I had something else planned for today, and even posted it for a short while. But, I couldn't get the following off my mind. So here it goes.
I sat down Friday to watch a nice, competitive basketball game between the Pistons and the Pacers. As the game came to a close, I thought that I had already witnessed the travesty—the Piston’s play. But no, the now infamous brawl was yet to come.
I have heard a lot of coverage on this sort of thing. Some people say that it represents a break down in the social morays of our culture. Some say it is another testament to the thugary that is the Detroit fan base. Some say it is an inevitable event when you combine the emotions of sports players and fans.
And a lot of those comments may be true, but I am just pissed about the whole thing. I don’t have a stake in keeping the NBA “pure” but I have a stake in humanity. I look at it and wonder, why must people be such idiots? Why can’t people control themselves? Why must we just resort to violence when we can’t control our anger?
There is plenty of blame to go around.
Ben Wallace—have some self-restraint. You may have been upset because it was a little bit of a dirty foul, but I guarantee if you had been winning you would have been fine.
Ron Artest—be a man. A real man can control himself. A real man does not walk away from a real threat (seen here by the beast Ben Wallace) and then finds some pencil necked geek with glasses to cold cock. A real man can take an offense whether it be a punch to the throat or a cup of liquid dropped on you and walk away. Well Ron, you asked for some time off. Now you’ve got it. Heal from injuries. Promote your Rap album. But for God’s sakes, get some help.
Pacers Bench—be peacemakers. Go into the stands and pull your guy back on the court. Don’t go in with punches flying.
And last but not least, Pistons fans—have you ever heard of civility. When you buy a ticket you earn the right to cheer and even to boo. You don’t earn the right to do things that are misdemeanors or criminal offenses. Throwing things at people, whether beer or punches is illegal. Your $30 ticket does not change that!
Maybe it does show a breakdown in society. I don’t know, but it does show that the human race still has a long way to go.
2 comments:
Umm...those $30 dollar tickets are higher up. Artest was biffing people that paid 100-200 dollars that night. I also read that Ben Wallace reacted like that because the entire night he had been pushed and Artest was "saying stuff". I do agree that he wouldn't of acted like that if they were winning. I think that the punishments should have been worse. O'neal could have killed the dude if he hadn't slipped. Artest is a thug that needs to be stripped of his basketball career, and "NBA money"...which will probably still happen at least the money part.
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