went postal isn't fairly traceable to Wallace's shove.

PS: I need a looping video of that fat assmonkey in the Pistons jersey wandering on the court and trying to start shit getting cold cocked.  I lolled.

The player's union is objecting to the suspensions, claiming they are too harsh.

IMO, I agree with those who say there should be criminal charges levied against some of these players.  And suspended for a season?  Throw them out of the NBA.  Ban them from the game.

I watched it over and over and over and over. Sportscenter had a hard time talking over their raging hard-ons about the whole affair. Seriously, no other sports went on apparently.

Artest is a dipshit, and shouldn't be allowed to play basketball in the NBA again. Harsh? Not in the slightest when you look at his history. The man has no respect for the game, and he has no respect for the fans. He can cram his season long suspension up his ass. Die in a rap album fire you ghetto trash loser.

Detroit gets a bad rap for a few fans being dumbasses. Oh well, you're still the second worst city to live in for crime next to some place in New Jersey. I think you'll have bigger problems to worry about than this, so don't fret.

I hope the NBA takes a PR beating over this one and attendance falls. I'm not heading to any games anytime soon, but I hate the league, so that costs them nothing. I say put the game inside a cage so the animals won't be tempted to do something stupid.

Finally saw some video of this, and have some comments before I read anyone else's comments on it.

Holy fucking shit, what a complete bowl of moron dick-waving twats. Ron Artest, have fun making your fucking rap album or whatever-the-fuck-it-was. You have no excuse. None. That was a sorry fucking display of stupidity. Steven Jackson, Jermain O'Neal, ditto, only less of the stupid and more of the sheeple.

Ben Wallace. Cut your fucking hair, and thank your God that you didn't get the same penalty Artest did. You started that whole brouhaha with a fucking sucker punch, you jacked-up turkey, all because you got a hard foul. It's basketball. It happens. You should have been kicked out and suspended for longer than 6 games. This is basketball, not basketbrawl. That kind of retaliation is unacceptable.

Detroit fans... die in a car fire. Really. Hate your opponents, but respect them as men, even when they act like big children. There is no excuse, NONE for tossing beer down on the players, in any stadium, in any venue. It's disrespectful, and should get you banned from the stadium for life, as well as fined and jailed. Then, for fun, your face should be displayed on the Jumbotron along with video of you getting your ass beat down by Ron Artest before EVERY SINGLE HOME GAME FOR ETERNITY. Why? Because you are a fucking dumbass, and short of your head on a pike, there should be a constant reminder to future generations that some things should never happen again. Asshat fans like this do not deserve the privilege of seeing professional sports games.

All that said, players NEVER, unless their lives are actually threatened, never should a player enter the stands to inflict physical violence on a fan. The players are there to entertain the fans... so dance, monkey, dance. As a player, you are paid a good deal of money to do that. You exist at the sufferance of the fans. They are not there to aggrandize your ego. That kind of selfish bullshit is ridiculous. As a player, you have to be the bigger man, because whether you like it or not, you are a role model and a source of inspiration. Starting or continuing an ugly scene like those players did is unacceptable.

I think the NBA did the right thing, though I'd think they should change their name to the NGA. National Gangstas Association.

Die in a hockey puck fire, bitch.

*goes and cries in a corner*

Agreed, February is going to be a lonely time of drinking with no NHL.

This isn't over. I would be willing to bet that the local ambulance chasers union put out an emergency call to all its members and had them lined up outside the arena within 10 minutes. Anyone who got hit by a drop of beer or sweat will be sueling the living shit out of the Pistons, the NBA, and anyone involved in arena management or concessions.

There should be enough footage of this to identify many of the seats/ticket holders who were involved. If I were running things, they just forfeited the rest of the season, no refund.

Artest, Jackson, and O'Neal are lucky that no criminal charges have been brought up yet. Those fucking thug cocksuckers deserve to go spend a few months with some REAL gangstas. Getting fucked in the ass by a train of convicted murderers might teach those morons some valuable life lessons.

If I were Stern, Artest would never draw another paycheck in my league. Jackson would have gotten a year suspension, and O'Neal at least 50 games. You absolutely CANNOT have the players interacting with the fans in this manner. PERIOD.

Drunken fucks like this give people who like to have a few beers at the game (yet still find it within themselves not to act like a fucking jagoff) a bad name. These are the fuckers that make the Mariners charge $7 fucking 50 a beer (they have as much as admitted that they keep prices outrageous to help curb public drunkeness). The arena's security failed miserably. If someone was taunting the Pacers all game long, they need to be invited to STFU, especially if they are using profanity or racial slurs.

This whole thing makes me nauseous. I had JUST started to become slightly interested in the NBA this year with the Sonics' improbable start. I used to love basketball, but I sick and fucking tired of watching thug streetball. Thanks for reinforcing every negative stereotype about the league, you fucking cretins. I won't be spending any money to see you play, and I am goddamned sure I am not the only one in the country that feels this way.

Looking at the positive side this is a great thing for the Cavs... :)

It does appear that there are going to be charges brought against both players and fans. I'm guessing the cup thrower could be facing some possible inciting a riot charges...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/basketball/nba/11/22/charges.ap/index.html?cnn=yes


In another article I also read that Artest being the idiot thug that he is managed to attack the wrong guy. If that turns out to be true there need to be some serious assault charges pressed against that moron.

I managed to luck into getting this on my TiVo.  I switched the TV to the game 2 seconds before the Artest foul.  Crazy times.  Good to know people can still turn into frothing, mindless beasts on short notice.

The thing that stands out the most to me actually isn't the good times in the stands, it's that guy who walked down onto the court.  Judging from the replay he just said something. . maybe mean. . and then Artest cold-cocked him.  Then he gets up (or maybe his friend. . hard to tell) and O'Neal crosses half the court to sucker punch him.  The NBA tonight guys were happily dickwaving about how if a fan goes on the court, it's open season, like we just fucking crossed into Thunderdome or something.  All Artest needed to do was say 'shut the fuck up', point the guy out to security, and go on about his business.  Taking that swing was criminal.  O'Neal's swing was criminal.  The law doesn't stop applying on the court, and despite the mythic fantasies of the ESPN crew, somebody wandering around on the hardcourt doesn't constitute a threat which you must defend against bodily.

That's the cop talking about trying to get interviews with players. Yeah, I'm sure the players will be real men about the whole thing and take their punishment as the just consequences for their actions.

I wouldn't say that a fan on the court is an automatic reason to clock a fan, but I can see where if the fan DOES come on the court, they shouldn't be surprised if they get clocked. Think about those two asshats in Kansas City who cold-cocked the first base coach during a baseball game. If I saw two fans run out into the field after me, I would certainly think about getting ready to defend myself.

Of course, if it was after I'd show my Mongoloid nature by bitch-slapping a guy half my size in the stands, I should probably expect that those two are looking for a fight.

Yes, that's going to be the defense they use and the Chicago game is going to be brought up many times, but it doesn't make any sense.  It's like saying that you got punched by a guy on this sidewalk once, so now any old grandma you see on this sidewalk is fair game for a beating.  The two idiots in Chicago rushed Gamboa from behind and beat the crap out of him.  This guy (or guys) in Detroit was wandering around on the court.  Artest saw him.  He wasn't coming any closer.  He said something that looked rude.  That was it.  It takes a total abandonment of Artest's critical faculties to say that all that matters is where the guy is standing, not what he's doing or what you can reasonably expect him to do.  He hit him because he was pissed off and looking for a fight, not because there was any reason to suspect he was dangerous.

Some fan comes out of nowhere at me on the court and I start swinging. I won't fault Artest for that one. However, it was a direct result of the flagrant lunacy that he started beforehand, so its a circular fault argument. Either way, at that point it was game on for everyone, and brains were checked at the door.

It will go down in sports history books as one of the worst sporting events of the decade unless someone shivs a guy on the court.

Wow, I've now watched even more of this. WTF is Artest doing just laying down on the scorer's bench after Wallace took a swing at him? Can he possibly look like anymore of a cock?

That last shot O'Neal (or was it Jackson?) took on the fat fucker in the Pistons' jersey... that was a cold-hard Mike Tyson on Robin Givens bitchslap. Big boy's mama is feeling that one.

Yeah, as much as I think he should go to jail for it, I admire the aesthetics.  He reared back for that bad boy.

Does anyone want to go in on a pool for picking the day that the first NBA coach/player whatever says this was all about race?  I call Tuesday.

Thank goodness that professional sports continues to descend into nothing more than a vulgar showcase for preening, millionaire criminals. It makes it that much easier to completely ignore them all and spend my time and money with other interests.

As for Artest ... I am ashamed to share four letters of the alphabet in our names.

Hell, someone already mentioned that some of these players are subjected to racial epithets from the stands during games. And that was in the video replay I saw of the thing.

Yeah, and the NBA should take steps to bounce those problem players.  Still, I can't think of many industries that would let me come back to work the next day after beating the snot out of a customer, drink toss or no.

Clearly, you've never been a dominatrix.

;)