Money and Power: "Lets Kick Some A$$"

November 30, 2004

"Lets Kick Some A$$"

I am sure you all are aware of what went down in the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons game a couple of weeks ago. I was definitely shocked while I watched sportscenter replay the fight over and over in slow motion. I could not believe that a hard foul could escalate into an all out brawl between fans and players. I definitely disagree with the Pacers players going into the stands, but at the same time the fans need to know their role.
When viewing the footage with my friends we all laughed and were rooting on the Pacer players. However, I would be pretty angry if I was a parent and my kids saw this type of behavior. My opinion on the whole thing is that Artest and the rest of the Pacers players were completely out of line. As a professional athlete you are paid a lot of money and you have to have some pretty thick skin when it comes to situations like these.

Posted by lind1121 at November 30, 2004 3:22 PM

Comments

I definitely agree that athletes need to keep their emotions in check when it comes to fans. But at the same time the fans need to have some self control as well. They are given somewhat of a gift in basketball being able to sit right next to the players and coaches unlike most all other sports, like hockey for instance it is a violent sport to begin with so there is glass separating the fans from the players. Did you ever see when a fan was leaning over the penalty box when ty Domi was in the box and the glass broke and the fan fell into the box, I wouldn't like to be one to fall into a box with him after yelling at him and giving him s#$t. At the same time though being a high payed athelete with money to protect they better keep their emotions in check.

Posted by: Scott Krzmarzick at November 30, 2004 3:39 PM

Well spoken Jerimiah. My conspiracy theory follows. A couple weeks before the game Artest talked about wanting to devote more to to his rap career. His album is due to release soon. After the fight broke out I think Artest saw a perfect opportunity for publicity and siezed the moment. It's a bit dramatic and does give Artest a lot of credit for thinking in the moment, something he's not known for doing. However, I expect the sales of his album to double because of the incident.

Posted by: Christopher at December 1, 2004 8:11 PM

I agree, Scott, that the fans bear responsibility too, a comment I also posted on Matt B's blog [ http://blog.lib.umn.edu/borc0075/TheSportsPage/ ] about the Artest incident. Chris's conspiracy theory is interesting--it does seem to be true that, more often than not, there's no such thing as bad publicity. But if Artest premditated this act, he didn't think it through far enough to get to the idea of "lawsuits." He might need to sell a whole lot of CDs.

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Posted by: biagra at July 31, 2007 4:18 AM

Guess I'm not getting the connection with 'money and power'.

Posted by: Jay at July 28, 2010 4:26 PM

Yes, I agree. I think athletes should have to attend anger management classes before each season.

Posted by: Alonzo at August 4, 2010 10:05 PM

Athletes are no better than anyone else and should learn to control their temper.

Posted by: Rob at August 6, 2010 9:56 PM

Fine them $100,000 for each ocurence and I bet the number of incidences drops like a rock.

Posted by: Dell at August 15, 2010 12:19 PM

The fault lies with the fans because they do not hold athletes accountable by conveying disgust for their attitude.

Posted by: Victor at August 16, 2010 9:14 PM

The fault lies with the fans in not holding the athletes accountable.

Posted by: Victor at August 16, 2010 9:16 PM

Why should athletes care? No one condemns their action publicly.

Posted by: Sam at October 8, 2010 2:01 PM