Oh, my!
 

Ugly.
Sad.

Here you are, folks- in case your kids missed it......

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/.../index?1927343

I was told as officials you get the hell out of the way and don't try to break it up. Be a witness. Get numbers for suspensions and the like.

Granted, I don't think any of us are likely to see an NBA-style brawl with NBA-size players anytime soon, but there have been instances of high school brawls.

Are we, as officials, supposed to bail? I know I'm not getting paid enough to play sheriff.

In HS and college I would say you do not get involved. At the NBA level, these guys are instructed a lot differently and their mechanics or method of action is entirely different. I would not judge everything based on what the NBA does. They get involved if they can. But remember their heath insurance and other expenses will be taken care of by the NBA.

Peace

That's fine. Like I said, I'm not likely to be in an NBA brawl anytime soon.

But just because someone is paying your medical bills doesn't mean you want to have medical bills, you know what I'm sayin'? ;)

Just as an aside, looking at the average NBA player and the average NBA official, I see quite the size and age mismatch there that can't be good for the guys in grey. I can't see how the NBA could say to its officials "We want you in there with those 22-year-old 6-8, 250 pound guys breaking it up, even though you're 5-8 and 50 years old and sell insurance in the off-season."

Full timers.
 

I understand what you are saying. But the NBA Officials are full time employees. They do that year round for the most part. They have camps they have to go to and might run camp of their own all over the country. I am sure some might have other businesses or jobs, but not likely. They can make a 6 figure income rather easily after some time in the league. And have you seen many of the NBA officials lately? They are more muscular than many of the players. I remember looking at the fight between the Washington Wizards and the Chicago Bulls. The officials that were getting in between that brawl were just as ripped if not more than the players.

Peace

Now Ed Hochuli, on the other hand - I'm sending him in if there's any trouble. :)

I thought the officials did a good job of keeping the players apart, Tommy Jr basically pushed Artest far away from Wallace. I don't really know what the other two did, but Tommy Jr was very phyiscal about getting Artest away. He did a good job, somthing we would never do in HS or NCAA game. Once Artest went into the stands there wasn't really much the officials could do at that point.

There is no excuse for going into the stands. Artest attacked a guy HOLDING a cup, he could not see who threw it, he just attacked.

Even if he knew who threw it, he is running past and over women, kids and innocent men to get to the idiot who threw it.

If a fan comes after him on the court fine, knock him out, that's self defense. Trampling and assaulting twenty innocent people to get to an idiot is NOT self defense.

Drunken, underpaid idiots and overpaid thugs do not mix.

I would and do... If I am close and have a chance I get to the one who would retaliate and get him away from the scene. Also saw one example last year in a PAC10 game where the official held the guy from behind so he wouldn't go retaliate. (Makes less paperwork to do ;))

Penalty
 

Saw today across local news station that NBA suspended Artest, O'Neal and Jackson from the Pacers and Ben Wallace for Pistons INDEFINITELY for their "involvement."

Re: That is the worst thing I have ever seen in an American sporting event.
 

You don't blame any of the players at all? You're fine with Artest and Steven Jackson going up into the stands and pounding on people who may or may not have been the ones throwing beer at them? Self defense is one thing, but going into the stands to pound on people? Come on.

Z

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1927663

I think there should have been some punishment for the fans too, like making Detroit play their next few home games in an empty arena.

mxd,
Do you mean to punish all Detroit fans?
Do you mean to punish employees, vendors, owners, teammates and innocents?
mick

Go Pistons.

We're gonna punish everyone in the whole damn state. Everybody will be </>fined</b>! And there's gonna have to be a moat built around the court at the Palace, just like the soccer stadiums in South America.

Have you seen the films of today's South Carolina/Clemson game yet? Geeze, you go to a college football game and a pro basketball game breaks out.