Sports violence crosses the line

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 11/29/2004

 

Last week will sadly be remembered as one of the worst in terms of the violence on the football field in both an NFL game and a college football game. These two full-scale riots were highlighted by what happened last Friday night in Detroit in the NBA game between the Pistons and Indiana Pacers, and Terrell Owens and ABC crossing the line just before kickoff on Monday Night Football.

I’ve used as a theme for the very foundation of my journalistic career over the last 26 years the realization that sports evolves into and touches the very law and economics of our society, and does so in many ways.

Last week, some very troubling examples have changed the roles of athletes, fans, and media manipulation along racial lines. It started in Cleveland at an NFL game when two players started fighting on the field before the game, one with the Browns claiming the other with Pittsburgh spit in his face. Both players were suspended and could not play in the game, losing game checks and obviously hurting their teams.

In a college football game Saturday between Clemson and South Carolina, both teams started fighting each other during the game. No fans were involved in this one, but it was still a very dangerous and violent scene.

On Monday Night Football on ABC just before kickoff, the network convinced Terrell Owens of the Philadelphia Eagles to do a skit with Nicollette Sheridan, a star on ABC’s steamy Desperate Housewives. Sheridan seductively dropped her towel and, while naked, jumped into the arms of Owens fully dressed in his Eagles uniform. Owens, one of the league’s top players, is African American, and Sheridan is White.

Tony Dungy — Indianapolis Colts head coach, former Gophers football star and former Vikings defensive coordinator — said, “I think it was racial and it’s stereotypical in looking at the players. On the heels of the Kobe Bryant incident, I think it’s very insensitive.” The NFL called the opening “inappropriate and unsuitable.”

At last year’s Super Bowl, during the halftime show seen by a billion people worldwide, Justin Timberlake ripped part of Janet Jackson’s wardrobe off, exposing her left breast.

Last year, Detroit won the NBA championship and Indiana led the league in wins with 61. What took place Friday night during the Pistons-Pacers game was very ugly.

Ron Artest of Indiana was shoved forcefully by Ben Wallace after a hard foul. Later, Artest, while lying on his back at the press table, had beer and ice thrown at him by a Detroit Pistons fan. Artest retaliated by going into the stands swinging and throwing punches at fans.

It turned into one of the ugliest scenes in sports history, with fans coming on the court, beer and other beverages being thrown and dumped on players, and fights breaking out everywhere. Security and police were slow to react to this outburst.

NBA Commissioner David Stern issued some of the harshest fines and penalties in NBA history by banning nine players for more than 140 games.

Indiana’s Artest was suspended for 73 games, Indiana’s Stephen Jackson for 30 games, and Jermaine O’Neal for 25 games. Ben Wallace of Detroit, who started it all, was suspended for six games, while Anthony Johnson of the Pacers was banned for five games. The other players suspended received one game suspensions. The players involved collectively will lose close to $12 million in salaries.

“The line is drawn, and my guess is that won’t happen again, certainly not by anybody who wants to be associated with our league,” Stern said.

The commissioner is right to deal with this swiftly and forcefully. “We have to make a point that there are boundaries in our game,” said Stern. “One of the boundaries that has always been immutable is the boundary that separates the fans from the court. Players cannot lose control and move into the stands.”

That is what happened, and now we will wait and see what comes next. This is just the beginning; you can bet that charges, criminal and civil, are coming against some of the players and fans.

This is a mess, and it all happened over the last 11 days. It was for me one of the most disturbing weeks in sports I can recall.