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Royal Rumble at the Palace
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The last time Ron Artest was in the sports headlines, it was a week ago, and he was talking about needing to take some time off from his responsibilities with the Indiana Pacers...Well Ron, I gotta think you're gonna get some time off now, along with plenty of other Pacers and some Detroit Pistons.
The Palace at Auburn Hills, the home of the Pistons, tonight became the site of one of the most forgettable black eyes to grace the mug of the much maligned NBA.
With 49 seconds left as the the Pacers led by 15, Ben Wallace of the Pistons drove the basket and was fouled by Artest. The foul was hard, but that's a stretch. It was a foul, not flagrant, it's not like fouls are supposed to feel like sweet kisses.
Well here's where it starts, Ben Wallace with a bit of an over-reaction, double palm shoves the adam's apple that happened to belong to Artest. So a little brawl starts up, the refs, coaches and some of the less heated players (including a very mature Rasheed Wallace), do what they can to contain the fray.
Artest is held back and is laying on the scorers table shielded from the court by coaches. But the next attack wasn't coming from the court...Always Protect Your Flank. Some sloppy Piston fan threw a cup of ice and liquid at the resting Artest, hitting him in the face, and you can both turn your keys and press the launch button.
Artest, who may or may not already be an escaped mental patient, flies up into the stands and tackles the fan who we can only assume was the one who threw the cup. Then a mass of Piston faithful, at the sight of one of their own being subdued, engulfed Artest.
Stephen Jackson, Artest's teammate, also entered the stands as Jackson and Artest exchanged blows with beer-bellies in Piston's hats. The fans obviously outnumbered the two Pacers and were able to land plenty of back of the head sucker punches.
The brawl lasted for what seemed like 30 minutes, and continued onto the floor, when some fans made their way onto the court, only to get socked by Jermaine O'Neal and other Pacers. A chair was thrown, an old lady was pinned below a mass of angry writhing fighters, cops threatened players with pepper spray, and countless cups were thrown at Pacers, from every launching point, and amidst it all the fearless ESPN camera men stuck their noses and more importantly cameras into the melee to catch every jaw-dropping moment.
The game was eventually called due punches and beers raining down without mercy, and it's amazing anyone survived. Both coaching staffs, ESPN personalities, including Bill Walton who was on hand calling the game agree that this is the worst fight/mess that has ever sullied the NBA's name.
But this was only round one, sure this part included blood and knuckles, but round two promises suspensions, fines and possible legal action, ooh..stay tuned won't you.
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danwho kissed you on the nose on 11.20.04 @ 02:19 AM [link] |
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