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Nov. 23, 2004 When you first read the title of the article, I’m sure you’re rolling your eyes, because this is all every news station is talking about. As you may know, the Indiana, Pacers, specifically Ron Artest and other associates of that team were in a brawl with the Detroit Piston fans. Everyone in the news media is wondering, who’s to blame? Why did this happen? Let’s start from the beginning. Ron Artest was shoved by a Piston player. Ron Artest laid on the timekeeper’s table in what some say “a cocky way.” Afterwards, a fan threw a cup of ice, or water, or any other liquid refreshment, which resulted in Ron Artest to get up in a rage and literally attack the fan. Then, all hell broke less. Ron Artest was not the only guilty party regarding this, there were other players and even fans that were just as guilty as Artest was. Ron Artest was fined close to 5 million dollars and suspended for the rest of the season and the playoffs, while the other players were suspended for a couple of weeks and fined for less than what Ron Artest was fined. Who is to blame? The players involved? Yes. The fans that were involved? Yes. Both parties should be punished. What I’m curious about is, what is Ron Artest’s problem anyway? What is the fans problem? Of course liberals would say that the reason for the players to overreact is because the fans would boo them, and they demand respect regardless. Personally, I haven’t been to a professional sporting event in a very long time. However, I have been to local sporting events, mostly football games, and fans are very passionate about their teams. But is that really the issue? That fans are just passionate about their teams? Nope. I don’t think calling a basketball player the ‘N’ word is a way to “boo” at their least favorite player. Then again, I don’t think the players should react to the fans at all, but then again it is kind of hard to not react when some moron fan says that your child is a “legitimate child.” What happened with the football game between Clemson and South Carolina? What started that? I didn’t see any fans, all I saw were football players, coaches, and security men. What caused this? What about the Texas Rangers game, when one of the Rangers threw a chair and hit a woman in the face, breaking her nose? I even remember the Cleveland, Browns game where “Miller Lite” was thrown at the referees after the Baltimore, Ravens won the game, but the referees made a bad call. I don’t think there is any justification regarding the behavior of both the athletes and the fans. There is always going to be a few bad apples in the grandstands, but what I think needs to be done is for better security, and for the players to be more punished than just minor fines and suspensions. Obviously, they did make an example of Ron Artest by suspending him for the rest of the season and fining him close to 5 million dollars. It’s about time. As far as the question of why the fans react and why the players react in such a hostile way. This is my theory. The reason why fans react in a hostile way is probably because of the price of admission to these professional games. They are not cheap. Another theory of why fans may be hostile is, let’s be honest, they may be drunk. I understand that alcohol, preferably beer, is the number one product for sporting events and therefore if it’s sponsored by a product the venue should be able to sell it. However, the problem may be that too many fans are drinking too much, but then again I heard that the prices for beer are pretty high too. Why do the players get upset? For reasons that I think everyone can relate to. The players feel they earn their respect, believe me it’s hard work to be a professional athlete. You’re on the road all the time, never to see your family for a long time, and you don’t get the recognition from the fans because you happen to make tons and tons of money. With practice almost every week, you would figure that fans would respect them, right? Wrong. Sometimes I don’t blame the fans for not respecting the players, but you have to understand something; in order for Kobe Bryant to stay in the same status he is in, he has to work his butt off and stay inconsistence with his basketball skills. Did we fail to realize what happens to athletes who don’t stay consistence? Where’s Buster Douglas? You know, the guy who knocked out Mike Tyson when Tyson was in his prime? If you don’t remember, or saying “oh yeah, I remember that guy” then I rest my case. The bottom line is, both the players and the fans involved should really “grow up” and the venue managers should take more precautions and responsibilities regarding both the safety of players and the fans. If a fan gets carried away verbally, throw that fan out. If a player starts to spit, shove, hit, or anything else to a fan, throw them out, fine them, and suspend them for a long time. If the player or the fan hasn’t learned their lesson, banned them. How many times has Dennis Rodman got out of hand? Why wasn’t he fired? Because he’s a good player? Yes, he is, a tremendous basketball player, but if he’s going to kick a cameraman in the groin, then punishment should be in order. As far as the fans is concerned, if they get out of hand verbally, kick that fan out. Find out who they are, and keep them on a list. They can come back to another game, but say they get out of hand again, then they are banned permanently from the venue. I’m not an expert on matters like this, but this is just a theory, you can take it or leave it, but I think that sports venues and sports CEO’s should take better precautions. Maybe they will this time, maybe Ron Artest was a blessing in disguise. He woke everybody up. ------------ About the author Eric Schomburg: An Apocalyptic Dream is now out for purchase. Check out both books at http://www.geocities.com/schomburg2002. Email: schomburg2002@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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