Originally posted by livinsvt: Now if Espn wants to say that if a fan jumps on the court, they get what they desereve(total B.S.), then a player who jumps in the stands gets what they deserve, plain and simple!Now tell me what did the guy on the court actualy do to deserve to get blasted? He should have never been there in the first place, but are you telling me this is the first time a fan has jumped on to the court, or field of any sport.
I agree with you. Artest should not have gone into the stands, and I said that in my other posts.
However, the statement above I have to disagree with. You're right fans always come on the playing field, court, etc. And they are dealt with very harshly. Take that Fan Man that flew in the ring in the Holyfield/Bowe fight. Got his tail WHOOPED! How about the guy and his kid that ran out of the stands and assaulted the Umpire. They got pummeled to. Same in this instance.
The difference here was that Artest clearly had gotten out of the stands by the time he engaged the guy(s) on the court. He didn't strike first and if you look at the vid, the first guy bucked at Artest like he was going to hit him. Artest then punched him in the face. What are you supposed to do, wait for the other guy to hit you? The second guy was still going after Artest when O'Neal clocked his ass. Two assailants, on the court being the aggressors. Seemed like just desserts to me.
