I'm sure everyone is aware of the major brawl that happened at an NBA game here in Michigan last week. Not only has it been big local news, but its been hitting the press and airwaves nationally and worldwide as well. Its been the talk of the sports community, and much to the dismay of the NBA, has been used by people dislike sports to point out that sports breed this type of behaviour.
I'm not a big sports fan. When I grew up my dad was a pretty famous Real Estate developer in this state, and as a side effect, I got to meet almost every sports star that was wanting to buy a house here. I grew up going to all of the Lions, Tigers and Pistons games, sitting in the best seats available, and enjoying the benefits of close ties with the players themselves, through my dad. My dad passed away unexpectedly in October of this year, and with his passing, went much of my discussions of sports, he and I used to talk about them, and it was pretty much the last thread of contact I had with professional sporting. Even then, it was tempered and low keyed, in recent years my dad became somewhat distanced from professional sports.
Shortly before he passed away, we had a conversation about this, and I asked him why he thinks so many people we know are losing interest in professional sports. He summed it up pretty well when he said its because it is so commercialized, and players don't play because they love the game, they play for the money, and they lost track of who pays their bills. Worse, they lost touch with their fans in the process and have turned professional sports into playgrounds for badboys and misfits.
Well this whole brawl thing of last week, and the punishments handed down, seem to have put things into prospective for many fans - myself included. Artest got suspended for an entire season, costing him millions, and the others for suspensions ranging from between 10 games, and 30 games.. Very steep punishment. The reason for this? Its one thing when you fight amoung other players, its another thing when you jump into the stands and start beating up fans - who are essentially your boss. The fans are the ones paying your bills, regardless of how indirectly, without the fans, there are no million dollar salaries and multiple million dollar endorsements. Without us, the game doesn't go on. I know most players lost track of all of this, and lost all respect for their fans (as my dad pointed out), but maybe this event puts things into perspective for players.. The fans ARE YOUR BOSS, so my advice to you is don't hit your boss! The punishments you got, which essentially pulled you right out of this season, should serve notice that when the owners have to choose between a fan, and you, the fan wins!