I originally wasn�t going to comment on the fracas that occurred in Auburn Hills Friday night, but being from Michigan, I almost feel obliged at this point to stick up for Detroit- I guess you can call it hometown pride. I�ve been hearing a lot of jokes directed towards Detroit over the past few days mainly illustrating how this incident simply shows why Detroit is the worst city on earth when it comes to crime- which isn�t true. That odious distinction belongs to St. Louis. And if you want to talk about murder rates in specific, wrong again. The two cities in the country with the highest per capita murder rates are Gary, Indiana and Compton. Don�t get me wrong, Detroit is far from being a safe city, and there are streets I wouldn�t be caught dead on at night to be certain. I just get tired of the stigma that goes along with Detroit- and most of the people who spew out these stereotypes have never been there. But I digress...
What happened Friday night is inexcusable- no matter what city it happened to take place in. I love it how one drunk fan does something stupid and out of line, and people blame the entire city. That guy could have lived anywhere- and to assume that it would never happen anywhere else is na�ve, at best.
As far as assessing blame, it lies in only one place: Ron Artest. Was the fan that threw the beer out of line? Absolutely. Should he be barred from sporting events in Detroit? You�re goddamn right he should. Should Ben Wallace be punished for Shoving Ron Artest after he was fouled? Sure- but that kind of thing happens all the time in basketball- even outside of Detroit, if you can believe it. But when Artest snapped and lunged into the stands, that was WAY out of line. The mature, adult thing to do would have been to get security over and have the drunk SOB escorted out of the building. These people came her to watch you play- not to have you physically assault them. These people, however much they piss you off by heckling you, are paying your salary. You make more in one night than a lot of these people make in a year. You are entertainment- nothing more. I think when you�re getting paid that much money to play a fucking game for living, you should be able to stomach the occasional heckler, and yes, even an errant cup of beer.
And since everyone seems to be so willing to throw around stereotypes, I�ll just say that with his season over, Artest will have plenty of time now to promote the rap album he just finished recording. I�m sure he�s got much more street cred with the wanna-be gangbangers out there after the brawl he started Friday night. You know what they say in showbinness- there ain�t no such thang as bad publicity. And an update- the Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwhich finally sold for 28,000 dollars.

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