I am fairly sure by now almost every American within 50 feet of a television or radio has heard about the Brawl that broke out in Detroit between the Detroit Pistons, the Indiana Pacers and the Fans attending the game. Like most Americans I was surprised by the news footage of this brawl, however I was far from shocked. This type of behavior has become more and more acceptable at sporting events. Let's take a look at the participants in this brawl.
The Players ------ Young men that have been coddled by coaches, authorities and their parents ever since they first showed any real talent at Basketball. For most of their lives they have been allowed to commit any crime, abuse any tenant of civil behavior because they were able to put the basketball in the hoop. They are paid exorbitant amounts of money to play a kids game and are subject to almost worship by their "Fans". No amount of misbehavior, drug abuse, womanizing, thug like actions seem to impact their paychecks. In fact the more flamboyant the player is, the more trouble he gets into on and off the court, the higher his popularity and as a direct result his paycheck. The Chief instigator (among the players) in this incident Ron Artest has been suspended eight times in the last two season for his misbehavior. Earlier this year, Ron Artest was suspended for two games by the Pacers for asking for time off (During the Season) to promote his new rap album.
The Fans -------- These "Fans" crossed the line into thuggish behavior when one of them threw beer on a player. In the last few years we have witnessed more and more incidents where "Fans" threw things at players on opposing teams. We have seen fights break out DURING THE PLAYOFFS between Major League Baseball players and "Fans" of the opposing teams. "Fans" in New York and Philadelphia are famous for throwing batteries and other potentially career ending items at the players for opposing teams.
The Owners, Coaches and Team Management --------- Not only have they quietly condoned the shameful behavior of their multimillion dollar players but they refuse to crackdown on the hooligans in the stands. It does not seem to matter how many drug tests a player fails if he can still throw a baseball 100 mph. It does not seem to matter how many young women a player rapes if he can still put the basketball in the hoop. The owners and coaches have shown they will overlook any type of felonious behavior if the player can win them a championship.
The Media ------------ Yes, the media is also to blame for this incident. Look at the highlight films that are shown on the nightly news, not only do they show the best catch or basket of the day but then they show the flamboyant unsportsman like "Celebration" that follows the play. They show us players celebrating when they make tackles, touchdowns, baskets, catches and blocks. This type of coverage only encourages these multimillion dollar children to be more and more flamboyant.
The big question is how do we regain control of American sports? I don't have all the answers but I do know that a good start would be to permanently ban all Nine players involved in this brawl from the NBA. Pull the season tickets of the fans involved in this brawl and ensure that they are never allowed back into any NBA Arena. So long as we continue to excuse this type of behavior, it will continue to get worse.
Bill Hocutt