Five Pacers Charged in Basketball Brawl

[underpants]

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=311392

DETROIT Dec 8, 2004 — Five Indiana Pacers players were charged Wednesday for fighting with fans in the stands and on the court at the end of a game against the Detroit Pistons last month.

Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, David Harrison and Anthony Johnson were all charged with one count of assault and battery, a misdemeanor that could bring about three months in jail. Jermaine O'Neal was charged with two counts of assault and battery.

[sniffa]

1. awesome

though i hope this doesn't deter future fan/pLayer brawLs. they're great for the sport.

[KansDem]

6. Times have changed...

When I was growing up, I played sports (1960s) and watched it on TeeVee. The rule among networks then was, when a fight broke out on the field of a televised event, usually a baseball game involving a "bench-clearing disagreement," the camera(s) would pan elsewhere in the park until the melee was over. The idea was that the row was "unsportsmanlike," and to show it would be to condone it.

Not any more. Now, not only do we get to see the donnybrook, we get to see it over and over thanks to instant replay.

Oh, well..."that's entertainment!"

[underpants]

2. ESPN speculated Five players and Five fans

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1941052

DETROIT -- Five Indiana Pacers players and five Detroit Pistons fans were expected to be charged with assault Wednesday in a brawl that broke out on the court last month and spilled into the stands at The Palace of Auburn Hills, according to news reports.



All charges are expected to be for misdemeanor assault and battery -- except for one count of felony assault against a fan accused of throwing a chair, according to reports citing unidentified sources in Wednesday editions of the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News and a Tuesday report on WDIV-TV.



"I'm not going to confirm anything," Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca told The Associated Press on Tuesday night. He said he would not comment until 2 p.m. EST Wednesday, when he has scheduled a news conference to announce the charges.

[DrWeird]

3. And how about for the fans who started the thing?

nt

[saving daylight]

8. the Fans fault? hardly

Fans have been rambunkious for as long as sports have been around. BUT the sports heroes of years gone past were upright people that knew this type of behavior was best ignored.

Now we have mega million dollar players 70% who, by some accounts, have criminal records assaulting fans.

My opinion on what started this? Using taxpayer money to build stadiums for entertainment for a few hundred thousand die hard fans in each state (yes, a few hundred thousand per team) making the mega million dollar salaries possible along with a great many number of sportscasters sucking a living off this professional sports circus.

The sooner we stop using public money to build stadiums and tell team owners that if they want a new stadium then raise the ticket prices to cover it. When they cry that ticket prices already mean it costs $120 or more for a man and two kids to go to a game, boo hoo! Cut the salaries of the players!

Now we have muscle enhancers in the baseball players! This whole professional sports issue has to be CLEANED OUT.

[puddycat]

10. Agreed--prof sports stadiums should NOT be built using taxpayer money

We should be building sports venues that ALL people can use--recreational facilities for everyone, not filthy rich corporate owners and ballplayers.

[Anakin Skywalker]

17. Agreed Here Too!

Corporatists can fund stadiums, arenas, etc. themselves!

[DBoon]

19. And we'd have fewer overweight americans

if people actually played sports instead of only watching sports

[tx_dem41]

11. Oh puhleeezzz!

Because the players make too much money and stadiums are taxpayer-supported, then those fans (who were sitting in primo $200+ seats) have the right to throw ice at the players! :eyes:

I have a novel idea, how about if everyone takes personal responsibility and we agree that everyone involved (actively) was at fault.

[rinsd]

13. More fleshed out article...5 fans charged as well.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=311586

[noonwitch]

16. Fans did get charged

The guy who threw the cup at Artest got misdemeanor assualt charges, as did David Wallace, Ben's brother. The guy who threw the chair picked up a felonious assualt charge.

[Blue_Tires]

4. too bad they couldn't toss Sprewell in there, too

the downfall of the National Streetball Association is nearly complete

[underpants]

5. Just on principal they should

he is slime

[TahitiNut]

7. Now being shown on Cable News (CNN and MSNBC)

Extensive video coverage in slow motion and graphical assists.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Like We Haven't Already Seen It A Thousand Times

Sheesh.

By the way, to another poster on this thread: The guy Artest went up into the stands and started pounding was NOT the guy who threw the water bottle that hit him. He ran RIGHT PAST the guy who did that, and punched a guy who didn't do it.

So, that fan should be indicted for what? Getting his head in the way of Artest's fist?

One more note: (Sorry Tahiti). Artest's ALLURE album has sold 800 copies. 800! With all the free advertising he's gotten, 800! It must really be a piece of crap.
The Professor

[tx_dem41]

12. I agree with you Professor.....

that's a first! ;)

[ProfessorGAC]

15. Well, That's Good

Ah, we'll eventually disagree again, but that's ok. We disagreeing agreeably.
The Professor

[Voltaire99]

14. Superb essay on the meaning of the brawl...

"Fight Night in the NBA: Selective Outrage in Detroit" by Dave Zirin.

http://www.counterpunch.com/zirin11222004.html

(Scroll down the page past the fundraising appeal.)

[Streetdoc270]

18. anyone willing to bet if any of them see jail time?

I say no. But it would be a great day for America if the judge would say ' I don't care WHO you are! 60 days!'