It's easy to say I am out of touch with the younger generation 'Koast, and I even understand your why you feel that way, it is inherent in what is wrong with so many of the “younger generationâ€. You see, the problem with that statement, is it is dismissive of a larger problem you of the "younger generation" not only don't see, but by excusing the actions of Ron Artest, you perpetuate and exacerbate, that of open and violent confrontation to achieve whatever end you desire. It is an issue that goes back millennia; on a governmental level the result is war and innocent people getting killed, on a social level the result is what happened in Detroit, and regardless of what may you think it is not a generational thing, George Bush is my generation and according to you he was unjustified in attacking Iraq which he perceived as a threat, and yet the younger generation, in this case Ron Artest, can see a perceived potential threat, overreact and cold cock the guy and he is justified, you could read this cats mind and just know “he def was ready to fight†but a government cannot read a dictators mind and know “he def was ready to fightâ€, to justify a war, do you see the conflict? There may be a pretty large difference in your mind between the to but to me the relaxation of social mores is directly reflected in both situations, unprovoked violence is wrong. In my day we said the same thing you are telling me now, the older generation is out of touch, we were wrong then, you are wrong now, being in or out of touch in no way negates the vileness of what happened at that game and in no way justifies Ron Artest cold cocking a guy who had as yet made no attempt to assault him. You say this cat was walking up on and fronting up Artest, very well, maybe he was maybe he wasn’t, but you conveniently overlook 2 facts, 1) Ron Artest was walking TOWARD the fan as well, closing the distance between them, and 2) Ron Artest was out of control and chose to invite the confrontation rather than walk away.
What Jermaine O’Neal did was a crime beyond the pale, it was nothing more that absolutely unprovoked assault, he should have been arrested on the spot, he had no reason whatsoever to do what he did, and if he had not slipped and lost some of the force packed into a 25 foot running start haymaker, he very well could have crippled a man who had done absolutely nothing to him, or for that matter, the teammate O’Neal was ostensibly “protectingâ€.
The same with Stephan Jackson, coming to the defense of a teammate who was already committing the sin of going into the stands to attack (the wrong) fan is admirable loyalty to your teammate?!?!?! Defending someone who was doing the indefensible is a trait we should respect?!?!?!
No ‘Koast, it’s not that Ron Artest makes millions, not in my mind, he is a punk, a coward, and a thug, and until that Friday night I would not have put O’Neal in that same category, and to me, rich or poor such actions are wrong.
And I will state again, the fan deserved to get his stupid sorry butt arrested for getting down on the playing floor his own self, and the idiot that threw the beer should still be in jail for it, but no way does this justify the player action, particularly with regard to the fans on the floor.