What a bunch of thugs

[Deitz Dittrich]

I just saw the fight on ESPN when Ron Artest went postal. How sad is that. I hope they get suspended and fined for the rest of the year. Jumping up in to the stands and throwing punches at fans.

[AWH]

Artest definitely overreacted. But I would be embarrassed to be from Detroit right now. For as childish (and as dumb) as professional athletes act at times, Artest included, what the fans did at that game is far worse than what I've ever seen a professional athlete do - bar none.

[Snag]

"The NBA is FANTASTIC" I don't know if they will be running those adds in Detroit anytime soon. I think the fans should lose their season tickets and the players should be suspended for at least 10 games. And the two idiots that took on Artest on the court, O'Neal gave the one a pretty good shot.

I thought the fight was better than any pay per view I have seen in the last five years.

[Stratosman]

Yeah, O'neal drilled that one guy on a flat out run, poor sucker didn't even see it coming. Aside from that, what about criminal charges? That should be aggrevated assault for climbing into the stands and attacking a fan. If any one of us were to to that to someone on the streets, I can guarantee we'd get some charges slapped on us. I just hope that the suspensions for them are without pay! What was he thinking climbing into the stands in Detroit of all cities, murder capital of the U.S.? Those fans fought back, imagine that at the Target Center, the fans would have ran like little girls, pointing at the guy who threw the beer.

[smartguy]

From this whole mess, one thing is for certain: Detroit would be an ideal city for a Soccer team!

[Guest]

Just in.....

Artest- Out for year

Jackson- 30 games

O'Neil- 25 games

Wallace- 6 games

Johnson- 5

4 other players- 1 game for leaving bench.

This will definetly send a message. Indiana is now toast for the season.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I hear that tom on the radio... I agree with all of them.. Except for maybe the O'Neil one.. All the thumpin he did was on the court.. where people dont belong. I expected him to get about 15 games...

[RJ]

AWH, I hope you are not blaming this on the fans. They were definitely in the wrong, for throwing things at the players (Artest asked for it by laying on the scorer’s table). Still, fans had no right to throw things at a player. But, the player committed a much worse offense. Under no (absolutely none, never) circumstances should a player go into the stands. Watch the offender, identify him to security, and have security go after him. The Palace has guards at all games. They would toss the offender out on his ear. I’ve seen it happen.

Ben Wallace over reacted to the foul (which was a hard foul, considering the status of the game. The ref, in hindsight, should have steered Artest to the middle of the court, not to the scorer’s table, near the fans.

Easily the ugliest thing I have seen in many years of watching sports. Not just basketball.

[AWH]

RJ,

I'm blaming both the fans and the players, neither side should be proud of anything that happened. But I do think the fans were just as out of hand and maybe more out of hand than the players.

That being said, I think the suspensions were completely justified. I think Jackson should have got in the neighborhood of 50 games or even the entire year like Artest. And I hope that they're able to pinpoint the fans that caused the most trouble and have them banned from the arena for at least the rest of the year. If they've got season tickets, they should have to give them up. Just like the players should have never gone into the stands, the fans should have never gone on the court. What about the guy that threw the chair? Hit someone just right with a flying object like that and you could literally kill someone. You could say the same thing about a punch. But I'd rather get hit by a punch than a flying chair.

AWH

[Tonka Boy]

In my opinion, any player involved in this chaos should have been kicked out of the NBA...FOR GOOD! The fans involved should be 86'd from any future games...FOR GOOD! In Artest's case, he wanted time off so no biggie. The rest of the players get to sit out a few games. Who really cares? A slap on the wrist if you ask me.

I have never been one to react to stupid player actions in the past. Really how much can you expect from someone who has everything handed to them on a silver platter? In this case, the players attacked the very ones paying their salaries...the fans!!! Anywhere else you'd have a pink slip before you got done swinging.

[RJ]

I could not agree more. The fans had no right to throw anything. Today’s paper says the local police are looking into charges against the fans they can identify. But, no matter what the fan did, the player cannot go into the stands. Period, end of sentence. Let the Palace security take care of the fan. Artest had no right.

How about the [commercial-or-naughty-word] that was on the floor, raising his dukes to Artest. This guy is too dumb to walk, let alone go to a game. Artest could kill him. Once a fan enters the court, the rules change.

I’m sure liquor was a major factor in the whole thing.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I like B-ball, I really do. However, I always kind of wondered why I don't care for the pro game. I couldn't put my finger on it, but for some reason I just didn't like the pro game.

Now I know, the subject of this post is the reason I don't like the pro game. A bunch of thugs.

Too bad kids were in the stands, and watching Sportscenter and saw that type of behavior.

[hanson]

Well, I missed the whole thing because I was at deer camp where we are cut off from the world.

So I'm watching the news tonight and Larry Bird, President of the Pacers, says "The three players that are out, we will be supporting them 100%." I believe in the couple sentences before that, he said that Artest is one of the top 10-12 players in the league too.

So my crazy mind says that because you are very good at playing basketball, good enough to be one of the top 10 players in the league, that the president of your company is behind you 100% even though you were throwing punches with the same people that keep you in business. I know its a stretch but I'm still disappointed.

The last few years have been horrible for pro sports with the hockey strike, fans chasing down umpires in baseball, and now this incident. I'm glad I'm not in the PR dept. of either of those teams.

As much as I like pro sports, I'm still glad that I hunt, fish, and enjoy the outdoors with my family. I may get excited about pro sports but I definitely get more excited when I hear a noise crunching in the leaves behind me on my deer stand, or a red line show up on my Marcum.

[Guest]

I heard that as well from Bird.

I have lost all repect for him after those comments.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I think what larry legend should have said. "We stand BEHIND our players" you would be an I D I O T to stand in FRONT of them, the way they throw punches!

[iowaboy]

Lets look at it this way. If you were in the baot and just fought a 12 lb eye for 1 hr. You got it next to the boat an almost had it in the net and the hook came out. About a minute after you lost the fish some dude came speeding by in his boat and threw a beer at you. Would you get pissed and go after him and do something about it. Or would you get his boat discription and turn him in and let someone else take care of it.

I not sure if it was right for Artest to go into the stands. He has been known to have a bad temper from trouble in the past. Any basketball fan would know this. I think the guy that threw the beer knew Artest would react in some extreme way. Things were just about under control when Artest was hit with the flying object. I would have done the same thing he did if I were in his shoes.

That being said how can this be avoided in the future? Stop selling beer at sporting events such as NBA games. You know what will never happen $$$$$. How about moving fans further way from the court where they can't get close enough for something like that to ever happen again.

[Piker]

I think the fans should get their punishment too. I'd take away, a home playoff game or all of them. I know that all Detroit fans can't be bad, but they have a reputation for being a bunch of animals.

[Holy Canvas]

I'll tell ya one thing. The floor seats at NBA games are WAY too close. My God, people's feet at courtside stop about 6 inches from the out of bounds line. I get a kick out of how the teams have to squeeze in at the bench too. After the coaches, there are like 4 chairs for 7 guys, all of whom are huge. Most teams have a few players sitting on the floor, next to a bunch of cameramen. I just find it funny.

B

[guideman]

It's a sad state of affairs when you can't even be safe at a ball game anymore. Alcohol is always a factor however, the win at all cost attitude of major sports in American, also contributes to what we saw the other night.

Don't get me wrong, I have been a sports fan all my life and winning is better than losing. What I just don't understand is how fans take sports so dam seriously, like if the Timberwolves win your life is going to change for the better.

IT'S JUST A GAME!!!!!

Whatever happened to good sportsmanship and sport for the sake of sport. This goes beyond just the pros, frustrated fathers are passing this win at all cost attitude down to their kids. In a world where nobody tolerates a loser and admires only the winners, I doubt things will change any time soon.