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Sorry for my use of the word playa, hopefully that didn't turn anybody off of this thread =P.
Whether you're a sports fan or not, you'd have to be either a) dead, or b) Amish to not know about the recent altercations between NBA players and Fans. And when the NBA's hands were dripping with blame (woah woah, blame the NBA? Let me explain later) what did they do? They abandoned Ron Artest. They made up some weak excuse about how Artest is a "bad seed in a great system" or an "inhumane savage that cannot control his animal nature." That when a Detroit stranger pelted him with a cup, he should have pulled a Ghandi. Anyone else's bull**** detectors going off yet?
The commissioner of the NBA, David Stern, would love for everyone to believe that Artest is still a man of the ghetto, a man with violent tendencies and a menacing character. They would rather you not suggest that sports at large are turning into an arena that breeds and normalizes the behaviour of the rabid fan, and that Artest is a scapegoat for a problem much more systemic. Stern said the actions were shocking. Maybe he should pull his head out of his ass.
Artest does his job in front of 20,000 people, a job he does better than most people on earth. But Artest is hated. He is hated by people who know the name of wife, the name of his kids, and the name of his mother. They know every mistake he's ever made, and they use it against him because they can, from jump-ball to the final buzzer. They say things that would be grounds for verbal assault charges in any other workplace, but no one even blinks.
Then one night, things get out of control. After spending an entire evening being taunted and personally attacked during every trip down the court, with his emotions surely preceding him, a flying object hits Artest. Call it adrenaline, call it human nature, hell, call it reacting as how any normal person would, Artest snapped.
"But he's a professional athlete and should know better." Artest knows how to hit a 15-foot jumpshot and play man-to-man defence better than most in the league. The NBA doesn't train these players on emotional control, or how to step into a Zen-like state in a chaotic environment.
"But he makes $5 million a year." The notion that money should act as rationalism for deplorable treatment is simply absurd. No one would ever suggest that the poor deserve better treatment than everyone else so why should we assume the opposite to be true?
"Won't somebody please think of the childen?" We are talking about a player who was personally attacked. It goes beyond proper behaviour, because when an entire stadium looks ready to attack, the last thing you are thinking about are "the children." At some point, and maybe Artest's was premature, your body just goes into a defensive mode.
Stern called Artest's actions repulsive. I call the way the NBA, led by Stern, have glorified these players on the largest scales without recognizing its inherent danger, repulsive. It's impossible to raise the stakes, raise the prices and encourage fans to engage in the sport as if they were the 13th player without events such as this happening. Athletes have become public property; they are treated as if they are outside the realm of proper human treatment. This was a sad day for sports fans, but also a sad reminder of just how dangerous our sports culture has become.
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*edit* To clarify, I was in no way trying to justify Ron Artest's actions. Merely trying to prove that the NBA is trying to shirk the blame.
Whether you're a sports fan or not, you'd have to be either a) dead, or b) Amish to not know about the recent altercations between NBA players and Fans. And when the NBA's hands were dripping with blame (woah woah, blame the NBA? Let me explain later) what did they do? They abandoned Ron Artest. They made up some weak excuse about how Artest is a "bad seed in a great system" or an "inhumane savage that cannot control his animal nature." That when a Detroit stranger pelted him with a cup, he should have pulled a Ghandi. Anyone else's bull**** detectors going off yet?
The commissioner of the NBA, David Stern, would love for everyone to believe that Artest is still a man of the ghetto, a man with violent tendencies and a menacing character. They would rather you not suggest that sports at large are turning into an arena that breeds and normalizes the behaviour of the rabid fan, and that Artest is a scapegoat for a problem much more systemic. Stern said the actions were shocking. Maybe he should pull his head out of his ass.
Artest does his job in front of 20,000 people, a job he does better than most people on earth. But Artest is hated. He is hated by people who know the name of wife, the name of his kids, and the name of his mother. They know every mistake he's ever made, and they use it against him because they can, from jump-ball to the final buzzer. They say things that would be grounds for verbal assault charges in any other workplace, but no one even blinks.
Then one night, things get out of control. After spending an entire evening being taunted and personally attacked during every trip down the court, with his emotions surely preceding him, a flying object hits Artest. Call it adrenaline, call it human nature, hell, call it reacting as how any normal person would, Artest snapped.
"But he's a professional athlete and should know better." Artest knows how to hit a 15-foot jumpshot and play man-to-man defence better than most in the league. The NBA doesn't train these players on emotional control, or how to step into a Zen-like state in a chaotic environment.
"But he makes $5 million a year." The notion that money should act as rationalism for deplorable treatment is simply absurd. No one would ever suggest that the poor deserve better treatment than everyone else so why should we assume the opposite to be true?
"Won't somebody please think of the childen?" We are talking about a player who was personally attacked. It goes beyond proper behaviour, because when an entire stadium looks ready to attack, the last thing you are thinking about are "the children." At some point, and maybe Artest's was premature, your body just goes into a defensive mode.
Stern called Artest's actions repulsive. I call the way the NBA, led by Stern, have glorified these players on the largest scales without recognizing its inherent danger, repulsive. It's impossible to raise the stakes, raise the prices and encourage fans to engage in the sport as if they were the 13th player without events such as this happening. Athletes have become public property; they are treated as if they are outside the realm of proper human treatment. This was a sad day for sports fans, but also a sad reminder of just how dangerous our sports culture has become.
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*edit* To clarify, I was in no way trying to justify Ron Artest's actions. Merely trying to prove that the NBA is trying to shirk the blame.
