Announcement

Collapse

The Rules of Pacers Digest

Hello everyone,

Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.

A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.

Why do we do this? So that it's more difficult for spammers (be they human or robot) to post, and so users who are banned cannot immediately re-register and start dousing people with verbal flames.

Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.

Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

"I'm going to take a moment to point and / laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"

"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good? "

In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.

We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.

Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.

That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.

A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.

There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.

Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.

In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.

Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.

If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!

All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.

Rule #2

If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.

The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.

The right places to do so are:

A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.

B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.

If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.

Rule #3

If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.

When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:

A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.

B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.

To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!

Rule #4

Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.

Rule #5

When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.

An example:

If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:

http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star

Rule #6

We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.

The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.

Rule #7

Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.

It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).

We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).

However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.

Rule #8

We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.

Rule #9

Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.

Rule #10

We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
See more
See less

Artest returns to practice this week

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Artest returns to practice this week

    http://www.boston.com/sports/article...ill_exist?pg=2

    Fighting chances still exist
    By Peter May | December 19, 2004

    Today marks the one-month anniversary of The Brawl. Amazingly, life has gone on.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    There doesn't appear to be any major fallout in terms of fan neglect; the product was doing a good enough job of that as it was. But there's no denying the Detroit-Indiana melee and resulting suspensions impacted the teams involved, one of which, the Pacers, is still trying to recover from having its roster gutted by commissioner David Stern.

    Here's a brief look at what has happened to the teams in the last month. They will meet again Christmas Day in Indiana.

    Detroit: The defending NBA champion lost Big Ben Wallace for six games and has, at times, looked like your classic victim of Post Championship Stress Disorder.

    Heading into the weekend, the Pistons were a ho-hum 12-10, which qualified for fifth best in the Eastern Conference. They've been playing dangerously close to the edge -- just good enough to win -- and in some cases, not even that good. They got crushed at home by Atlanta, after all.

    You need not look too far to get a read on the Pistons' early struggles. They're missing some key reserves from last year's team (Corliss Williamson, Mike James, Mehmet Okur) and the coaching staff turned over (with the exception of Larry Brown, who also missed time with a hip replacement).

    Then there's the Detroit defense. We sure saw it in the second half against Cleveland Thursday night (6 points for the Cavs in the third quarter) but it hasn't been nearly what it was last year. And last year it was the Pistons' raison d'etre.

    In 2003-04, the Pistons ranked first, along with San Antonio, in points allowed, surrendering 84.3 a game. This year, after 22 games, they were third, but were allowing almost 5 more points a game. Last year, the Pistons held opponents to 41.3 percent shooting, third best in the league behind the Spurs and Rockets. This year, they were sixth, allowing teams to shoot 43.1 percent. Last year, they were the best defensive team in the league against the 3-point shot. This year, they were 21st.

    The Pistons had a rocky start last season as well. There was a six-game losing streak in February before and after the All-Star Game. Then Rasheed Wallace came aboard and the Pistons finished 21-6 and won the title. There's still lots of time. Indiana: I said it two weeks ago. I'll say it again. Rick Carlisle is the only choice for Coach of the Month for December. What he has had to endure and deal with on a daily basis borders on the ridiculous. As team president Donnie Walsh said, "It's not that we're just missing the three guys [Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal, Stephen Jackson] but he has had games where he's only had six players." Continued...


    The Pacers have put together a patchwork team on the fly. They signed New Orleans Hornets rejects. They brought in old paint Michael Curry. Last week, Jackson and O'Neal got some practice time in. If nothing happens on the legal front, they'll be back in a month or so.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    As for Artest, the league at first told Indiana that it would not allow Artest to practice. The Pacers thought that overly harsh and asked the league to reconsider. It did. Artest has been given the OK to practice and Walsh said he expects the future Berry Gordy Jr. to be at practice this week.

    The Pacers hit the skids after a brief honeymoon following the suspensions. But they've since gotten back Reggie Miller and Jeff Foster, although other rotation guys (Austin Croshere, Jamaal Tinsley) have been in and out. The Pacers are 0-5 when Tinsley doesn't play.

    Carlisle has kept Indiana focused on the short term and, incredibly, they are still very much in the hunt in the Central Division, trailing leader Cleveland by only 1 1/2 games. They would be the sixth seed had the playoffs started yesterday.

    Walsh is hopeful.

    "Before all this happened, we were playing really well and we were kicking their [rear ends] the night it happened," he said, speaking of the Pacers' convincing win at Detroit Nov. 19. "I thought then that we had as good a chance as anyone to win it all."

    And they still might. We still don't know what the arbitrator is going to say concerning the severity of the suspensions and if they are appealable to someone other than Stern. There remains the possibility that Artest's suspension might be reduced. But even with O'Neal and Jackson coming back, the Pacers will be in the hunt in the East.


    Rising Suns take shine to defense

    What does it say that one of the biggest games of the young season took place Friday between teams that didn't qualify for the playoffs last year?

    The Suns and the Sonics went into the game at Seattle holding the best records in the league. It's hard to take Seattle seriously; the Sonics did lose twice to the Celtics and neither game was close. Then again, TNT bumped Memphis and Detroit off its Jan. 6 telecast in favor of a Seattle-Washington matchup at the MCI Center.

    Phoenix looks to be the real deal in part because it has one of the league's best distributors (Steve Nash) on a roster loaded with finishers. The Suns also are paying more than just lip service to defense, even as they search for that elusive big man ("That's a 30-year quest, by the way," CEO Jerry Colangelo said recently). Continued...


    We have a lot of talent," said third-year Sun Casey Jacobsen, who is almost the senior Sun (Shawn Marion has that distinction) on a dramatically retooled roster. "But what I've discovered is that all teams have talent. The trick is to get that talent to play together and, so far, we've figured out how to play unselfishly and how to play defensively."

    ADVERTISEMENT
    The Suns are fun to watch. They are the runaway league leaders in points. They also lead in field goal shooting and are second in 3-point shooting.

    But here's what you might now know: They're doing a decent job at the other end. The Suns lead the league in shot blocking and were holding teams to the fourth-lowest shooting percentage and second-lowest 3-point shooting percentage heading into the weekend.

    And to make things even more bizarre, they're the youngest team (average age: 24.3 years with eight players born in the 1980s) in a league known for eating its young. Concludes Jacobsen, "It's all pretty amazing."


    Celtics need wins to inspire comebacks

    If the FleetCenter was able to identify the fans who left Wednesday's game with 2:46 remaining and the Celtics down by 5, those individuals should be banned from pro basketball for life.

    But given the way the Celtics are drawing, they need every fan they can get, even if it's a witless one.

    There's been a downward trend in attendance over the last three years at Celtics games. In 2002-03, the team averaged a reasonably healthy 17,294 at home, helped by the unexpected run to the conference finals the year before. The team sold out 19 of its 41 games and had only three crowds of fewer than 14,000.

    Last year, attendance dropped, by more than 1,000 per game to 16,201, as did the number of sellouts, from 19 to 11. In addition, there were eight games of fewer than 14,000 and two of those were games in which fewer than 13,000 attended.

    This year, there already have been three crowds of fewer than 14,000 and only two sellouts, opening night against the Sixers and the night after Thanksgiving against the Cavaliers. The average home attendance is 15,323.

    What will bring the fans back? More gimmicks? More and louder noise prompts? Cheerleaders? A bigger Jumbotron? Fireworks? "Winning," says coach Doc Rivers. "I know the fans are out there. We have to win to get them back." He's right.


    Etc.

    Coach's decision: Snow removal

    Cleveland coach Paul Silas went ballistic during Thursday night's loss to the Pistons. His target: backup point guard Eric Snow. Silas put Snow into the game, then yanked him a minute later when the Cavaliers turned the ball over on an eight-second violation. The two snapped at each other and Silas got so livid he ordered Snow off the bench and back to the locker room. (Snow did return and sat on the bench in the second half.) No one addressed the issue afterward. Said Silas, "I don't want to hear his name." Continued...


    Fox laughs off return rumor

    ADVERTISEMENT
    We noted that Indiana has looked under rocks and turned over manhole covers in its search for players to fill out its roster until everyone (or almost everyone) comes back. There was a rumor that one of those who volunteered for emergency Pacers service was old friend Rick Fox, now retired. Was it true? "No," said Fox via e-mail. "I had a friend who is still dying to see me return to basketball who knows Larry [Bird] and said he was going to call. The only way I come back is if Karl [Malone] signs with the Lakers." He was kidding. He's also getting a chuckle at the unending soap opera that still evolves around his former team. "And we all thought I was at the core of the issues with the Lakers," he joked.

    Fit to beat Kings

    Speaking of the Lakers, they went into Sacramento Thursday night and vaporized the Kings, handing them their worst home loss in six years. It marked the first time this season that the Lakers had beaten any of the top four teams in the Western Conference. While Kobe Bryant continues his assault on the league scoring title, the Lakers, through 22 games, were 9-9 in games in which he led them in points. They were 4-0 in the others, including one in LA against Orlando in which Chris Mihm and Jumaine Jones each dropped 25 on the Magic. Mihm also had 14 rebounds. Why can't we, oh, never mind.

    It's about time: Houston wants more

    Allan Houston is back with the Knicks, who are easing him into games. In his first four outings, Houston, who had been recovering from knee woes, played no more than 21 minutes. But in Game 4, when he logged those 21, he also scored 17 points in a 1-point loss last week to the Pistons. Now, he wants more time. Friday night, he played 27 minutes and scored 15 points, including a 3-pointer that forced overtime in a victory over Philadelphia. The Knicks may decide to move him to small forward so as not to break up the starting backcourt of Stephon Marbury and Jamal Crawford. Meanwhile, Vin Baker has disappeared from the rotation, which says a lot given the state of the Knicks' front line. Baker logged DNPs against the Nuggets, Knicks, and Pistons, which prompted the obligatory cries of outrage from his agent, Aaron Goodwin. He played two minutes Friday.

    Williams's return a short story

    Is there anyone in the NBA family unhappier now than Eric Williams? (OK, maybe Alonzo Mourning.) Williams, the ex-Celtic, was feeling at home with the Nets, finally back in his native sod, and then he got traded to Toronto in the Vince Carter deal Friday. Mourning was in the deal as well. Earlier this season, Williams talked about how much fun it was finally being back home again. "The phone is ringing all the time," he said. "It's weird, but it's fun. I haven't been back here since high school and I'm trying to get readjusted. But it's cool." Williams leaves the Nets having played a role in one of the more memorable meltdowns ever. His 3-pointer with 6:04 remaining in the third quarter of last week's game against the Knicks gave New Jersey a 62-58 lead. The next New Jersey basket came on a Jason Kidd hoop with 3:01 left in the game. You are reading this correctly. The Nets went more than 15 minutes without a basket. In that stretch, they went 0 for 17 from the field and added 13 turnovers to boot. They did make five free throws, however . . . Still exhausted from their double-overtime loss to the Celtics last Monday, the Clippers had to play in Utah the next night. Predictably, the Jazz won. The Clippers are 1-30 in their last 31 visits to Salt Lake City. Dennis Rodman had more luck there.

  • #2
    Re: Artest returns to practice this week

    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...7_allen19.html


    Game changes as TV crew is thrust into a brawl



    Percy Allen / NBA reporter






    AP

    ESPN video of a player-fan brawl on Nov. 19 at the Palace of Auburn Hills will serve as crucial evidence in upcoming trials. Prosecutors charged five Indiana Pacers and five fans with assault and battery, including a felony charge for one fan.


    E-mail this article

    Print this article

    Search archive

    Most read articles

    Most e-mailed articles


    Mike D'Antoni: Long, winding journey to NBA

    Power rankings

    Looking at the week ahead


    The flurry of activity inside the television truck parked outside of the Palace of Auburn Hills suddenly intensified, then it stopped.

    The usual chatter between the director of the camera operators and the production crew grew louder, then everything went silent.

    "Hey, it's a fight!" someone shouted inside the truck after Ben Wallace shoved Ron Artest in the chest during the final seconds of the Detroit-Indiana game Nov. 19.

    What happened next — a cup of liquid thrown from the stands, an All-Star on a rampage and a melee between fans and players — were perhaps the most frightening moments ever captured on video at a sporting event.

    "When the foul happened and Ben reacted with his push, there was a loud noise, it got loud in the truck," said ESPN producer Ed Feibischoff. "Everybody was concentrating on what was happening on the court.

    "Then when Artest went into the crowd, it became silent. It was a hush. It was different. You felt it. Everybody knew this was different. This was not something that you were used to, and I was the only voice that I could hear.

    "They were waiting for me to react. We became instantly a news organization as opposed to covering a sporting event. We strapped in and said, 'Guys, this is now a news story and our job here is to report the news.' "

    Feibischoff studied television communication and journalism at the University of Buffalo and has been in the business for the past 23 years.

    Before joining ESPN, he worked 19 years at NBC and produced segments in five Olympics. He covered the Dream Team in 1992, swimming and diving at the 2000 Sydney Games and speedskating in '02.

    Since 1991, the 47-year-old Queens, N.Y., native has worked every NBA Finals and he has produced the past five.

    His proudest moment behind the camera, he will say, was eloquently filming Maurice Cheeks when the Portland Trail Blazers coach helped the little girl who forgot the words to the national anthem before a playoff game last season.

    "This was on the other end of that extreme," Feibischoff said. "It was horror. Just disturbing."

    The violent images on the wall of monitors inside the dark truck streamed in from the cameras inside the arena. There was so much noise and confusion. Bodies moving quickly. Objects flying. A flash here. A glimpse there. Someone said they spotted a chair being thrown.

    Feibischoff is a sports guy with no real experience in hard news. He'd covered the Ben Johnson steroid scandal, but this was different.

    Everything was happening so quickly. ESPN doesn't have a five-second tape delay like the networks, so there was no time for planning, and suddenly he realized that nothing he'd ever done had prepared him for this moment.

    "My direction were simple," Feibischoff said. "Watch your camera. Watch your machines. Mark down and take your notes. We have to document this from beginning to the end.

    "We walked through the replays. We counted off the order, starting with the foul. What happened to get Ron Artest into the crowd? As it was happening live, the best thing to do is stay a little bit wide."

    In Bristol, Conn., Jamie Reynolds, a senior coordinating producer for ESPN, was on the phone with producers in Sacramento, which was the site of the second game of that night's doubleheader. They would have to wait, he told them.

    Reynolds also placed a call to people in the NBA offices in Secaucus, N.J., to make sure they were seeing what he was seeing.

    The league's relationship with the cable network has been solid since they entered into a six-year contract along with TNT that will pay the NBA $3.4 billion. But he wanted them to know that ESPN planned to cover the brawl like a news event.

    Meanwhile, the melee raged on in Detroit.

    Director Jim Moore, who has been with ESPN for at least 10 years and works college basketball games and Sunday night baseball, instructed his camera operators to ensure their welfare before advancing into harm's way.

    Still, at least one operator was a few feet away from the two men in Pistons jerseys who walked on the court and confronted Artest.

    And one cameraman was nearly hit by the chair that was thrown into the crowd, but Feibischoff said no one was injured.

    He spoke to Mike Breen, the play-by-play announcer, analyst Bill Walton, and sideline reporter Jim Gray and told them to keep the opinions to a minimum.

    "Just gather the facts," he said. "Don't jump to conclusions and save the analysis for later."

    For 20 minutes, Feibischoff used all of the technology — the eight camera operators, two robotic cameras and 13 replay machines — at his disposal to capture a video clip that has been replayed more than any other this year.

    His footage will be the most important piece of evidence in the upcoming trials against the five fans and five players charged by Oakland County prosecutors with assault and battery. All were misdemeanor charges, except for a felony charge for the alleged chair-thrower.

    It will be a case study for years to come on how to cover violence at sporting events, and basketball games will never be the same again.

    "I'm not proud about the event, just happy of the job the crew did," Feibischoff said. "In looking back, we basically gave you almost everything. Nobody missed anything that night. In a sad way, I'm happy to say that. We emptied our bucket. There wasn't anything we held out."

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Artest returns to practice this week

      Good to hear Ron can start practise again, the second article is more of one in the line of "keep the mindset on what Ron and the other Indy players did to those innocent Piston fans"

      I am 100% sure worse things happened in American sports and to say:

      What happened next — a cup of liquid thrown from the stands, an All-Star on a rampage and a melee between fans and players — were perhaps the most frightening moments ever captured on video at a sporting event.
      is perhaps so outrageously nonsensical that it deserves a price just for that.

      Perhaps the "author" isn't aware that at other "events" several people ended up in hospital and more players were chasing fans? (baseball) or the large count of dead people at several football matches in South America or in Bruxels (Belgium) when fans crushed other fans?

      The revisionists are having a field day
      So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

      If you've done 6 impossible things today?
      Then why not have Breakfast at Milliways!

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Artest returns to practice this week

        Originally posted by able
        Good to hear Ron can start practise again, the second article is more of one in the line of "keep the mindset on what Ron and the other Indy players did to those innocent Piston fans"

        I am 100% sure worse things happened in American sports and to say:


        is perhaps so outrageously nonsensical that it deserves a price just for that.

        Perhaps the "author" isn't aware that at other "events" several people ended up in hospital and more players were chasing fans? (baseball) or the large count of dead people at several football matches in South America or in Bruxels (Belgium) when fans crushed other fans?

        The revisionists are having a field day
        Then again, this is coming from a poster who thinks Ron Artest's actions were completely justified. A poster who thinks Ron Artest did nothing wrong. A poster who thinks Ron Artest was an innocent victim.

        So pardon me if I take your "opinion" with a grain of salt.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Artest returns to practice this week

          It becomes clear with this post that your reading comprehension is at best below kindergarten level.

          There are some good books around on the difference between opinion and fact, one of them is the Oxford Dictionary, I suggest you look it up.
          So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

          If you've done 6 impossible things today?
          Then why not have Breakfast at Milliways!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Artest returns to practice this week

            Very true, Able!
            2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

            2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

            2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Artest returns to practice this week

              Originally posted by able
              It becomes clear with this post that your reading comprehension is at best below kindergarten level.

              There are some good books around on the difference between opinion and fact, one of them is the Oxford Dictionary, I suggest you look it up.
              No problem. Straight from askoxford.com.

              opinion

              • noun 1 a view or judgement not necessarily based on fact or knowledge. 2 the beliefs or views of people in general: public opinion. 3 an estimation of quality or worth. 4 a formal statement of advice by an expert or professional.

              fact

              • noun 1 a thing that is indisputably the case. 2 (facts) information used as evidence or as part of a report.

              Your statement "the second article is more of one in the line of "keep the mindset on what Ron and the other Indy players did to those innocent Piston fans"" is an OPINION, not a FACT. I agree with the rest of your post, btw.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Artest returns to practice this week

                As someone who watched this happen live, I wouldn't at all bash the event being called frightening. It was. I was scared watching it, and talking with others that night, I know I'm not alone.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Artest returns to practice this week

                  Originally posted by Unclebuck

                  "Hey, it's a fight!" someone shouted inside the truck after Ben Wallace shoved Ron Artest in the chest during the final seconds of the Detroit-Indiana game Nov. 19.
                  It's sickening to see that the media is trying to change everyone's memory over time with statement like this and make sure the Big Bad Ron image stays. Ben shoved Artest in the throat, not chest.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Artest returns to practice this week

                    20,000 drunk Pistons fans? Yeah, I'd be terrified.
                    This space for rent.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Artest returns to practice this week

                      Remember guys, you gotta think about the little 12 year old kids and the old people that witnessed that horrific event.
                      Sorry, I didn't know advertising was illegal here. Someone call the cops!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Artest returns to practice this week

                        Scary though it might have looked, some of us have seen things happens before their eyes, or on television that make the writer in casu an afront to serious people.

                        For those not familiar with the 1985 "Heizel Disaster" in Belgium:

                        Liverpool vs Juventus, Championsleague final (what is now) Italian Fans mocked Liverpool fans, the latter charged, charged again, the first panicked, results; 38 dead, hundreds wounded.

                        Live on television, before the eyes of 100's of millions of viewers.

                        Anyone really want to compare the two?

                        Ans I'm not even citing the baseball events that were worse then this and televised, or stands collasping in Brazil, with hundreds of deads, though that was not "riot" related, it was at a sporting event shown live on television.

                        http://www.searchspaniel.com/index.p...adium_disaster

                        facts.
                        So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

                        If you've done 6 impossible things today?
                        Then why not have Breakfast at Milliways!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Artest returns to practice this week

                          Able, those who want the Palace affair to be the greatest sports disaster ever aren't going to be concerned with facts.

                          The worst injuries sustained in Detroit that night to my knowledge were Jamaal Tinsley's mysterious wrist injury and Mark Boyle's facial cut.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Artest returns to practice this week

                            Originally posted by sixthman
                            The worst injuries sustained in Detroit that night to my knowledge were Jamaal Tinsley's mysterious wrist injury and Mark Boyle's facial cut.
                            There was also the ref that got hit with a bottle.
                            This space for rent.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Artest returns to practice this week

                              Originally posted by sixthman
                              Able, those who want the Palace affair to be the greatest sports disaster ever aren't going to be concerned with facts.

                              The worst injuries sustained in Detroit that night to my knowledge were Jamaal Tinsley's mysterious wrist injury and Mark Boyle's facial cut.
                              Excuse my paranoia, but you're not refering to me are you? I hope not.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X