Things that make you go ARGH!

I guess everyone has heard about that squabble between the Pistons and the Pacers by now....and if you haven't, then you are either in a coma or you are Amish. While I am somewhat surprised about the incident, I am not all that shocked that it happened. After all, this kind of thing happens at European sporting events all the time. But here in America, we are SUPPOSED to be civilized and not let a small thing like getting hit with a plastic cup make us rise up and lay the beat down on the person who supposedly did it. And you would think that professionals who get paid millions of dollars to play a game...yes it is a game...would act in accordance. But that is not the case. And even though it is just a game and not brain surgery, it is, in fact, a job. I know where I work if someone were to throw a cup at me and I went out and beat that person up, I would get fired... and quickly! Now, I can somewhat understand that Mr Artest would get upset about getting hit with beer, but I cannot understand why he felt the urge to jump into the stands and beat up a man, who he THOUGHT threw the afforementioned brewskie at him, only to find out that he wasn't even the person who threw it. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time....or in this case, talk about paying big bucks to be in the wrong place at the wrong time! That poor guy should get a refund. Now fans should not be pelting the players with plastic cups, and, true, the man who threw the cup should have been kicked out, but I hardly call getting hit with a plastic cup "assault. " As one player said, "If I were being threatened, I would not hesitate to take action." (or something to that effect). What happened is that Mr Artest got mad and took it too far by beating up on an innocent bystander. The fans then got involved by beating up on Artest (after all, the bystander was being threatened, wasn't he? and by more than a plastic cup!), and then madness ensued. I find it pretty hypocritical on the part of Artest and the others who defended their actions by saying they were acting in self defense (remember, this all started by a plastic cup), and then turning around and saying fans were to blame, when they were, in fact, defending themselves, too. True, some of the fans also took it too far by going out on the arena floor, and they should be punished accordingly, as should the ones who threw things at the players. But to say that the punishments for the players were too harsh? Come on! Artest went into the stands and beat up on an innocent bystander. Someone who paid good money in fact for that ticket. Other players jumped up into the stands to join Artest, and some others were beating up on people who were on the arena floor. People just can't go around beating up on people who hit them with cups. What kind of message does that send to other players? What kind of message does that send to the kids who look up to these players? I really hope that the punishments send out a message to other professional and non-professional players alike. Sportsmanship should not be limited to your opponents, but should also extend to the fans, the coaches, referees, and everyone else involoved in the game. And the next time someone gets hit by a beer cup, maybe they can let security deal with it instead of starting a riot. Just a thought ;)