I talked to a buddy in Indianapolis yesterday, he had called me to tell me that indictments had been brought down on Tinsley and Daniels. I scratched my head and said OK, have they been charged and arrested….to his knowledge they hadn’t…this was at 6pm Est.
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My buddy had also told me that on one of the sports talk radio shows in town, the drive with JMV or whatever his name is, was crucifying the two Pacer players and Pacers management. Now everyone on this board knows that I am NO fan of Jamal Tinsley or his average basketball ability, but when I hear that the Indiana fans that called in have already tried and pronounced sentence on both players and the Pacer Franchise then I have to step back and really ask myself what is this all about, are Indiana Pacer fans, especially the ones who call into talk shows, that ignorant of the law process, are these young black men who are presumed to be “thugs” being tried in the court of public opinion because of total ignorance or god forbid, bigotry?
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I like to think that my former home city has good enough people not trying to resurrect the Salem Witch trials of yesteryear.
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Then again I ask myself what got them to this point of contempt….
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Was it the :
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Malace in the Palace?
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This would be the best place to start…lets rehash this one last time. Pacers up by double digits with a minute to go in the game. Ron Artest takes a foul on Ben Wallace. Why either of these two players are in the game still is beyond me, I guess Rick and Larry were resting their bench. Wallace makes a comment to Artest, Artest comments back (I do know what the comment was) and Wallace proceeds to but his hands around Artests throat. Once that happened, especially with all the Bad-good publicity that sports talk and ESPN and other media outlets had given Artest you could see what was brewing. What a lot of people don’t talk about was how Artest calmly and I do mean calmly took himself out of that mix and walked over to the tables and laid down…what would you do if a large man had just put his hands around your throat and basically was threaten you? The only mistake the that was mad at this time was that The Pacers wonderful troop of assistant coaches did not get to Artest to bring him to the bench, they let him do whatever, Artests teammates did nothing to corral him, why should they? Because that’s what you do in an escalating situation, anyone with any common sense knows that. What were the officials doing, why didn’t they jut eject both players at that time? No, there was plenty of blame to go around especially since Wallace was up gyrating and flying his arms around inciting the Palace crowd. Artest was then hit wit a cup or plastic cup still with something in it…again what would you do? Ron did the wrong thing; he went into the stands and put himself in even more danger. What kills me is that Ron went into the stands and grabbed, did not strike, just grabbed the guy he perceived that threw the cub at him. Yet the AP wire services stated that he struck a fan.
Artest at fault? Yes, but if you or I am in the same situation, what would we have done?
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Was it the incident at Club Rio?
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Everybody wanted Stephen Jackson gone! He’s gone, Tinsley’s still here. The fans that called in wondering why he was at a strip club probably have never been to a strip club or admit to being at a strip club. Are the people in Indianapolis so naïve to think that Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Dr.J have never been to a strip club after midnight…get a grip people, it happens and will continue to happen. Where I don’t agree with the pulling out of a handgun, I do believe that if he had a license, which Jackson did, and he thought his life was in danger, which obviously was when the car hit him, then he had his constitutional right to bear arms. Him shooting it in the air was far better then shooting it at somebody…but then again the Indy sports fans know better, judge, jury & executioner of public opinion.
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The 8-second Saloon incident?
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Were any of you there, were any of the “sports talk show callers” there to see this happen. There were reports that some had taken cell phone pictures…this in a dark bar-club and with I’m sure a number of inebriated people. Tinsley and Daniels have professed their innocence and have had indictments handed down because there is sufficient suspicion for a conviction. But then again the Indy sports fans know better, judge, jury & executioner of public opinion.
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Yet what pisses me off the most is that the fans are holding the Pacers accountable for the actions of their players. What I mean by this is that the Pacers are like any other sports entity, except that they are in a small market. People took the Pacers PR campaign this summer to heart where the Club had promised that there would be no more distractions or bad behavior. When the Club Rio incident occurred everybody in town threw up their hands and said “same old Pacers”….Management lied to us….Yes, these players are employees of the Indiana Pacers, but what none of you have thought about is how much control do the Indiana Pacers or for that matter does any Franchise have of its players. The answer is they don’t have any real control due to the fact that the NBA players Union would simply file a grievance and have any discipline or fines returned, especially in cases that are misdemeanors.
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The real problem here is the NBA players union and the power that it has. That power was given to them in the last collective bargaining agreement. Could the Pacers just cut Tinsley? Sure, but you would still have to pay him and his salary would not come off of the salary cap.
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To a small market team like Indiana that is a huge hit.
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I know this tread has been long and it may seam a little bit soapbox….but I’m eager to see what kind of diversity on opinions this brings, you can’t really hide your ignorance in this court.
fficeffice" />
My buddy had also told me that on one of the sports talk radio shows in town, the drive with JMV or whatever his name is, was crucifying the two Pacer players and Pacers management. Now everyone on this board knows that I am NO fan of Jamal Tinsley or his average basketball ability, but when I hear that the Indiana fans that called in have already tried and pronounced sentence on both players and the Pacer Franchise then I have to step back and really ask myself what is this all about, are Indiana Pacer fans, especially the ones who call into talk shows, that ignorant of the law process, are these young black men who are presumed to be “thugs” being tried in the court of public opinion because of total ignorance or god forbid, bigotry?
I like to think that my former home city has good enough people not trying to resurrect the Salem Witch trials of yesteryear.
Then again I ask myself what got them to this point of contempt….
Was it the :
Malace in the Palace?
This would be the best place to start…lets rehash this one last time. Pacers up by double digits with a minute to go in the game. Ron Artest takes a foul on Ben Wallace. Why either of these two players are in the game still is beyond me, I guess Rick and Larry were resting their bench. Wallace makes a comment to Artest, Artest comments back (I do know what the comment was) and Wallace proceeds to but his hands around Artests throat. Once that happened, especially with all the Bad-good publicity that sports talk and ESPN and other media outlets had given Artest you could see what was brewing. What a lot of people don’t talk about was how Artest calmly and I do mean calmly took himself out of that mix and walked over to the tables and laid down…what would you do if a large man had just put his hands around your throat and basically was threaten you? The only mistake the that was mad at this time was that The Pacers wonderful troop of assistant coaches did not get to Artest to bring him to the bench, they let him do whatever, Artests teammates did nothing to corral him, why should they? Because that’s what you do in an escalating situation, anyone with any common sense knows that. What were the officials doing, why didn’t they jut eject both players at that time? No, there was plenty of blame to go around especially since Wallace was up gyrating and flying his arms around inciting the Palace crowd. Artest was then hit wit a cup or plastic cup still with something in it…again what would you do? Ron did the wrong thing; he went into the stands and put himself in even more danger. What kills me is that Ron went into the stands and grabbed, did not strike, just grabbed the guy he perceived that threw the cub at him. Yet the AP wire services stated that he struck a fan.
Artest at fault? Yes, but if you or I am in the same situation, what would we have done?
Was it the incident at Club Rio?
Everybody wanted Stephen Jackson gone! He’s gone, Tinsley’s still here. The fans that called in wondering why he was at a strip club probably have never been to a strip club or admit to being at a strip club. Are the people in Indianapolis so naïve to think that Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Dr.J have never been to a strip club after midnight…get a grip people, it happens and will continue to happen. Where I don’t agree with the pulling out of a handgun, I do believe that if he had a license, which Jackson did, and he thought his life was in danger, which obviously was when the car hit him, then he had his constitutional right to bear arms. Him shooting it in the air was far better then shooting it at somebody…but then again the Indy sports fans know better, judge, jury & executioner of public opinion.
The 8-second Saloon incident?
Were any of you there, were any of the “sports talk show callers” there to see this happen. There were reports that some had taken cell phone pictures…this in a dark bar-club and with I’m sure a number of inebriated people. Tinsley and Daniels have professed their innocence and have had indictments handed down because there is sufficient suspicion for a conviction. But then again the Indy sports fans know better, judge, jury & executioner of public opinion.
Yet what pisses me off the most is that the fans are holding the Pacers accountable for the actions of their players. What I mean by this is that the Pacers are like any other sports entity, except that they are in a small market. People took the Pacers PR campaign this summer to heart where the Club had promised that there would be no more distractions or bad behavior. When the Club Rio incident occurred everybody in town threw up their hands and said “same old Pacers”….Management lied to us….Yes, these players are employees of the Indiana Pacers, but what none of you have thought about is how much control do the Indiana Pacers or for that matter does any Franchise have of its players. The answer is they don’t have any real control due to the fact that the NBA players Union would simply file a grievance and have any discipline or fines returned, especially in cases that are misdemeanors.
The real problem here is the NBA players union and the power that it has. That power was given to them in the last collective bargaining agreement. Could the Pacers just cut Tinsley? Sure, but you would still have to pay him and his salary would not come off of the salary cap.
To a small market team like Indiana that is a huge hit.
I know this tread has been long and it may seam a little bit soapbox….but I’m eager to see what kind of diversity on opinions this brings, you can’t really hide your ignorance in this court.
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