For anyone who thinks that the NBA slacked off or went easy on the suspensions handed out to these guys, think about this.....

Earlier this year, there was an altercation in baseball where a player was in the stands and he himself threw a chair at fans, after throwing a beer bottle at them. His suspension? 7 games. Baseball players play 160+ games a season. Does 7 matter? Not a bit. MLB dropped the ball. Now look at the NBA suspensions. 30+ games for 2 guys and 70+ for another. That's just under half a full season for 2 guys and just under a full season for 1. I think David Stern seized the opportunity to do the right thing here.

Should Artest be banned for life? I just think the guy needs serious counseling. I would ban him from the sport until he underwent psychiatric evaluation and was cleared by a few psychiatrists.

Overall though, this was a naaaaaasty incident that left a whole lot of black eyes across the board. Hell, they already want to yank the Superbowl out of Detroit for 06, this just gives those people more reason to speak up. Ugh.

I do have to admit though, watching it live as it was happening, there was a part of me just dying laughing. I was at work and the bar was in an uproar. I was SURE we were gonna have a fight or two. Luckily, I wasn't working at our Auburn Hills location (which is DIRECTLY across the street from the Palace). There were -quite- a few ass whoopin's handed out over there that night. Rowdy Detroit fuckers! God I love this place.