This is why you should never pass up an opportunity to rant and rave.

[kellinator]

For a couple of weeks now I've been wanting to post my thoughts on the new NBA season, but just haven't had time to do it right, or so I thought. Well, big deal now, because all anyone's going to talk about for the rest of the season is the Pacers/Pistons fight. Seriously, like twenty people in nbafans   posted the suspensions like they thought they were breaking the news. So I got to see it on my friends list at least twenty times. Which is maaaaybe a tiny part of why I had to go to skip=900 to catch up. But I digress.

But... yeah. Sad. A few random thoughts:

• What the fuck was Ben Wallace thinking? Starting stuff with Ron Artest is like playing with matches in a fireworks factory. Wallace isn't stupid...
• ...therefore my really cynical side wonders if the Pistons were hoping to start something that would get Artest suspended and the Pacers down in the standings. But probably I've just been smoking too much crack.*
• Kobe Bryant should send Ron Artest the biggest bouquet of flowers he's ever seen as a thank-you for taking over the NBA's Public Enemy Number One spot. Maybe one of them big diamonds too.
• Though I'm hardly the first to mention it, I'm still digging the irony of Rasheed Wallace and Rick Mahorn trying to break up a fight.
• Am I the only one betting Terrell Owens is secretly pissed that this has gotten everyone to forget about the Monday Night Football kerfuffle? Which I still can't believe. I saw a lot more than that as a kid watching soap operas with my mom. If you want my opinion (and you probably don't), that was all about race. Beer-drinkin' football-watchin' rednecks like my dad don't want to see a blue-eyed blond throwing herself at a big black athlete. Truth be told, I thought the skit was pretty funny.
• The fans who ran out on the court were trying to provoke shit so they could file lawsuits, and I hope they won't be able to work the system.
• All the talk that this is going to destroy the NBA is ludicrous. Is it bad for the image? Of course. But so was Latrell Sprewell choking his coach, and he went on to be an All-Star and fan favorite. And face it, as Artest would say, you can't buy this kind of publicity. Hi, I'm Mark Cuban! Only not really so the NBA can't fine me for what I say in my blog. Which is good because I ain't got no money. I'd call myself the poor man's Mark Cuban except I don't think even I'm that crazy.
• Finally, it's kind of troubling to me that for all the talk from the commentators about what a great organization the Pacers are, apparently nobody ever sat down with Ron Artest to talk about getting some help. If he was limping in practice they would have sent him to a doctor; why didn't they at least try here? Is it because of the mental-health stigma? Or they didn't think he would do anything about it? Even from the most mercenary standpoint, you'd think they would want to protect their investment.

 

 * The Kellinator does not actually smoke crack, nor does she condone the smoking of crack. Crack is wack.

Comments

[ariedana.livejournal.com]

TO actually told a newspaper yesterday that he was glad this happened because it points directly to his "I'm no hoodlum - look at them!" example. And he does have a point there. Plus he was sick of talking about it, supposedly, although I doubt TO has ever been sick of doing anything involving a microphone and a writer's notebook.

And incidentally, as the person who gets the feedback email for an ABC affiliate, I didn't get one email about Desperate Housewives before the MNF promo. NOT ONE. After that aired, suddenly we got emails saying that we were promoting "sluts". Do I think that it's a race thing? Hell yeah! If parents are so concerned about sexual symbolism in their football games, then they need to get TiVos to delete every commercial and every promo. This one just pushed buttons, and it's disgusting how two-faced our society is.

Finally, it's good that they punished the guys for going into the stands, but those fans have to get cracked down on. And I'm not just talking about the guy who threw the cup and the ones who came on the court to fight Artest and O'Neal. I'm talking about the guys who threw everything but their firstborns at the players as they tried to get into the tunnel. That's something I saw a lot of on ESPNews on Saturday but hasn't been addressed at large. The whole crowd turned into hooligans, and they need to be treated just like hooligans are treated in international football (or, for that matter, in high schools across the country.) Make the Pistons play without a home crowd for a few games. Not only does that teach the fans a lesson, but it takes a bite into the Pistons' revenues, which they deserve. Their security sucked big-time that night, and honestly they're very lucky that no one died.