The suspensions are out!!!

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If someone throws a beer on me in a club in on the street, I go after him

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Jim... why? Why do you go after them? You have kids and a family to support. What benefit to them are you in jail? Going after someone for throwing a beer is childish. A man has self control and restrains from engaging in childish behaviour.

Try and physically assualt me, then I utilize the license provided to me by the state of Texas and end the confrontation before it begins. Throw a beer on me and I go home and take a shower.

CK, I have a bad temper and I would just go off in that situation....I probably would just push the fucker whereupon I can not be arrested, but I would confront him, it is not in my nature to just turn the other cheek....Jesus, I'm not.

CK, you are packing???

Damn, I forgot about people carry guns in this fucked up state of ours.

Perhaps I would be a little careful before I just charge at some asshole.
:))

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Originally Posted by fonzy16

...rememeber Monika Seles?

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The NBA is a joke.
If they really want to show they don't reward this, they would move the Pacers-Pistons off of Christmas game. Stern and the Marketing people make a living off of "racy storylines" (Lakers-Heat on Christmas).

If Stern really is upset he would ban beer sales after halftime, and move the Pacers-Pistons game from Christmas telecast.

But there is too much money to be made.


Artest penalty too harsh should be between 25-30 games
S-Jax Penalty too light, should be between 35-40 games
O'Neal...just right.

Reggie Miller has gotten fucked in his last season. He went in the stands as a peace maker with a broken hand in a suit, he was not throwing punches, yet he gets suspended.

Also Miller is in his last year as a player and he had a really good shot at the Finals this year, and now, his chances are almost zero. He gives his whole career to Indy and they pay him back by having guys like Artest on his team that make his last roundup a toatl loss.

Miller got suspended for leaving the bench.

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Originally Posted by samikeyp

Miller got suspended for leaving the bench.

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who in the fuck would have stayed on the bench...that in ludicrous.

not sure what "in ludicrous" is but that is the reason why he was suspended. :)

The smart ones.

Juwanna!

Nice one, SW!! A very funny flick. Miguel Nunez was perfectly cast.

But I'm sure Artest won't have to raise him up to the level transvestitism to top up his bank account if his suspension is upheld, not at all a sure thing.

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Damn, I forgot about people carry guns in this fucked up state of ours.

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Note: It is the man with the license that would restrain from fighting over a spilled beer. :p

Not to change the topic, but there hasn't been any problems since the right to carry came about. :)

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Originally Posted by Jimcs50

who in the fuck would have stayed on the bench...that in ludicrous.

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I do believe Tayshaun Prince stayed on the bench. Had he not, he might not have thrown down the winning bucket against the Bobcats last night.

Link

Pacers Ready to Move Forward

By Conrad Brunner | Nov. 22, 2004

For the Pacers, Monday was the first day of the rest of the season. It was regarded by those involved as much more of a beginning than an end.

The team is facing unprecedented adversity but the franchise was resolute, from CEO Donnie Walsh to President Larry Bird to Coach Rick Carlisle and on through what remains of the roster.

Ron Artest (suspended for the rest of the season including the playoffs), Stephen Jackson (suspended 30 games) and Jermaine O'Neal (suspended 25 games) are gone for the time being, but the season is not forgotten.

"Our players will compete every night like they always have," said Bird. "They will show up to work every day in practice and as our players start coming back to us we will get better and better. Now, I can't sit here and guarantee to you how many wins we're going to have. I will guarantee you our players will play as hard as they possibly can every night. And to our fans: we need you now as much as we've ever needed you. We need support. We need you behind us. This is not something we wanted. It happened, we deal with it and we move forward."

In the aftermath of Commissioner David Stern's historic punishment of the Indiana players involved in the melee in Detroit last Friday night – five players were suspended a total of 134 games - the Pacers met with the media for the first time and their message was consistent.

With only eight healthy players, and only one (Jamaal Tinsley) a regular starter, the next few weeks will be a major challenge. But they are convinced that, as injured players heal and suspensions are served out, the team will still be a contender in the Eastern Conference.

"No one is going to feel sorry for us," said Reggie Miller. "No one is going to take it easy on us. We won 61 games last year, embarrassing a lot of teams on our route to doing that. A lot of teams are going to feel it's payback for that. But we're going to hold strong. We have enough core-group guys that can hold it down until we get the rest of the cavalry back. There are a lot of guys that have been in a lot of big games that are still able to play.

"We understand we are being held accountable for what happened last Friday but we're going to make no excuses. Either we're going to win the games or lose the games. We're not going to say our top three were out. We're not going to hold any excuses because we feel we can get the job done."

Several points were addressed at two separate news conferences at Conseco Fieldhouse. Among them:

Though there is little, if any, precedent for a successful appeal in cases such as these, the Pacers will exhaust every such possibility in support of their suspended players.

The combined lost salaries of those players, reportedly in excess of $11 million, will still count against the Pacers' salary-cap figure. Rather than being paid to the players, such funds are generally paid to the league, which donates them to charity.

The Pacers will be able to sign players to fill out the roster, although they will be limited by salary-cap restrictions to offering league-minimum contracts.

The suspended players can practice with the team and otherwise use the workout facilities, but will be given a few days off before rejoining their teammates. Those players cannot be in the arena 2 hours before tipoff on game nights.

Artest has the full support of the franchise and, despite his troubled past, remains an integral part of the team's future.

"The incident that took place in Detroit last Friday night was a low point in professional sports, but I'd also like to add that it's been a low point for our franchise, as well, and we apologize for being part of it," said Walsh. "We want to make it clear that we are going forward with this team as it is. We feel we have a deep, talented team. We feel that we have an awful lot of good basketball players. Players will start coming off the injured list.

"We will also explore what other avenues we have to improve the team, although that's not set yet. So I guess pretty generally, we intend to compete and to win on a high level. We think we owe this to our fans, to the city and to the NBA."

The franchise also believes it owes its full backing to Artest, who was hit with the biggest suspension in NBA history.

"Ronnie is a good young man, a good kid," said Walsh. "He's obviously made mistakes; some of the mistakes have been real mistakes over the last three years. Some of the things he does that seem to be not rising to the level of something real bad seem to get blown into something bigger than that. We're aware of the fact of how it's perceived by the public. We're aware of the fact he's had issues. He's tried to help himself with those things and we've tried to support him in helping himself with those things.

"This is another level, and obviously he's been punished worse than the other players. So this isn't the time for us to be saying we're going to get off his bandwagon or we're not going to support him, because we are."

And so the show must go on, albeit without many of its leading men.

"Friday night was a regrettable incident," Carlisle said. "Many people involved obviously made a lot of mistakes. But I think we're at a point now, three days later, where we've got to move toward getting through it. The penalties have been handed down. The healing process has to start."

Nobody stayed on the bench...they were all up on the floor. Reggie was trying to corral Artest and he was also talking to the cop and telling him not to spray pepper spray in Artest's face...he was doing what any normal man would have done. He was not trying to fight, he was trying to help restore order...that is the Christian thing to do.

He should not be punished.

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Originally Posted by Jimcs50

Nobody stayed on the bench.

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my point exactly.

I think only those who got off the bench during the original altercation (between Wallace and Artest) were suspended. Reggie came out on the floor during that time.

the pacers bench players get to gain valuable game experience

I bet alot of teams will scout them just to see when it comes contract time to get them or trade for them

Artest got off easy, IMO. He should be banned from the league with his history of violence.

Jax didn't get the same punishment, I think, simply because he didn't have the history of violence that Artest does. Stern said he factored in Artest's history when leveraging punishments.

O'Neal would have gotten the same as Jax except he didn't make it to the stands (only because he was physically restrained).

I think the league did a good job of setting a standard that anyone who left the bench during the original altercation got at least a 1 game suspension. Miller's intentions may have been good, but it's not his job to break up a fight on the court.

I don't think it's appropriate for the NBA to leverage punishments against Pistons fans - that is up to the Auburn Hills Police and managers of the Palace.

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Originally Posted by adidas11

Nope, there were fans who were also coming out on to the floor, confronting players. And a LOT of fans were throwing shit directly at the players...The NBA was EXTREMELY soft on this issue. Pathetic.

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I'd like to say something that no one else has offered to my knowledge. A boxer is held to extremely strict accountability --because his hands are considered to be lethal weapons.

Most basketball players are much better physical specimens than boxers. They are much taller, heavier, in better shape (IMHO) and have great eye-hand coordination and even quicker reflexes. While they are not trained in boxing in most cases, anyone can throw a lethal punch--especially if they come in on the fly like Jermaine O'Neal. Remember Rudy T?

I think these atheletes are so gifted physically, that they should also be aware that these gifts are extremely dangerous in a physical confrontation. They should be held responsible for keeping themselves under control--even when confronted by a fan mouthing off or throwing beer.

Getting hurt feelings or wet won't maim someone. Getting out of control against a less physically able fan can do real harm.