Big bucks for bad conduct
SPORTS AND violence, fueled by attitude on the playing field and beer in the stands, are now as American as apple pie.
David Stern, commissioner of the National Basketball Association, called the recent brawl between players and fans "shocking, repulsive, and inexcusable." If the ugliness at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan truly shocked Stern, it must come from living in a VIP bubble, compliments of the industry -- the coddling and marketing of multimillionaire basketball players -- he is charged with overseeing.
Americans used to connect sports violence with overseas soccer games. Now, anyone who attends a professional sporting event understands it is a potentially combustible scene.
Rich, spoiled athletes are deified for aggressive play and equally brash, push-the-envelope personality. Bench-clearing brawls are praised as team motivators. In the stands, fans drink to dull-eyed sullenness. If their team loses, they don't celebrate the other team's proficiency; they curse it. Victory does not necessarily improve temperament. Boston just witnessed an outbreak of fan violence after the Red Sox won a much coveted world championship. A 21-year-old college junior died in the aftermath, struck in the eye by a less-lethal projectile used by police who were trying to control the crowd.
Mix the players with the fans and disaster is inevitable. It is a social contract for bad behavior, underwritten by the sports and alcohol industries.
In response to the melee that interrupted the Friday night game between the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers, the NBA imposed its harshest collective penalties ever. The Indiana Pacers' Ron Artest was suspended for the rest of the season. Teammates Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal were suspended for a combined 55 games for fighting with fans. Detroit Pistons center Ben Wallace, who shoved Artest and instigated an on-court showdown, received a six-game suspension. Five other players from the teams received lesser suspensions. All the suspensions are without pay; the players union said it would appeal them. Criminal charges are also possible.
Said Stern: "We have to make the point that there are boundaries in our games. And that one of those boundaries, which has always been immutable, is the boundary that separates the fans from the court."
The boundaries Stern references have been shrinking for a while.
A list of recent player-fan confrontations compiled by the AP include the following: On Sept. 13, 2004, Texas Rangers pitcher Frank Francisco threw a chair that hit a woman in the stands and broke her nose. On April 19, 2003, an Oakland Athletics fan threw a cellphone at Texas outfielder Carl Everett. On April 15, 2003, a man came out of the stands and grabbed an umpire around the legs during a game betwen the White Sox and the Kansas City Royals. On Sept. 19, 2002, a father and son burst onto the field at Comiskey Park and punched and kicked the Kansas City Royals first-base coach.
There are other incidents cited, involving football fans throwing bottles and snowballs spiked with batteries, a hockey player pouring water on taunting spectators, and baseball players trading punches with fans in the stands at Wrigley Field.
In the current NBA case, the sports world seems torn between praising Stern for sending a forceful message and bemoaning a Pacers' season without Artest.
There is also an unpleasant racial subtext to this controversy. The handwringing over young, undisciplined athletes who jump from inner city streets to fame and fortune in the NBA is just another way of noting that all the players in this case are black. These players should be held accountable. But what about accountability for a society that recruits them, pays them ridiculous sums of money, and idolizes their lifestyle until it blows up on national TV?
Moreover, no one should talk about accountability without mentioning alcohol. During a Sunday night press conference, the NBA commissioner said the league is discussing curtailing beer sales. It should not stop at discussion. Although Stern said "most of the beer companies do preach responsible consumption," what the beer companies really preach is that beer and sports are inseparable. They cannot duck the rest of the equation: beer plus sports equals rude, rowdy fans.
None of this happens in a vacuum. From college football to peewee hockey, outbursts of temper and violence ruin what should be inspirational competition. Professional athletes and their fans are role models. Some are sending a very bad message. As long as society buys it, the people who make money off of them have little incentive to change it.
Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com.
