Ron

In article <2D8od.17568$sk2.13578@fe2.columbus.rr.com>,
"DeWayne" <k9kz@indy.rr.com> wrote:

> I don't dispute the suspensions, but try to put yourself in the shoes of the
> Pacers (not Artest). What would you do in that situation? There's no good
> answer, I know. Should the players contol themselves but not the fans? Did
> you get a good look at what the fans were doing? It was a mob scene, and I
> suspect quite drunk. I think the mob was nearly to the point of extreme
> violence.

The players should never go into the stands. Period.

The fans should never go on the floor. Period. They should never throw
anything on the floor, either.

One does not mitigate the other. It's not "The players should never go
in the stands, unless they're provoked." It's not "The fans should never
throw junk on the floor, unless there's a really bad call."

The mob wasn't at the point of extreme violence (if it ever was) until
Artest went up into the stands. Up until that point, you had ONE fan who
was seriously misbehaving. You probably had several others who were
misbehaving, but none of them directly assaulted a player.

The larger-scale retaliation against the players (fans rushing the
floor, lots of fans throwing drinks on players) didn't occur until at
least two or possibly three Pacers physically assaulted fans (I don't
know the exact timing of O'neal's blow to the fan relative to the
near-simultaneous rushing of the floor by other fans.) But it's clear
that an unhappy crowd was pushed to an extreme point by Artest, who was
pushed to an extreme point by the actions of a single fan.

-Ron