Maybe it's just that it happened in Detroit, but 1 of 2 stories dominating the local news has been a fight that broke out at a basketball game Friday between the players and the audience. A number of players recieved suspensions, and they have all been on the television crying about how unfair this was, that they should be able to defend themselves when attacked by the fans.

As an aside, vying for unlucky fan of the year, is John Green.


I'm not a sports fan, but I expected someone on the forum would start a thread about the fight.

Topica for discussion:

Is throwing a beer at a player normal behavior?

Are the players really so hyped up during a game that they will attack at the slightest provocation?

Was this just a "boys will be boys" scuffle that got out of hand, and made the news on a quiet news night?

Is throwing a beer at a player normal behavior?

"Normal"? No, but it does happen on rare occasions. Usually it's in the case of fans getting unruly after an unpopular call and throwing stuff on the playing floor/field. Luckily, it's a pretty rare occurance and is normally handled by security and the other fans. If you throw something, someone is most likely going to point you out to the security people and you'll get in some pretty expensive trouble for doing it.


Are the players really so hyped up during a game that they will attack at the slightest provocation?

I don't know that I'd call getting something thrown at you from 20-30 feet above you a "slight provocation". That has caused some serious, career-threatening injuries to athletes in the past and there have been occasions where they've gone in the stands after a fan. Once again, very rare. Normally, they just let security handle it.


Was this just a "boys will be boys" scuffle that got out of hand, and made the news on a quiet news night?

No, this one was pretty darn serious. Some sports people have said it's the worst one they've ever seen, and I don't know about that. There have been fights before between players where there have been some pretty serious injuries, but this is the first time I've seen several players literally invade the stands to go after some fans. Usually the players stay out of the stands, but if a fan gets onto the court or field it's a whole new matter. That fan is in for a big time hurtin'.

Bottom line is that this was a pretty serious incident, not just something to fill a quiet news night.

No again. This was the long-awaited throwdown between spoiled, self-absorbed athletes and overly obsessed fans who think THEY are part of the game. This wasn't a minor incident I'm afraid. It was a seismic shock to the NBA that has deluded themselves that all they have to do is wait for another Michael Jordan to come along and save them from themselves.

The brawl that happened the other night is not the only one that had a fan or fans in a fight with a professional athlete.
It happens all the time. Living in Illinois you saw what happened a couple yrs. ago when a Dad and son jumped on the field in Celluar Field and attacked the first base coach.
A few years ago at Wrigley field the same thing.
What I saw from the TV videos This fan threw a beer at a player who was not happy with a call but that was the end of it till something thrown at him.
Should the athlete gone after this fan? Not a smart move on his part but then what if this happened to you?
I know that he his suspended for the rest of the season. Is this too harsh? I think it is . I think the fan should be held accountable too.
I think alcohol is the problem served to fans. Should alcohol maybe not allowed? What do you think?

My primary experience with athletes was a High School coach who insisted that his players be role models. That included wearing a suit and tie to class if you wanted to stay on one of his teams.

As an adult, I had a single experience with someone the size of a professional athlete. I had had a one night stand (although I didn't know that yet) and I stopped by the lady's house with a rose. I rang the bell. The door opened. The person on the other side was both wider and taller than the doorway. By the time that he unfolded himself through the door and explained that he was the lady's boyfriend, I had managed to slide the rose behind my back and come up with a plausible "I must be at the wrong address." story.

Any one I know who drinks, usually considers the drink to be too valuable to be thrown, so I have never experienced that type of behavior.


The front page of today's Detroit Free Press would indicate that the fan who started it is likely to be held accountable. A former neighbor of the County prosecutor, he once tried to bribe a policeman with tickets to a Piston's game; that policeman is now the Oakland County Sheriff. He was on probation and told to stay away from alcohol as a condition of the probation.

The Free Press asked for letters to vote on what was the stupidest thing this fan has done. I suggested that his attorney should recommend a change of venue, not for his trial, but for his upcoming mid-life crisis.


It has been over forty years since I last attended a ball game, and I have never been to one where alcohol was served. I have no experience on which to base an opinion.

quite a few points....

Is throwing a beer at a player normal behavior?
i am inclined to think most fans dont, especially those in the lower level (aka more expensive seats, which means they are ticket holders and that they can lose their seats for doing that),

Are the players really so hyped up during a game that they will attack at the slightest provocation?
i dont know if anyone saw the game but i actually saw the whole thing as it happened. emotions were running high near the end of the game among the players. the player on detroit who instigated the whole thing fouled ron artest (the indiana player) who went into the stands basically the same way the play before, but not a big deal was made over it. however, when he was fouled he acted like a baby. ron artest made an effort not to be involved in the scuffle among the players and did this by laying down on the scorers table. however, the fans took this as an insult and the one guy threw a cup (not necessarily beer). to sum it up, talented players rarely fight because they know they will get suspended. there have been hardly any incidents with fans (maybe one every ten years). fights between players are usually just shoving matches. actual punches result in suspensions quickly. most players therefore do not attack at the slightest provocation.

Was this just a "boys will be boys" scuffle that got out of hand, and made the news on a quiet news night?

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in the stands, ron artest did not punch the guy in the black shirt. he sort of pushed him and asked if he was the one who threw the beer. as this was happening, he was grabbed from behind by a fan (some think is the one who threw the cup in the first place) and was doused with a liquid. at this point, artest's teammate attacked the person who threw the liquid while artest was being punched from behind by the same fan. he then punched him to free himself and leave the stands to get back to the court. once on the court, two fans approached him and it seemed they wanted to fight. he did not punch either fan, he pushed them down. this is legitimately self-defense, once a fan steps onto the court it is a totally different scenario then when a player enters the stands. also, artest's teammate's sliding punch was on one of the fans who was getting up and appeared to want to attack artest again.

i did not hear the players complaining about the suspenions, even though the player's union will be challenging the suspensions. i think the main culprit here was the fan who threw the beer. true, artest should have shown more self-control but in this instance he was physically attacked. he did not instigate the fight and even though he should have restrained himself, he did not attack unprovoked.

Wow pyotrveliky- looks like we watched to seperate games LOL - guess this is why eyewitness accounts are the least accurate source of evidence.

Artest gave Wallace a hard intentional foul- Wallace retaliated by shoving Artest to the floor- then the usual bench clearing short brawl ensued, nothing unusual here, happens in about every major sport. There would have been fines and ejections at this point- the usual again. Someone threw a cup of water on Artest as he taunted the crowd. Artest ran up and started punching folks, not even bothering to found out who actually threw the cup.

I think Artest got off way to easy. I think he, Germaine O'Neal and (I forget the other guy) should be permanently banned from the league. I also think that all salary and compensations he has ever recieved should be subject to confiscation by the courts until civil procceedings are finished. The best way to stop this thuggery that has become professional sports is to start putting the hammer down on these guys, and taking away everything they have ever earned or hope to earn.

I feel the same way about the CEOs of these organizaitons. They know they are hiring criminals, they should bear the consequences as if they had done the punching.

I have been to nearly one hundred Portland Trailblazers games, and a few pro-football games, and one baseball game.

Security at the basketball game is tight, and even a little bit of out of control behavior, and you are gone. Football always seems to have fans fighing in the stands, but security was always right on top of it. Baseball is too boring a sport NOT to have someone drunk and fighting in the stands- much more entertaining than the game

did u not see wallace give a hard foul (he pushed him into the support of the net) and rip hamilton elbow tinsely (i think) in the back....
artest did not punch the first fan - he pushed him and i believe asked him if he was the one who threw the cup. he punched the fan who was punching his head from behind while holding him and then left the stands to go back to the court. jermaine o'neal was protecting his teammate from a fan who was on the court looking for trouble and not in the stands. i agree than stephen jackson should have gotten at least the same suspension as artest since he wasnt attacked and was just looking for a fight (first with the detroit players and then with the fans). a lifetime ban for artest is possible since he has a history of violent behavior. i believe jackson does too but not to the same extent.

your point about security basically says that detroit security was at fault....

Yes, Detroit security did not respond as quickly as they possibly should- but usually, the players usually also let security handle it as well- this is also tradition at games.