M is for Moron...

this is absolute bull[censored]. why is it that because ron artest is wearing a basketball jersey when some ignorant [censored]stick throws his beer cup at him, its OK and the worst the "fan" gets is ejected from the game? if he did this to artest at the bar later that night he wouldve gotten his ass handed to him and deservedly so. and you wouldnt be on here calling for his head. so what exactly is the difference?

the difference is that the fans are artests employer.....if you dont get that...shut the [censored] up on this subject.....did you see the 70 something lady caught under the fiasco?? did you see the father protecting his 8-9 year old daughter??
it is inexcusable for artest UNDER THIS CIRCUMSTANCE TO ACT THIS WAY...HE IS LUCKY IF HE IS EVER ALLOWED TO PLAY AGAIN....

stern gets it......rethink your opinion.....

[TheyCallMeAssassin]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeNation27

you've got to be a detroit fan.

this is absolute bull[censored]. why is it that because ron artest is wearing a basketball jersey when some ignorant [censored]stick throws his beer cup at him, its OK and the worst the "fan" gets is ejected from the game? if he did this to artest at the bar later that night he wouldve gotten his ass handed to him and deservedly so. and you wouldnt be on here calling for his head. so what exactly is the difference?

i wish he woulve found the coward who threw it and rammed his head of the chair.

The difference is that he isn't paid millions of dollars a year to not punch someone in a night club.

When Artest is in a night club, he isn't on national TV representing the league and his team.

The two situations are COMPLETELY different.

Quite simply, if he can't control himself and his emotions enough to keep from running into the stands and throwing punches at innocent bystanders, he has no business on the court.

Your anti-Michigan bias is clearly influencing your judgment.

[bucknut74]

6 games for Big Ben is appropriate. If you noticed, he got into the stands too. Artest got what he deserved, not only that I think he went after the wrong guy. Unless he was double-fisting, the white guy in the black shirt already had something in his hand. I don't think it was him that chucked the cup at him, but I could be wrong.

[TheyCallMeAssassin]

Originally Posted by bucknut74

6 games for Big Ben is appropriate. If you noticed, he got into the stands too. Artest got what he deserved, not only that I think he went after the wrong guy. Unless he was double-fisting, the white guy in the black shirt already had something in his hand. I don't think it was him that chucked the cup at him, but I could be wrong.

Ben Wallace did not go into the stands.
RASHEED Wallace went to the edge of the stands to try to break things up.

Wallace did nothing to warrant a six game suspension. He shoved someone who had shoved him when he was in a vulnerable position.

[BuckeyeNation27]

Originally Posted by DiHard

the difference is that the fans are artests employer.....if you dont get that...shut the [censored] up on this subject.....did you see the 70 something lady caught under the fiasco?? did you see the father protecting his 8-9 year old daughter??
it is inexcusable for artest UNDER THIS CIRCUMSTANCE TO ACT THIS WAY...HE IS LUCKY IF HE IS EVER ALLOWED TO PLAY AGAIN....

stern gets it......rethink your opinion.....

um, no. the fans are spectators. his owner is his employer.

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeAssassin

The difference is that he isn't paid millions of dollars a year to not punch someone in a night club.

When Artest is in a night club, he isn't on national TV representing the league and his team.

The two situations are COMPLETELY different.

Quite simply, if he can't control himself and his emotions enough to keep from running into the stands and throwing punches at innocent bystanders, he has no business on the court.

Your anti-Michigan bias is clearly influencing your judgment.

he's not paid millions of dollars a year to not punch somebody on the court either. he's paid (the amount isnt really a factor) to play basketball.

how is my anti-Michigan bias clearly influencing anything. i dont have an anti-Michigan bias you stupid [censored]. i hate scUM, not anything and everything michigan. [censored]in ignorant [censored]head.

[TheyCallMeAssassin]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeNation27

um, no. the fans are spectators. his owner is his employer.
he's not paid millions of dollars a year to not punch somebody on the court either. he's paid (the amount isnt really a factor) to play basketball.

how is my anti-Michigan bias clearly influencing anything. i dont have an anti-Michigan bias you stupid [censored]. i hate scUM, not anything and everything michigan. [censored]in ignorant [censored]head.

Classy.

No wonder you support Artest, you act just like him.

ummm....i hope you get this....the fans are the employers of all professional athletes.....period....

the fans pay them...not the owners.....

[BuckeyeNation27]

the fans pay the owners. the owners pay the players.

how about i get some [censored]head to go to where you work and hurl a plastic cup full of beer at you.

[censored]ing employees get screamed at and mistreated all the time by customers......i dont know what you do for a living, but it happens....

if i cold-cock a customer....i get fired.....

its as simple as that.....it doesnt matter if the customer is out of line or not....as an employee i have an obligation to act professionally.....

artest and company acted like punks.....

you have no legs in this debate...

the customer is always right.....

the nba clearly agrees with my side....but i guess you know more than the nba....

[ohiobuck94]

Originally Posted by DiHard

[censored]ing employees get screamed at and mistreated all the time by customers......i dont know what you do for a living, but it happens....

if i cold-cock a customer....i get fired.....

its as simple as that.....it doesnt matter if the customer is out of line or not....as an employee i have an obligation to act professionally.....

artest and company acted like punks.....

you have no legs in this debate...

the customer is always right.....

the nba clearly agrees with my side....but i guess you know more than the nba....

Give it to em Dihard. People just don't punch a customer out. That's the bottom line.

[BuckeyeInTheBoro]

Originally Posted by ohiobuck94

Give it to em Dihard. People just don't punch a customer out. That's the bottom line.

True, but people also sue their employers for providing working conditions where they are put in dangerous/degrading situations like having a large plastic cup of beer thrown on their face from several feet above them... for example.

He's not being paid millions for people to abuse him... just to play hoops. I doubt there are many here who would not have tried to "defend themselves" in that situation and to give the fans a pass on this is crazy.

[ohiobuck94]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeInTheBoro

True, but people also sue their employers for providing working conditions where they are put in dangerous/degrading situations like having a large plastic cup of beer thrown on their face from several feet above them... for example.

He's not being paid millions for people to abuse him... just to play hoops. I doubt there are many here who would not have tried to "defend themselves" in that situation and to give the fans a pass on this is crazy.

There is such a thing as letting it go if your life is not in danger. I don't think a cup full of beer is a life threatening situation. What made it life threatening was the players response.

[Clarity]

Interesting topic.

It goes without saying that all the players deserved to be penalized, Artest the most. Zero question there, he stepped over the line in a huge way. I think a full year is probably over the top, but whatever, the relative weight of the penalty is open to individual perspective and opinion.

I do think that the NBA needs to think about slapping fans with penalties as well. They can't fine fans (no authority obviously), but they can suspend them from games.

Take the fan that threw the drink that set Artest off (no, I don't think it's even remotely reasonable to say he's an innocent), he shouldn't be allowed back inside an NBA game for some period; the rest of the season, or longer if the event shows a pattern of problematic behavior. It would be elementary to enforce, and a minimal expense for the owners. Cameras at the gates, the software to scan faces (it's all over the place these days anyway) and a single security employee at the facility to monitor and alert staff as appropriate. If you get banned, then you don't get to go see the games.

Fans may be the ones who provide the money that pays the players, but that doesn't give them carte blanche to act any way they want, demean the players, etc. Yes, the players are the professionals, but in as much as they have a responsibility to act professionally, so too do they have an expectation for reasonable treatment. A player can expect to get heckled, jeered, ribbed, even verbally abused above and beyond what most would consider acceptable behavior -- but even animals at the zoo shouldn't have to endure some jackass throwing food and/or drink at them, let alone batteries, bottles, etc. Why should an NBA (or NFL, or MLB, I'll leave the NHL out until they decide it shouldn't be sanctioned boxing on ice) player? He's not being paid to be abused, it's part of the package, but there are limits to what they should be expected to endure.

Which is not to say it even remotely excuses going into the stands, ever. No matter what some fan did or didn't do. But having balls and at least some pride, I can understand (just not appreciate or respect) on some less evolved and unrestrained level why Artest did that. He did it though. He screwed up, he's getting slammed, so be it.

I'm just saying that the fans should suffer consequences for their actions as well. Barring them from the games they hold so precious would be at least some incentive to not throw things or take to the court next time.

Just my take though.

[BuckeyeNation27]

Originally Posted by DiHard

[censored]ing employees get screamed at and mistreated all the time by customers......i dont know what you do for a living, but it happens....

if i cold-cock a customer....i get fired.....

its as simple as that.....it doesnt matter if the customer is out of line or not....as an employee i have an obligation to act professionally.....

artest and company acted like punks.....

you have no legs in this debate...

the customer is always right.....

the nba clearly agrees with my side....but i guess you know more than the nba....

screamed and mistreated vs. bodily harm? thats equal.

what crawled up your ass anyways?

[tibor75]

Originally Posted by DiHard

tibor has been mia since before the game.......im sure he was rocking in a corner as he watched his beloved scummers lose.....

could be tibor......you know he is just [censored]ed that his team lost....