My two cents on Basket-brawl in Detroit
I'm no fan of Ron Artest. The whole "I want to take time off to be a rap star" thing just turned me off. That said, I think his season long suspension was a bit overboard. There is no precedent for this stiff of a penalty under the circumstances.
First, I've seen that video tape several times. That was not that hard of a foul. One shove by Ben Wallace may have been understandable. But Wallace perused Artest. Ron did what he could to defuse the situation. Then comes the morons in the stands.
You'd think at well over $100 a pop for those seats, you'd attract a little better class of fan. Guess not. Ron Artest is going to lose over $5 million for this. What kind of punishment is the fan who launched the beer going to get for inciting this riot?
Basketball is not the first sport to experience this type of problem. I don't see the other sports levying this type of punishment.
It was wrong for Ron Artest and any other of the Pacers to enter the stands, and they should be punished accordingly. So should every person in the stands that was involved. And not with some slap on the wrist misdemeanor.