Basketbrawl

So everybody knows about the brawl in Detroit last weekend that has resulted in the "death penalty" for the Indiana Pacers. The incident has raised lots of questions and generated lots of opinions, many of which are ludicrous.

I've heard wild theories from people who want to sound smart, talking about coddled athletes, drunken fans, societal failures, the so-called hip-hop culture, and even the war in Iraq to try to explain what happened. It's laughable.

What happened is easily seen on the constant video replays our television networks are only too happy to provide, ad nauseum. Pacers player (Artest) fouls Pistons player (Wallace), who is frustrated anyway by the fact that his team is being beaten and doesn't personally like the player who fouled him. He reacts by trying to instigate an on-court fight, but the Pacers player retreats. Players and coaches from each side move in to assist the officials with restoring order.

That's where the story should have ended. Had the Pistons had adequate security in place, it would have ended there. As the players, coaches, and officials worked to calm down Wallace, who by the way was still trying to get to Artest, presumably to deliver a few punches, Artest made a show of being above the fray by lying down on the scorer's table.

This enraged nearby Pistons fans, at least one of which threw his full beer cup at Artest, which hit him sqarely in the mid-section. This set off the tempermental Artest, who immediately jumped into the seats to find the offending fan. Unfortunately, he had no idea which fan threw the beer, and began pummeling a fan who was probably innocent. (I don't know whether that particular fan was taunting him.)

The action of jumping into the stands triggered a general riot, with several drunken Pistons fans converging to try to get their own shots at Artest, again with no security personnel in sight. Another Pacer, Jackson, either trying to protect his teammate or caught up in the emotions of the moment, joined Artest in the stands and began pummelling fans that were attempting to attack Artest.

In the meantime, a few fans spilled onto the court, and O'Neal punched one that confronted him there. Apparently somewhere else in the arena a chair was thrown by a fan that missed his intended Pacer target and injured another fan.

Finally, the teams were escorted off the court. The Pacers made their way to the locker room through a gauntlet of beer cups, popcorn, and whatever else could be found by fans to hurl at the players.

So, is there some deeper meaning or explanation for this terrible incident? Not at all. How many men in this situation would react similarly? I consider myself to have a fairly cool head, but if I was assaulted by a full beer cup during a sporting event, I can't be absolutely certain that I wouldn't react with similar anger.

This incident has little to do with race, culture, "hip-hop", and certainly nothing to do with the Iraq war. It is simply a tragic combination of elite athletes in the heat of competition, an emotional contest between bitter rivals, drunken fans, and an inexcusable lack of security.

Do the offending players deserve to be punished? Absolutely. Is the punishment meted out by the Commissioner appropriate? I don't think so. In my opinion, Artest should receive a 20-game suspension with strict probation the rest of the season. In other words, any unacceptable behavior when he returns to the court would result in immediate suspension for a full year.

Jackson and O'Neal should also receive suspensions, but for fewer games.

Finally, the Detroit franchise should be fined heavily. I'm thinking in the millions of dollars. They should forfeit their remaining games to the Pacers this season, and be forced to hire security for all future games. They also should be forced to discontinue beer sales at their games, and all fans involved in assaulting players should be banned from attending any future events.