It's nice to see that this Pistons fan is being charged for throwing a coin at Allen Iverson, but it's hard to escape the conclusion that this behavior was encouraged by Stern's response to what happened last November in Auburn Hills. Wouldn't some serious consequences for the owners in Detroit have helped to prevent this latest incident? I'll admit to being a Pacers fan (I grew up in Indianapolis), but it's not the severity of Artest's punishment that's at issue here -- it's the fact that there was essentially no penalty for the Pistons organization. A hefty (ie profit-tweaking) penalty would have given the organization some incentive to take steps to control this kind of behavior -- and it would have sent a message to fans. Undoubtedly some will read Iverson's restraint in responding to this attack as a victory for Stern's policy, but the truth is Iverson shouldn't have to deal with an attack like this in the first place.
April 28, 2005
Hard to stop someone from throwing a coin. Hopefully the guy will have his tickets revoked, which is what happened to the main culprits in the Pacers brawl.
Hard to stop someone from throwing a coin.
I don't think so. I mean, it may be hard to stop someone who's really determined to throw that coin, but by imposing serious penalties and creating an atmosphere of responsibility (where the fans face consequences for their actions beyond just seeing players on the opposing team suspended) you can minimize that kind of behavior.
Sure, but the beer-throwing/punching fans from the Indy brawl did have their tickets revoked, so there's not much chance of seeing that happen again. I certainly hope this guy has his tickets yanked as well, but I don't think any reasonable person in the stands there is really thinking that they can get away with whatever they want and just bait opposing players into suspensions.
I guess I'm thinking a serious penalty would have been emptying out the stadium for the next Pistons-Pacers game, or emptying out the first 10 rows for 10 games. This kind of broader consequence would have involved the owners, and trhe fans generally.
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