Quote:
Originally posted by rwest
JR, I seemed to have offended you in some way. For that I apologize.
|
You have not offended me. It takes a lot to offend me. If that took place, I would tell you. Trust me on that one.
Quote:
Originally posted by rwest
My previous analogy about the work place, in my opinion, was appropriate. What I was attempting to express is that there seems to be a double standard. If you or I did the same thing we would be punished more severly.
|
Double standard? Our job has nothing to do with the job or a professional athlete. These athletes are in the entertainment field ultimately. They do not work in the same environment. We do not have thousands of people watching us and have a radio and TV shows dedicated to your stats of our daily work. They are not the same thing at all.
Quote:
Originally posted by rwest
We see it all the time. I can't remember her name or the olympic sport she was playing in(I believe it was synchronized swimming) but an athlete for this past summer olympics was found guilty of vehicle homicide and was allowed to defer her punishment until after the olympics. If it was you or I we would be serving our time right after sentencing. I couldn't get a delay due to a project I was working on. All I want is for athletes to be held to the same standard as you or I. I don't mind the amount of money they make. That's the capitalist system at work. They are being paid what the market supports. I just want them to be accountable just like you or I.
|
I think you need to look around the community. There are people all the time that do not serve sentences until a certain time or a specific situation is over. The Olympics were about 2 weeks. Hire you a good lawyer and you might be in the same situation. I have known students (not athletes) get sentenced and the judge allowed their term to get over before they served their sentence. So I am not sure where you live and what your experiences are, but I have seen the average Joe in certain situations have to wait before they serve a sentence.
Quote:
Originally posted by rwest
Maybe this analogy will be more to your liking. Sprewell got suspended for a year for choking his coach (P.J. Carlisimo). It then got bumped down to 68 games. I think what Artest did deserved as stiff a penalty.
Forgive me if you've answered this already in one of the numberous posts on this topic, but do you disagree with the
length of Artest's suspension? If so, what do you think would be fair?
|
My opinion is completely irrelevant to this discussion that we have been having. I do not care what his suspension was really. I am not talking to say Artest should not have been suspended. I knew the man was going to get suspended and I suspected that what he got was going to be the case. My question is what the prosecutor is going to do to the fans that did things outside of the law. David Stern has a right to control the conduct of the players in the league. I also think he needs to protect those players as well.
Quote:
Originally posted by rwest
And I agree with you that the fan crossed the line and should be punished. Did you see him on Fox News last night? He seemed somewhat smug. In my opinion he's guilty of assault. Not for throwing the beer. I can't see that as an assault. But the punches he threw to the back of Artest's head while Artest was being held, was cowardly.
|
I do not care what his attitude is on an interview. The man reacted to someone throwing something at him. I would expect or be surprised in anyone did not react in a similar situation. He also said he has had things thrown at him before. I would expect anyone to behave that way regardless of their upbringing and culture. Many people can come here and tell me that they would do nothing, but I have been in enough bars when I was in college and saw people react to confrontation with physical violence. They were all colors and seem to have different backgrounds. And I have seen people have things like a beer thrown in their direction and I did not see anyone walking away. I do not give a damn what his profession is or what circumstances of why someone threw something in from the stands at him. I just was not surprised by his behavior and this will happen again if the authorities do not take action.
Peace