duncan228
03-08-2008, 10:10 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/columnists/mfinger/stories/MYSA030808.01C.1CFinger0308.en.385e833.html
Are threats during the heat of a game worth taking seriously?
Mike Finger
San Antonio Express-News
David Harrison said he was ready to commit murder, and he looked like he meant it. Later, his intended victim was so shook up by the threat he joked about how the scene would have played out in a Will Ferrell movie.
Should Matt Bonner have been worried by Harrison's "I'm going to (expletive) kill him" proclamation at the AT&T Center on Thursday night, though? Even if harsher words have been uttered on middle-school playgrounds, and even if Harrison almost certainly didn't intend to follow through on his vow, will there ever be a time when someone on a basketball court or a playing field will?
"Anything is possible, but I think this is highly unlikely," said Dr. John F. Murray, one of the nation's most well-known sports psychologists. "Everything is too public in sports, and the players and teams are focused on winning — not personal revenge or homicide."
That viewpoint is certainly rational, but the problem is the players and teams often are anything but. For instance, when Harrison was fuming by the Indiana Pacers bench on Thursday — still glaring at Bonner while mouthing repeatedly, "You're dead" — the teammate in charge of calming him down was Jamaal Tinsley.
Fortunately, Tinsley was better at protecting Bonner than he was at keeping Stephen Jackson from shooting up a strip-club parking lot.
David Harrison said he was ready to commit murder, and he looked like he meant it. Later, his intended victim was so shook up by the threat he joked about how the scene would have played out in a Will Ferrell movie.
It's not as though the idea of someone flying into a homicidal rage during a game is completely far-fetched (in fact, some refs swear they've already seen it from Gregg Popovich). Before the Pacers and Pistons left their mark on The Palace of Auburn Hills three seasons ago, no one imagined there would be a time when NBA players exchanged punches with fans in the seats.
And earlier this week, mayhem nearly erupted in a game at Baylor, of all places. In that environment, with debris being hurled at Texas A&M players similar to what Utah fans pelted the Spurs with during last year's Western Conference finals, would a third-degree, heat-of-the-moment, crime of passion be that much of a stretch?
It's not as though a player would need to imitate "The Last Boy Scout" and holster a pistol in his football pads. When they snap, these guys are big and strong enough to do serious damage with their own hands (P.J. Carlesimo can attest to this). And as for the psychologist's claim that "Everything is too public in sports?"
It's not as though being in public places has done much to temper Pacman Jones' wild side.
Granted, attacking someone in front of a live TV audience would be a big leap for most mentally stable human beings. But for some players mental stability isn't an obvious trait.
Harrison, who was suspended by the Pacers on Friday for one game for conduct detrimental to the team, has had an erratic history of failed drug tests and wild tantrums as a professional. And his behavior Thursday — when he reacted so angrily to a hard foul from Bonner that his own team sent him to the locker room, which he reportedly trashed — evoked memories of a similar incident from his college days.
In 2003, while playing for Colorado in a game at Texas Tech, he was ejected after chasing the Red Raiders' Pawel Storozynski across the court in reaction to a hard foul. Harrison had to be restrained by teammates, and officers escorted him off the United Spirit Arena court. Later, a bloody handprint marked the spot where a security guard said Harrison had smacked the wall by the locker room.
Was he any more of a threat to Storozynski's safety that night than he was to Bonner's on Thursday? Probably not. Tempers have flared and outlandish things have been said for as long as sports have been played, and not even sports psychologists argue the line of civil behavior doesn't occasionally get crossed.
"The ugly realities of competition," Murray said, "often mirror a street fight."
Will a game ever produce street-fight carnage?
As Murray said, it's "highly unlikely." But if it does happen, we can't say Harrison didn't warn us.
Are threats during the heat of a game worth taking seriously?
Mike Finger
San Antonio Express-News
David Harrison said he was ready to commit murder, and he looked like he meant it. Later, his intended victim was so shook up by the threat he joked about how the scene would have played out in a Will Ferrell movie.
Should Matt Bonner have been worried by Harrison's "I'm going to (expletive) kill him" proclamation at the AT&T Center on Thursday night, though? Even if harsher words have been uttered on middle-school playgrounds, and even if Harrison almost certainly didn't intend to follow through on his vow, will there ever be a time when someone on a basketball court or a playing field will?
"Anything is possible, but I think this is highly unlikely," said Dr. John F. Murray, one of the nation's most well-known sports psychologists. "Everything is too public in sports, and the players and teams are focused on winning — not personal revenge or homicide."
That viewpoint is certainly rational, but the problem is the players and teams often are anything but. For instance, when Harrison was fuming by the Indiana Pacers bench on Thursday — still glaring at Bonner while mouthing repeatedly, "You're dead" — the teammate in charge of calming him down was Jamaal Tinsley.
Fortunately, Tinsley was better at protecting Bonner than he was at keeping Stephen Jackson from shooting up a strip-club parking lot.
David Harrison said he was ready to commit murder, and he looked like he meant it. Later, his intended victim was so shook up by the threat he joked about how the scene would have played out in a Will Ferrell movie.
It's not as though the idea of someone flying into a homicidal rage during a game is completely far-fetched (in fact, some refs swear they've already seen it from Gregg Popovich). Before the Pacers and Pistons left their mark on The Palace of Auburn Hills three seasons ago, no one imagined there would be a time when NBA players exchanged punches with fans in the seats.
And earlier this week, mayhem nearly erupted in a game at Baylor, of all places. In that environment, with debris being hurled at Texas A&M players similar to what Utah fans pelted the Spurs with during last year's Western Conference finals, would a third-degree, heat-of-the-moment, crime of passion be that much of a stretch?
It's not as though a player would need to imitate "The Last Boy Scout" and holster a pistol in his football pads. When they snap, these guys are big and strong enough to do serious damage with their own hands (P.J. Carlesimo can attest to this). And as for the psychologist's claim that "Everything is too public in sports?"
It's not as though being in public places has done much to temper Pacman Jones' wild side.
Granted, attacking someone in front of a live TV audience would be a big leap for most mentally stable human beings. But for some players mental stability isn't an obvious trait.
Harrison, who was suspended by the Pacers on Friday for one game for conduct detrimental to the team, has had an erratic history of failed drug tests and wild tantrums as a professional. And his behavior Thursday — when he reacted so angrily to a hard foul from Bonner that his own team sent him to the locker room, which he reportedly trashed — evoked memories of a similar incident from his college days.
In 2003, while playing for Colorado in a game at Texas Tech, he was ejected after chasing the Red Raiders' Pawel Storozynski across the court in reaction to a hard foul. Harrison had to be restrained by teammates, and officers escorted him off the United Spirit Arena court. Later, a bloody handprint marked the spot where a security guard said Harrison had smacked the wall by the locker room.
Was he any more of a threat to Storozynski's safety that night than he was to Bonner's on Thursday? Probably not. Tempers have flared and outlandish things have been said for as long as sports have been played, and not even sports psychologists argue the line of civil behavior doesn't occasionally get crossed.
"The ugly realities of competition," Murray said, "often mirror a street fight."
Will a game ever produce street-fight carnage?
As Murray said, it's "highly unlikely." But if it does happen, we can't say Harrison didn't warn us.