NBA ACTION IS FANTASTIC

I can't say I entirely agree with FLOG™ about the big Pacers-Pistons brawl already being suggested as the biggest sports fight ever (by people who get linked to by Instapundit). FLOG™ argues this is no "great stain on the game" because this fights are just a fact of phsyical competition. Like car crashes at NASCAR. "Battle is battle, no matter how many rules and rituals you lacquer over it," he writes. I agree, up to a point.

Yes the fans were assholes, especially that asshole who threw the plastic cup of liquid "debris" at Ron Artest. But for throwing punches at non-players, I don't think it unreasonable that a couple of Indiana Pacers be suspended for the season. (David Stern may agree, considering the four suspended players are out "indefinitely.")

I like a good fight as much as anyone, and of course there are fights among players in other sports a lot more than basketball, but rarely with the fans. I think there's something to be said for drawing a line of acceptable player-fan interaction -- because otherwise Stern is just going to bring in a row of cops for every game. Pretty soon we'll be taking our shoes off before going into the arena. And maybe basketball players could stick to punching someone at their own earning level -- that's how they do it in boxing. I believe in the necessity of war, but I also believe in upholding charges of war crimes. What I'm doing is drawing a line in the sand, saying: This aggression will not stand, man.

But don't get me wrong -- I love this story.

Now, a few words for you guys:

Congrats, you finally got what you wanted in the first place: a few weeks off near the start of the playoff season. And possibly more. Now get out there and push that rap CD!

Try as he might to hide it, Jermaine's latent Jail Blazerosity eventually revealed itself last night. That'll teach him to hang around Portland.

Steve Jackson, shouldn't you be in Buffalo tonight? Marshall Faulk can't make every carry tomorrow. Wait, of course he can -- he's in Buffalo.

Ben Wallace. To follow up the upcoming new editor of Oregon Sports Fan, isn't it strange that a certain other Detroit Wallace is scarecely involved in this whole thing? Maybe he was never a real Blazer after all.

P.S. -- I'm not even watching the Civil War game tonight, unless it magically appears on TBS. Blog has more here (of all places) and here, with discussion.

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posted by WWB at 6:28 PM |