and i agree.

the fans have no excuse to hurl drinks at athletes and should be punished accordingly.

ron artest (who we all agree is a few items short of a happy meal) does not deserve anything thrown at him when he is laying on the scorers table doing his best to stay out of a fight that big Ben Wallace wanted to lure him into.

artest fouled wallace. it wasnt a cheap foul, jack, it wasnt a flagrant foul, and it wasnt even a necessarry foul. but wallace chose to shove artest in the neck after the whistle was blown.

thats your first ejection. on ben wallace. thats your first call for bullshit. thats your first villan.

artest accepted the shove and backpeddled 75 feet to the scorers table and didnt taunt didnt shout didnt do anything. what he did was lay on the table so that wallace could cool off and the game could tick away its remaining seconds.

and then Detroit showed its true colors.

its only colors.

its white trash 8 mile bill lamebeer bad boy colors.

Detroit threw a beer at a man laying on his back.

and you know what Commisioner Stern? when that man got off his back and ran into the stands it wasnt the best choice that man could have made, but it is ENTIRELY EXCUSEABLE, entirely understandable, entirely believeable and at the same time regretable.

but as the Deputy Detroit Police Cheif said minutes after the arena had been cleared, what Ron Artest did was legal. if something is thrown at your face and strikes your face you are within your bounds to defend yourself so that it wont happen again.

in this case Artest defended himself against the wrong guy. he regretably found the right row and aimed his vengence on the little guy with the glasses who was cheering the thrown beer, the little guy who was jumping up and down pointing, the little guy whose face changed instantly from glee to fear when 6’7″ ron artest climbed into the stands and didnt go after the true assailant but after him.

shit happens little man and heres a nice big black hand in your face.

and thats when hell broke loose in the sixth row.

whats interesting is the big black “fan” with the press credential who started giving sucker punches to the indiana player who went into the stands to pull artest out.

whats interesting are the two piston-jersey fans who went onto the court to challenge artest’s exit, one who got punched by artest after he hesitated, and one who got clocked by a running/slipping jermaine o’neal.

other faces of detroit.

if fans want to throw cups and blows and taunts at players mr commissioner they are no longer eligible for lawsuits. theyre eligible for elbows in the neck and broken glasses.

sure its not the best thing to assault your customers, in retaliation, in defense, or even in frustration.

but i pity the fool who throws anything at me at any time.

someone in my comments said, but its beer, it washes off.

so does spit and i dare you to spit at a 6’7″ black man outside a basketball stadium, so what makes it cool to douse liquids at people inside a stadium.

fans have it made. they can yell they can make signs they can boo they can cheer.

but the rules change my friends when they start hurling shit. straight up.

and i dont care what artest has done in the past. should i hold detroit accountable for what it has done in the past? devil nights? riots after the world series?

but finally im sick and tired of people pretending that this fight wasnt the most spectacular thing we’ve seen in a long time. whats so wrong with saying that?

im sorry a little kid was crying in his brothers arms. welcome to life kid, its a fucked up orgy of violence hate and redemption. and its not fair. cry cry cry but you better dry your tears cuz its not going to get any better.

especially when the pundits and the sportscasters and the commissioners punish those who were victimized while doing the right thing, which in this case was trying to diffuse the brawl that ben wallace wanted.

and if artest gets more than a 10 game suspension im going to pour a beer on david stern the next time that i see him and we’ll see if he doesnt feel like cleaning my clock.

and if he does, i deserve it, and i dont have any right to sue like a pussyass bitch.

if anything, stern should have the right to sue me for assaulting him.

but the commissioner wont be ruling that way because just like pretty much everyone in auburn hills last night, hes a pussyass bitch who thinks that theres no reason that someone should run into the stands to even a score.

well sorry commish, there are reasons. and if you got on the mic today and said, “fans, we love you, but when you throw shit at our players, the gloves are off and your ass is theirs. so quit throwing shit,”

then the shit would end immediately.

but by making examples of these pacer players, the wrong message will be sent. the message will be: these players are targets. feel free to aim anything at them that you want.

espn agrees + 113 yr old man dies + welch