nba brawl

last night i saw what the rest of the basketball fans around the world saw... the lowest point ever in the history of the nba. with 45.9 seconds left in the game, the indiana pacers ahead by 12 i think, the pacers' ron artest (the nba's resident bad boy) committed a hard foul on the detroit pistons' ben wallace (the nba's resident bad face and bad hair). wallace, visibly upset with the foul with that much time remaining (artest should've just let that one go.. the game was beyond reach anyway), and obviously frustrated with the impending loss, confronted artest and shoved him in the face.

the so-called "cooler" heads of both camps got in between them to prevent what could've been a UFC title bout. wallace, however, was still fired up, jawing at artest and the rest of his crew (tinsley, o'neal, jackson, miller).. while artest just calmly, and arrogantly flattened his back on the scorer's table. that's when one of the pistons' fans (i was hoping it was kid rock) threw a cup full of beer and ice at artest. that triggered the "mike tyson" in artest.. he absolutely went berzerk.. he stormed through the stands and started throwing fists, then jackson got in the fray, and so did o'neal. some fans stormed the court and were floored by o'neal. the brawl ended with the image of the whole pacers team being escorted to their dugouts with bottles, cans, popcorns, and what-not being thrown at them like confetti at a fiesta.

what do i have to say about this mess? just three things actually:

1. the players should always (and by always i mean both on and off the court) be professionals.

2. fans should restrain themselves. frustration should never be an excuse to be barbaric. it's basketball for chrissakes! it's not like gladiators being fed to the lions here! we got to restore some order and dignity back to the sport.

3. and lastly, and this is the most important of 'em all.. so listen up... LONG LIVE THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS AND KOBE BRYANT IS THE GREATEST PLAYER EVER ON THE PLANET!

what does item no. 3 have to do with the brawl between the pacers and pistons. nothing.. nothing at all. i told you before hadn't i? i'm a fan. so if you're not down with that... then shoo!

i'm out.