November 22, 200421 yr I know this is a topic in other sports, but I believe it goes farther than just the field of play, and can have future precedence. There are many legal issues too involved with this incident. - Was Ron Artest reasonable in his actions? - Did the two teams (coaches, upper management) do enough to prevent this? - Did the Palace of Auburn Hills use proper precautions to guard against this? - Was this a foreseeable incident? - Should the Indiana Pacers be held liable? - Should the Palace of Auburn Hills be held liable? - Were the suspensions fair? Just questions for some discussion...answer them as you see fit.
November 22, 200421 yr - Was Ron Artest reasonable in his actions? If you are talking legally, then the standard is reasonable objective man and not reasonable wacko. So based on that, depends. Some people argue that getting beer thrown on you warrants defense. I say probably not. - Did the two teams (coaches, upper management) do enough to prevent this? Nothing could be done IMO. Maybe give Artest therapy but he did do a good job initially in holding back. - Did the Palace of Auburn Hills use proper precautions to guard against this? No. Need better security. - Was this a foreseeable incident? No way. - Should the Indiana Pacers be held liable? The players? Yes. The team? No because players were acting outside scope of employment. - Should the Palace of Auburn Hills be held liable? Possibly - Were the suspensions fair? If it wasnt Artest, yes..but it is and so his past actions account for it. Others were fair.
November 22, 200421 yr Author I, for one, do not believe getting a cup of beverage thrown on you gives you privilege to attack people who may have thrown it. I don't exactly see how the Palace could have had better security. Everything was so spread out and happened so fast that nothing could reasonably be done to stop everything. A court may look at that differently though.
November 22, 200421 yr I think O'Neal should have beeen suspended the entire season as well. What a cheap-shottin' punk.
November 22, 200421 yr - Was Ron Artest reasonable in his actions? No player has the right to go inot the stands and do what he did, I can sympathize and understand why he did what he did, but as far as the "law" is concerned getting something thrown at you is battery, and is considered a violent act. - Did the two teams (coaches, upper management) do enough to prevent this? What could they have done ? These are HUGE men with emotions running on overdrive, and an incident like this happens. - Did the Palace of Auburn Hills use proper precautions to guard against this? This was something that no one could predict would happen, so they can not be at fault - Was this a foreseeable incident? see above answer - Should the Indiana Pacers be held liable? The organization NO, players yes - Should the Palace of Auburn Hills be held liable? The arena and personnel NO, the fans YES, the Pistons should have to forfeit or atleast play the next game at home against Indiana with no fans in the building - Were the suspensions fair? YES, O'Neal and Jackson should have had a larger suspension though
November 22, 200421 yr - Was Ron Artest reasonable in his actions? reasonable? no, he shouldve controlled himself. - Did the two teams (coaches, upper management) do enough to prevent this? nothing could really had been done by the coaches in the immediate situation. it happened so quickly. before, artest shouldve have been recieving some real therapy though. everyone knew he aint playing with a full deck and got a quick temper. - Did the Palace of Auburn Hills use proper precautions to guard against this? there was no security around that brawl and the players were trying to get to the locker room with protection from the coaches. security was a joke. artest was being held back by a coach and miller after he got out of the stands the last time and a cop was about to mase him instead of trying to help out in the stands or helping get the players back to the locker room safely. - Was this a foreseeable incident? im starting to think it was if we all really paid attention. fans basically can get away with anything they want and can just use the excuse "oh we were drunk". they get no real punishment so therefore they feel they can do whatever they want and it was only a matter of time that an athlete was going to take the matter into his own hands. but of course thats easy to say after it all happened. - Should the Indiana Pacers be held liable? the organization itself shouldnt. - Should the Palace of Auburn Hills be held liable? the fans should and security needs to better. - Were the suspensions fair? a season seems to much but i understand that wasnt about beeing fair. stern wants to set an example to prevent this from ever happening again and i really dont blame him.
November 22, 200421 yr All I know is that Artest is a punk for not going after Wallace who intially slapped him across the face but instead went after a weaker person. a fan who threw beer at him. f***ing p***y.
November 22, 200421 yr Artest got what he deserved, if you ask me...if, as he says, he acted on self defense due to the chaotic scene, he should've acted as a professional and abandon the court, head for the lockers, whatever...there's no way to validate what he did...you're a paid professional, and stepping out of the court to hit fans is crossing the line!
November 22, 200421 yr the suspensions were more than fair(atleast in regards to O'Neal) O'Neal loses $4.5mil.... thats alot.
November 22, 200421 yr - Was Ron Artest reasonable in his actions? While I probably would have done the same thing, it is a illegal. He probably should be charged with assault, but in all reality put yourself in his situation. If you were getting heckled all day and then finally you get hit with a full beer. How would you feel? I don't blame him one bit, but what he did was wrong. I think the bigger problem is how fans act at sporting events nowadays. It is ridiculous how these people act. It is completely disrespectful. Last year a ton of Miami players were hit with snow balls in New England. Was anything done to those fans? No nothing. Someone could have been seriously hurt. Their intention was to hit the players. Nothing ever ever ever happens to the fans because they are the ones that bring in the money and leagues do not want to punish them. Why not send the message and take home games away from the Pistons. Two. Play in an empty arena. That will get the message accross that fans cannot continue to act in this way. Either that or put up a glass wall separating the fans and the players and no one would want that kind of thing. - Did the two teams (coaches, upper management) do enough to prevent this? They could have done nothing. - Did the Palace of Auburn Hills use proper precautions to guard against this? You can never predict this kind of thing. They sure as hell better be more prepared next time the Pacers come to town. - Was this a foreseeable incident? Yes very much so. - Should the Indiana Pacers be held liable? No. Players are at fault if anything. Piston fans should be held liable as well. - Should the Palace of Auburn Hills be held liable? Nah - Were the suspensions fair? Too long for Artest. He should be allowed back for the playoffs in the Pacers were to make it. And the Detroit fans get off free, seems fair I guess. Too
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