pacers/pistons brawl

[smazza]

artest,nba, pacers and arena owners will be sued  for the mess

this may be a rare intance of puntive damages for allowing  artest reamin in the league all these years after all his psycho behavior

artest should have been thrown out of the  league 2 years ago

what he did was expected by people in the know

[Velcro]

it was expected by more than people in the know...  he's an a$$.  

He hacks at Big Bens head, then taunts Ben Wallace by laying on the scorers table for 3 or 4 minutes... everyone takes issue with it, some drunk fans throw their beer, one lucky enogh to land upside down on artests chest, getting him soaked with beer, and then he and a couple other pacers beat up the fans.  

He didn't beat up Big Ben for hitting him in the face in retaliation, because he know he would have gotten his arse kicked from hear to timbuktu.  But he does go after a fan for getting him wet, after he was basically spitting in the face of everyone with his actions.  

[smazza]

artest still being in the league is one of the great wondders of the world

the fact that we agree says it all

[Velcro]

talent is the only thing that keeps him around... if he was even an above avg player, he'd have been booted off the team.

[Bullshiznitz]

Just another reason on a long list as to why to hate the NBA  >

The most unfan-friendly boring professional sport there is.  

[smazza]

stern took my advice and  suspended artest for rest of the year

[BullWriter]

The Ron Artest era in the NBA needs to end.  Permanently.  Right now.  Letting him back in at ALL after he slugged a paying customer that supports your product says all I need to know.  This is why I stopped watching the NBA after the Bulls Three-Peat.  

The real NBA died for the majority of Americans the day Magic and Bird retired.  Jordan had it on life support, but it's over.

[ChiTownBull]

he should be banned for life

[BULLO12]

These idiots are not professionals....they are thugs...will continue to be thugs and NO AMOUNT of money will change that.

It is time for the NBA to grow some NARDS and kick these thugs out and clean up the league.

Disgraceful...uncalled for.  A one year susspension is not going to do a **** thing...ban them for life and stick to it.

And arrest the fans that statrted it and put them away.  Ban them for life also.

[ChiTownBull]

i agree bullo

set an example and others will think twice

check out this crap

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/col_imrem.asp?intid=38313106

By Mike Imrem

You get to a Bears game three hours early, the conversation winds in all directions while waiting for kickoff.

Sunday, it revolved around the Melee in Motown involving Pacers players and Pistons fans. The question being discussed was what do you dislike more, the way athletes carry themselves or the way fans behave themselves?

Not just Pacers players or Pistons fans, mind you, but players and fans in general. Sometimes the answer is both.

Sports must be sensitive to this issue after the Detroit debacle the other night, so it was no small matter how unkindly Bears fans took to Sunday's 41-10 loss to Indianapolis.

"There's no need to go into the stands," rookie defensive tackle Tommie Harris said. "I don't need to give (the league) my money (in fines)."

Or to be suspended for the season the way Ron Artest was Sunday by the NBA.

Back to Soldier Field: At times the activity behind the Bears' bench was more competitive than the game was. The best thing Bears players did all day - faint praise indeed - was resist going into the crowd after fans who critiqued their play in terms fit only for satellite radio.

"Some of them were ready," wide receiver Bobby Wade said of his teammates.

Mike Brown, on injured reserve and in a jump suit, reportedly climbed onto a bench to invite a fan to come on down. Not for tea, either.

What sort of jabber was coming from the expensive seats? Profanity, for starters. A message to Adewale Ogunleye that he is overpaid. Advice to an inactive player to get off the cell phone while the drubbing was transpiring.

"He was just an idiot," Harris said of a fan escorted away by security. "He was just disappointed in us. Hopefully, we'll make him happy next week."

Yeah, maybe the Bears will win in Dallas on Thanksgiving. If not, fans will let the team hear what they think during the next home game Dec. 5.

Sadly for both sides of the restraining wall, this is what the sporting-event experience too often becomes.

Fans are considered civil if they don't throw anything at players or trespass onto the field, regardless of how personal their verbal abuse becomes. Meanwhile, players are considered controlled if they don't charge into the crowd and beat on folks the way Artest and assorted other Pacers did.

Not that athletes here, there and everywhere wouldn't like to shut up vulgar fans with a fist to the chops. Not that fans here, there and everywhere wouldn't like to get their big-ticket-money's worth by at least expressing displeasure.

"To me, it's kind of understandable," Bears linebacker Lance Briggs said of a loud fan. "We got beat up today (by the Colts). He wanted to take it out on us."

Did you see the amusing photo from Saturday night's NBA game in New Orleans? After what happened in Detroit the night before, a Hornets fan showed up wearing a football helmet.

He was joking. At least I think he was. Anyway, while most games start and end without incident, unbridled emotion always creates an arena for mayhem.

"A lot of them get personal, talking about your wife and children," Wade said of fans. "The majority of time guys just turn around, smile and say, 'Have another (beer).'æ"

The Bears lost big on the field Sunday, but you might say they won bigger by staying there.