Re: The Suspensions
If it hadn't gone farther than the pushing and shoving, there wouldn't be ANY suspensions, becuase none of the stuff that happened afterwards would have.
Wallace didn't MAKE anybody do anything, but neither did Artest. But to ignore Ben's role as the instigator of the entire thing - and let's not kid ourselves, fans react to their star player and his emotions, and that's Wallace for the Pistons - is undeniable. The fact is, and video shows, Artest WAS the bigger man, which means he had big enough stones not to start something he couldn't finish. And don't tell me the foul was cheap; it was hard, but it wasn't ANYTHING by NBA standards (and even less if it was a guy like Shaq, who gets mugged nightly).
Richard, I'll put my response to you here as a bundle. The league should just stop selling alcohol at games. Sure, this will be a minor economic hit, but they're already making a killing off the jerseys and tickets, and the TV deals they have don't suck either. I don't think they need to penalize Detroit's fans by saying only 5,000 can come, although that MIGHT get them to think about being more responsible. I'll think about it and post again when I've gotten a little sleep...
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