Basketbrawl
safety
768 Posts
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 11-22-04 AT 05:41PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Did anyone see the basketbrawl, and, what are your thoughts? If this were my workplace there would be no suspension, there would be termination. Shouldn’t these overpaid professionals be held to a higher standard? I opine the gangsters that went into the stands should be banned from sports for life! Of course on the flip side the legal system should run its course and those fans that broke the law should be prosecuted along with the players who participated in this fiasco. What happened to the good old days when sports icons and players alike were respected for their demeanor? OK, I know some sports are inherently violent and disagreements occur but what happened in this event has no excuse or explanation other than spoiled overpaid individuals who need put in their place. I wonder if they can spell jail. :-?
Comments
What really gets my goat is what happened the next day with my beloved USC th-up Gamecocks xclap football team and our reviled arch-rivals, the Clemson th-down Tigers xx( . Near the end of the game, there was a 10-minute brawl so big that it covered half the football field. As punishment, Carolina and Clemson decided to decline their invitations to bowl games, which is a really big deal because we don't get invited very often. It's harsh, but it's the right thing.
The real loser is Carolina Coach Lou Holtz. He was going to end his legendary career with the Clemson game, then a bowl game, then pass the reins to Steve Spurrier. Instead, his last game will be remembered for the ugly brawl. But he had the humor to joke that both Lou Holtz and Woody Hayes will be remembered for ending their coaching careers with a fight against Clemson.
James Sokolowski
HRhero.com
James Sokolowski
HRhero.com
[url]http://www.hrhero.com/forum/carolina.gif[/url]
>Carolina, and I still follow the Gamecocks best
>as I can from Nashville. I think Spurrier will
>be great for the team. Ever since George Rogers
>left (I'm showing my age), Carolina has had
>trouble scoring points. And the one thing
>Spurrier can do is light up the scoreboard, so I
>think he can end our obnoxious orange curse.
>
>James Sokolowski
>HRhero.com
>[url]http://www.hrhero.com/forum/carolina.gif[/url]
Hi James & Sue:
I, too, am a Carolina alumni and was horrified at the behavior of the two teams. What was even worse was opening up The State newspaper this past Saturday and one of the Clemson players stating that he would "do it again" if he had the chance! This was the guy who was kicking the Carolina player who was face down on the ground,no helmet and had his hands over his head.
I also felt sorry for Lou Holtz who had to go out on a sorry note like this. He has done a lot for our community,not just the university and is a real class act. He deserved better!
Glad the administration opted out of the bowl games. This is not the first time that Clemson and Carolina have clashed. I read that in the early 1900's the two teams were banned for about 8 or 9 years from playing each other because they had such a horrendous fight after one of the games. I stay as far away from this rivalry as possible. It can get downright dangerous. In fact, the last "live" football game I attended was the one where Woody Hayes decked the Clemson player.
As bad as that was, I was sitting in the middle of some Clemson fans who were uproarously drunk and fighting with each other and rolling down flights of stairs. That was IT for me.
I have a more unsettling reason for wanting this to happened. I was at my grandson's basketball game on Sunday, and all that these young boys were talking about was how "cool" that fight was. I want people like Artest, (people who don't care about the impressions they are leaving on young kids) banned from their sport after the second offense.
The Pacers season is pretty much over for this year, and it is all thanks to one man. I hope he enjoys his new 'music' career.
Hoosiers still have one bright spot - we still have Peyton and the Colts!
However, I think the "fans" who threw things should also be banned for life from attending another game. I, also, believe that alcohol should be banned. Finally, the American public should probably be retrained to understand that sports (at every level) should be fun. What ever happened to good sportsmanship?
Do these players not know that if it weren't for OUR HARD EARNED MONEY buying those tickets, they wouldn't be making the kind of money we dream about? Just look around the NFL, we've got drug dealers (Jamal Lewis - Ravens), murders (Ray Caruth - Panthers) and I'm sure a host of other lawbreaks that can be swept under the carpet. Do they not realize if not for the fans they would be common folk just like us!!!
Sorry...I'll get of my soapbox now.
There are even among us children who idolize complete wasted dunces like Ozzie Ozborne and Mick Jagger and that freak Tyson. And let's not forget Wilt 'The Stilt' Chamberlain who bragged a few years ago about bedding down something like 3000 women while he was playing with his ball. These types of behaviors are idolized by kids and always will be unless society imposes consequences and kids understand consequence, which most don't.
This too will pass. But, I salute the commissioner for insisting that there be consequences and only hope he increases them.
In any case, it will be interesting to see if sales of the album increase.
If I put this behavior in my workplace, he would be fired right after we watched the tape. An employee who attacks a customer for any reason is not someone I want in my workplace regardless of the customer’s behavior. And if another team hires this person after he is fired, wouldn’t that team be liable for negligent hiring. Everyone knows that this person is a loose canon, has been suspended several times for fighting, if you hire him on another team and he goes after a fan or another player, the person being attacked could sue the team for negligent hiring. I would just to prove a point.
I don’t go to professional ball games, I don’t watch them on TV and I try not to purchase things they advertise. I think the whole system is out of control, but we have the ability to put it back into control. It means you can’t watch your favorite team for a while.
I have seen many brawls in sports (Hockey, in particular). Never quite the involvement of fans as in the fight that is the subject of this forum. Let us not forget, however, that there are many many fabulous and intelligent basketball players. Why try to paint them all with the same brush stroke. Seems I saw a few trying to minimize the ruckus, not participate in it. And why harp on the tremendous salaries some of the "superstars" command. It would be no less grievous if they were underpaid, IMHO.
Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Besides, what would my husband do on Sundays, if he did not have his beloved football -- Go Skins (haha)
I did have a new suggestion and that is - pro teams cannot draft a player until they have completed 4 years of college. The players, in the brawl, especially Ron Artest, lack social skills, and display a lack of respect for the world around them. Let them learn social skills in school and demonstarate them on the court, field, etc. Like so many things in this day & age, It's all about money. The owners of all sports need to get together and set some standards in order that they can create sports stars, who are also gentlemen.
Last time I checked, engaging in a physical confrontation at work is considered extremely serious and could easily lead to termination or at least suspension.
I'm done with pro basketball.
Ok, so my list of things I am done with is growing: Dixie Chicks, Barabara Streisand, Andy Rooney, Dan Rather, Julia Roberts, Alec Baldwin, Bill Maher, any member of the Jackson family, Jerry Springer, Susan Sarandon, Linda Rondstadt, REM lead singer Michael Stipe, Michael Moore, Katie Couric, Sean Penn, did I mention Michael Moore?, most everything on TV, Sarah Jessica Parker, MTV, Janeane Garafalo, Al Franken, Extreme Makeover, and P Diddy.
You know the song - 1985 by Bowling for Soup?
There's a line in there that says ...and music was still on MTV... I allways say to my kids "exaaaactly" why it has been banned from our house. They say "Yea, music USED to be on MTV, so, what's your point Mom?" It's totally frustrating.
completed 4 years of college. The players, in
the brawl, especially Ron Artest, lack social
skills, and display a lack of respect for the
world around them."
Complete 4 years of college or graduate from college? If the player is any good at all they will be on a full scholorship and more than likely will be red shirted so it will be a minimum of 5 years.
I see where you are going and it might help, BUT.... I fear that how these players were spoiled and spoon fed in high school will not come close to how they will be "handled" at the college level where many more dollars are at stake. From coaches demanding the players receive passing grades, to special majors developed for each, such as "Out-Door Leisure Activies" and of course the tutor that is assigned to each player to ensure they get up and go to class and at least turn in some home work, that was probably completed by the tutor and the lists go on an on.
Is this stero-typing? It just seems that the good guys don't make the news. It has been a while since I heard of the Academic All-American players.
If it was easy, anyone could do it....
Stereotypes - Fixed and distorted generalizations; rigid judgements, often used to support and reinforce prejudices.
Let's all exhale and take a look at the hundreds of players on the pro-teams. Even most of the super-stars do not fit the Artest mode. Perhaps it may be more helpful to go the route that someone mentioned above -- teaching and then demanding proper social and coping skills; rather than making it lucrative (I mean owners, businesses, schools, etc., as well as players) to overlook poor and anti-social behavior in people just because they are super talented, or beautiful, or gifted.