Monday, November 22, 2004
A Rude Awakening
The bow of decency has broken and the cradle of NBA integrity did indeed fall Friday night in Auburn Hills, Michigan--as sharply as the crack of a Jermaine O'Neal roundhouse right on the jaw of a Pistons fan. All things pro basketball will forever be measured in relation to this horrific incident. From championships to fights, all things wrong or right shall be remembered in the context of whether they occurred before The Brawl or after The Brawl. The effects of Friday night's shocking debacle, like any catastrophic event, will not be fully understood for years to come. The more we try to make sense of this moral calamity, the more absurd it becomes.
Ron Artest is a child operating the finely tuned body of a world-class athlete. Friday night, that child fell asleep at the wheel and careened into outrageous actions he won't likely regret until the approximated $5 million is found missing from his play fund. Of course, many people, NBA players or everyday plumbers, would have reacted the same way Artest did if they too were pelted by a beer while they laid innocent and defenseless. They too would have been wrong to do so. But the issue with Ron Artest is about a lot more than what he did Friday night. Don't be fooled into thinking this is just about a misused cup of beer as tragic as that was. This is about a person whose severe immaturity has been hindering him for some time. It's only now that the consequences of his immaturity have outweighed the benefits of his skill in the game of basketball.
Remember two weeks ago when Artest asked for a month off to recover from fatigue suffered from promoting his forthcoming album? Did you see when he justified this request by saying that he was a grown man and should not be called crazy for wanting to take time off to do what he wants to do? Ron Artest is not a man. He may be one in terms of age, but he is far from understanding what it means to be a man in terms of responsibility and integrity. Men honor their commitments, their team, their city and, at the very least, their multi-million dollar contracts. That honor, along with sacrifice is what defines a man. Age, money, pride and even fatherhood are what often fool boys into thinking they are men. Rarely will you see a true "grown man" use that status as a defense of his actions.
The Indiana Pacers are not directly to blame for what happened on Friday night, but they absolutely could have prevented it. As it is for so many troubled athletes, the writing was on the wall for Artest long before he erupted into the stands in Auburn Hills. The larger problem is that franchises in all professional sports, run their teams like a business, as they should given the amount of money involved. However, this businesslike approach must not supersede the wellbeing of its components, the players. This would have been Ron Artest's fifth full season with the Pacers. You can't tell me they didn't know Artest had some issues before Friday night. Of course they knew, but they were more interested in how Artest could help them win than they were in Artest himself. There is more to life than winning basketball games, even if you are a professional basketball team. Will someone now take a stand to curb behavioral issues before they boil over into violence? Will they not be afraid to do so at the expense of their own success if suspensions become necessary? I believe they will now have to. The league will not abide another such incident as Friday's. Perhaps that's the one benefit of this whole ordeal, that it will bring much needed change to the priority and methods of handling players' personality issues. Hopefully, more proactive attitudes will take over, like that of Commissioner David Stern's who has been arguing for a minimum age requirement in the NBA for years now.
Of course, the fans are as much to blame for the horror as anyone else. In the days following The Brawl, I've heard many reporters describing the fan situation as "a couple of knuckleheads ruining it for everybody." I think that's a dangerous way to trivialize what is clearly a fundamental and far-reaching problem. I saw a lot more than "a few knuckleheads" throwing drinks, popcorn, and even a chair at players and I don't buy the alcohol excuse either. There is a larger issue at hand here. The modern sports fan is too involved with his/her team. Sports have become too personal to people. Fantasy sports, in-depth media coverage and modern technology have enabled modern sports fans to be more involved with sports than anyone ever in history and we have not been taught how to deal with this incredible access. We watch Sportscenter twice a day. We check espn.com every hour. We read the papers before we go to work. We listen to sportstalk radio on the way to work. We argue about sports all day once we're at work. On the weekends, we spend all day living and dying with our teams on satellite TV with ESPNHD, NFL Ticket, and NBA League Pass. With so much access, we have become obsessed. Not to mention that the era of trashtalking has taught us that sportsmanship is less of a virtue than cleverly coming up with the funniest way to degrade our opponent. Fans take this to an even higher level than the players do. Think of how many fights in the stands you have seen that develop out of an argument that essentially breaks down to "my team is better than your team." In the 2003 baseball season, a man lost his life because he was a Giants fan at Dodger Stadium. We as fans have got to let go a little bit. We have got to stop taking our teams and ourselves so seriously. Ron Artest did nothing personal to anyone in the stands by fouling Ben Wallace. The Pacers did nothing personal to the Detroit fans by beating the Pistons that night. Yet how enraged did the crowd become? Enough to throw beer on a complete stranger. Enough to go down onto the court and physically confront that same stranger who is twice their size. The allegiance to sports teams has grown to unhealthy levels. It takes a very well-adjusted person these days to step back and say, "it's just a game." The Detroit fans Friday night proved that much of America, while perhaps still of great character, are not strong enough to take that step back when they most need to. The hype tells us that these are not just games we're watching anymore; they are wars. Which leads me to wonder, would the guy who was so willing to fight for his basketball team be as willing to fight for his country? I'm almost afraid to know the answer to that.
The people are not getting a lot of help from the so-called experts either. The opinions expressed by ESPN's panel of NBA analysts that night on Sportscenter were nearly as absurd as the events themselves. Stephen A. Smith reported that he had just spoken with Pistons GM Joe Dumars who had told him that he felt there was no excuse for entering the stands. Tim Legler and Greg Anthony, both former players, expressed respect for Dumars but countered that he was flat out wrong. They argued that when a fan throws an object, all bets are off and that most players in the game today would have handled it just as Artest did. They seemed to believe that just because Artest's reaction was perfectly natural and understandable, that it was somehow justified. This is a very dangerous message to send to the kids who tuned in to Sportscenter to see the footage again and to see what these experts had to say. In all fairness, the panel didn't have much time to reflect on this incident before going on live television and in the days since, I have seen them revise their views in print. However, their first comments made on live TV will unfortunately reach many more kids than their after-thought of an internet article will. While former players provide game analysis that is second-to-none, their reaction to events such as this also come from their perspective as former players. As I unfortunately saw Friday night , that is sometimes a good way to get a very bad message out to the youth of America. The young, impressionable NBA players of tomorrow are not going to make the distinction between a personal opinion of an ESPN sports analyst and the bankable, corporate brand of ESPN itself. Not only did they see potential role models enter the stands and attack fans, they then got to see a panel of four distinguished gentlemen in suits tell them from behind a news desk that it was okay to do so as long as they are provoked. As I said before, the effects of this incident will not be fully realized for years to come.
A lot went wrong at The Palace on Friday night. The blame is shared by anyone involved. The responsibility to make sure that it never happens again, however, rests on the collective shoulders of the entire sports world. No NBA-imposed fine, suspension, or rule revision will do it. The changes that need to be made must be made outside of the arenas and far from the reach of the NBA. Society must stop ignoring young athletes' problems while exploiting their sensational talents. Fans must learn how to dive into their teams and still keep both feet on the ground. We have seen what can happen if we allow ourselves to stay on the current course. It's now up to us to determine whether Friday night's riot is the end or the beginning.
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Ron Artest is a child operating the finely tuned body of a world-class athlete. Friday night, that child fell asleep at the wheel and careened into outrageous actions he won't likely regret until the approximated $5 million is found missing from his play fund. Of course, many people, NBA players or everyday plumbers, would have reacted the same way Artest did if they too were pelted by a beer while they laid innocent and defenseless. They too would have been wrong to do so. But the issue with Ron Artest is about a lot more than what he did Friday night. Don't be fooled into thinking this is just about a misused cup of beer as tragic as that was. This is about a person whose severe immaturity has been hindering him for some time. It's only now that the consequences of his immaturity have outweighed the benefits of his skill in the game of basketball.
Remember two weeks ago when Artest asked for a month off to recover from fatigue suffered from promoting his forthcoming album? Did you see when he justified this request by saying that he was a grown man and should not be called crazy for wanting to take time off to do what he wants to do? Ron Artest is not a man. He may be one in terms of age, but he is far from understanding what it means to be a man in terms of responsibility and integrity. Men honor their commitments, their team, their city and, at the very least, their multi-million dollar contracts. That honor, along with sacrifice is what defines a man. Age, money, pride and even fatherhood are what often fool boys into thinking they are men. Rarely will you see a true "grown man" use that status as a defense of his actions.
The Indiana Pacers are not directly to blame for what happened on Friday night, but they absolutely could have prevented it. As it is for so many troubled athletes, the writing was on the wall for Artest long before he erupted into the stands in Auburn Hills. The larger problem is that franchises in all professional sports, run their teams like a business, as they should given the amount of money involved. However, this businesslike approach must not supersede the wellbeing of its components, the players. This would have been Ron Artest's fifth full season with the Pacers. You can't tell me they didn't know Artest had some issues before Friday night. Of course they knew, but they were more interested in how Artest could help them win than they were in Artest himself. There is more to life than winning basketball games, even if you are a professional basketball team. Will someone now take a stand to curb behavioral issues before they boil over into violence? Will they not be afraid to do so at the expense of their own success if suspensions become necessary? I believe they will now have to. The league will not abide another such incident as Friday's. Perhaps that's the one benefit of this whole ordeal, that it will bring much needed change to the priority and methods of handling players' personality issues. Hopefully, more proactive attitudes will take over, like that of Commissioner David Stern's who has been arguing for a minimum age requirement in the NBA for years now.
Of course, the fans are as much to blame for the horror as anyone else. In the days following The Brawl, I've heard many reporters describing the fan situation as "a couple of knuckleheads ruining it for everybody." I think that's a dangerous way to trivialize what is clearly a fundamental and far-reaching problem. I saw a lot more than "a few knuckleheads" throwing drinks, popcorn, and even a chair at players and I don't buy the alcohol excuse either. There is a larger issue at hand here. The modern sports fan is too involved with his/her team. Sports have become too personal to people. Fantasy sports, in-depth media coverage and modern technology have enabled modern sports fans to be more involved with sports than anyone ever in history and we have not been taught how to deal with this incredible access. We watch Sportscenter twice a day. We check espn.com every hour. We read the papers before we go to work. We listen to sportstalk radio on the way to work. We argue about sports all day once we're at work. On the weekends, we spend all day living and dying with our teams on satellite TV with ESPNHD, NFL Ticket, and NBA League Pass. With so much access, we have become obsessed. Not to mention that the era of trashtalking has taught us that sportsmanship is less of a virtue than cleverly coming up with the funniest way to degrade our opponent. Fans take this to an even higher level than the players do. Think of how many fights in the stands you have seen that develop out of an argument that essentially breaks down to "my team is better than your team." In the 2003 baseball season, a man lost his life because he was a Giants fan at Dodger Stadium. We as fans have got to let go a little bit. We have got to stop taking our teams and ourselves so seriously. Ron Artest did nothing personal to anyone in the stands by fouling Ben Wallace. The Pacers did nothing personal to the Detroit fans by beating the Pistons that night. Yet how enraged did the crowd become? Enough to throw beer on a complete stranger. Enough to go down onto the court and physically confront that same stranger who is twice their size. The allegiance to sports teams has grown to unhealthy levels. It takes a very well-adjusted person these days to step back and say, "it's just a game." The Detroit fans Friday night proved that much of America, while perhaps still of great character, are not strong enough to take that step back when they most need to. The hype tells us that these are not just games we're watching anymore; they are wars. Which leads me to wonder, would the guy who was so willing to fight for his basketball team be as willing to fight for his country? I'm almost afraid to know the answer to that.
The people are not getting a lot of help from the so-called experts either. The opinions expressed by ESPN's panel of NBA analysts that night on Sportscenter were nearly as absurd as the events themselves. Stephen A. Smith reported that he had just spoken with Pistons GM Joe Dumars who had told him that he felt there was no excuse for entering the stands. Tim Legler and Greg Anthony, both former players, expressed respect for Dumars but countered that he was flat out wrong. They argued that when a fan throws an object, all bets are off and that most players in the game today would have handled it just as Artest did. They seemed to believe that just because Artest's reaction was perfectly natural and understandable, that it was somehow justified. This is a very dangerous message to send to the kids who tuned in to Sportscenter to see the footage again and to see what these experts had to say. In all fairness, the panel didn't have much time to reflect on this incident before going on live television and in the days since, I have seen them revise their views in print. However, their first comments made on live TV will unfortunately reach many more kids than their after-thought of an internet article will. While former players provide game analysis that is second-to-none, their reaction to events such as this also come from their perspective as former players. As I unfortunately saw Friday night , that is sometimes a good way to get a very bad message out to the youth of America. The young, impressionable NBA players of tomorrow are not going to make the distinction between a personal opinion of an ESPN sports analyst and the bankable, corporate brand of ESPN itself. Not only did they see potential role models enter the stands and attack fans, they then got to see a panel of four distinguished gentlemen in suits tell them from behind a news desk that it was okay to do so as long as they are provoked. As I said before, the effects of this incident will not be fully realized for years to come.
A lot went wrong at The Palace on Friday night. The blame is shared by anyone involved. The responsibility to make sure that it never happens again, however, rests on the collective shoulders of the entire sports world. No NBA-imposed fine, suspension, or rule revision will do it. The changes that need to be made must be made outside of the arenas and far from the reach of the NBA. Society must stop ignoring young athletes' problems while exploiting their sensational talents. Fans must learn how to dive into their teams and still keep both feet on the ground. We have seen what can happen if we allow ourselves to stay on the current course. It's now up to us to determine whether Friday night's riot is the end or the beginning.
# posted by j.h.k. @ 1:40 PM 
