Surely by now every one has heard about or seen the atrocious behavior of the Indiana Pacers' Ron Artest earlier in the week. Mr. Artest has a long and strong history of not being able to properly manage his anger. He has been fined and suspended for fighting numerous times in each of his five professional NBA seasons. At least until recently he had confined his fighting to the floor of the basketball arena.
But when Ron Artest charged into the stands and assaulted a fan, then again a few minutes later assaulted another fan on the floor he immortalized himself as one of the biggest losers in sports history. I can't believe that he has the audacity to plead that the fine and suspension handed down by David Stearn was too harsh. Then, a day after the altercation Artest appeared on the Today show and was interviewed by NBC's Matt Lauer and dug an even deeper grave for himself.
I am appalled at his lack of respect for himself, his team mates, his family, the fans, and for humanity in general. If I had an opportunity to speak to Ron Artest face to face, here is what I'd say to him:
Mr. Artest, do yourself, your family, and the NBA a favor and keep your mouth shut. Your 11 minute interview showed an incredible amount of arrogance and ignorance.
I hate to be so blunt, but you've really shown what you are made of and it's not very pretty. Public figures, especially those who make in excess of 5 million dollars a year have certain responsibilities to live up to. If some one throws a cup at you, or even if they call you a bad name, it doesn't give you an excuse to go on a rampage. It was a cup. OK? -Not a car battery.
There's the old saying that two wrongs don't make a right and your little retaliation stunt against the loser who threw the cup at you is going to cost you a whole lot more than it will cost him. I think for 5 mil a year I could learn to put up with some heckling and a cup or two thrown at me every now and then. A lot of folks would be glad to trade places with you.
You're lucky that I'm not the owner of the Indiana Pacers because if that were the case, not only would you be fined and suspended for a year, I'd have fired you for that behavior. To me, it's sad that there are not more ramifications and consequences for what you did.
Sure, the fan was wrong to throw an object at you, but you were doubly wrong for doing what you did and if you'd just admit that and quit trying to justify your actions, you'd probably make it easier for everyone to just forgive and forget. It is sad that you have such little control over your emotions that something like this could happen. And it's even more sad that you won't be a real man and admit that you were wrong. Saying you were sorry that it happened isn't the same as apologizing. And I definitely don't detect any remorse on your part.
You should just accept your fate and be glad that you're not being banned for life...! You're a threat to society, man..!
Sincerely,
Sam Chadwell
