Writer’s Block // A Sad Day For The NBA – 11/20/04

I’m not a big basketball fan. I actually favor college football. It’s the whole culture of college football that eschews traditional values and sportsmanship as far as I’m concerned, despite recent aggressive recruiting among all of the colleges.

But once in a while, I become a voyeur and take a peek at professional NBA basketball. Last night was one of those nights. I have to admit that if I chose a night with any historical significance, then last night’s game between the Detroit Pistons (who I actually favor now) and the Indiana Pacers (who I favored a few years back when the Chicago Bulls were “all the rage”) will be a game that will go down in “Infamy.”

If you haven’t heard by now, (as Ralph Cramden would say) It Was A Riot. It all started when Ben Wallace of the Detroit Pistons literally (and I think pretty viciously) attacked Ron Artest of the Indiana Pacers after Ben thought a foul should have been called on him by Ron. Well if it only would have stopped at that moment, that would have been sufficient.

But what happens after this is where I think the line should be drawn. It was when Ron Artest went into the stands and attacked, smacked down, a little ole white boy who happened to throw some water, pop or beer on the immature players fighting a few feet away on the floor in front of their fans.

It didn’t stop there. Another player from the Detroit Pistons (and at this time I need to confirm who it was) rushed to an approaching fan on the floor and punched this fan in the face. I mean Punched. After that, “all hell broke loose.”

Now we could all say that little boys must play their games. I know that is what some of you might be thinking. But a “little old lady” was found smack down on the floor amidst all of this chaos.

I listened to a few commentators this morning on the Sports Channel and it reminded me of this ongoing debate we just had with the past election. One commentator stated that the players, because they are professional (and also I might add, get paid mucho bucks) should be above the fray. They should take responsibility for these actions.

The other commentator said that everyone should be taking responsibility for these actions. Everyone, which includes not only the players but also all of the fans, the managers, the coaches, even the security people.

This reminds me so much of our current situation in society as a whole. There seems to be a group of people who think that “we are all responsible for the problems that exist in our society.” We all must take blame for what is wrong. This thinking just seems to smooth it all out and it results in no one taking Any Responsibility.
I have to admit that I take the side of the former (1st) commentator in that someone has to (and is) more to blame for what goes wrong. And in this case, I certainly agree that the Professional Players should have been above whatever their fans were thinking. Besides, those fans are who Pays Their Salaries.

I can say this without prejudice, since each of these teams has a piece of my heart. Come on guys, Grow Up!