Friday Night Fights, NBA Style!

If you didn't actually see it on TV, I'd be shocked as it's probably the biggest news story of the day. If you haven't seen it here is the link as well as a link to the picture slide show at Yahoo. As you may know, there was a fight between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons as well as fighting between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit fans. The fight between the two teams was fairly tame as they know when they fight suspensions and fines will ensue. But the fight between the Pacers and the fans was where the action was. Of course, at the center of it all was Ron Artest, a great basketball player and all around nut case. Ron really never instigates fights but does just enough on the court to get under peoples skins where as causing them to want to fight him. Anyway, if you watch the linked video, you will notice that Ron got under the skin of Ben Wallace (as well as fouled the living daylights outta him). Ben then took action, shoving Ron in the face. Ron, being the nice guy he is takes the shove and steps backward with Ben in pursuit. As in any fight, the bench clears and there is a little pushing and shoving. This lasted about 2 to 3 minutes but all the while you can see Ron in the background laying on his back on the scorers table with his hand behind his head. So, the on court fight is beginning to die down but the fans are starting to get worked up and they are throwing everything from beer and beer cups to chairs at the Pacer players. Ron, who is still laying on his back on the table all of a sudden decides he isn't going to take it anymore and jumps into the stands to go after fans along with Stephen Jackson. This is when it begins to get ugly, with fans ganging up on Pacer players up in the stands. The game was called with 45.9 seconds remaining in the 4th quarter. I read that 3 hours after the game the police left the arena with many statements from players and fans accompanied with much video tape from any TV footage they could find. They said it would be turned into the Oakland County Prosecutors. So, my take on all that occurred is:

Everything that happened on the court wasn't too unusual
The fans were way outta hand
Ron and Stephen should have kept their cool and stayed on the court
Fans will go to jail
Players will be fined and suspended


Other less exciting news...

Yesterday, Karin and I celebrated the 5th anniversary of us moving into our house by going out to dinner at the Sierra Nevada Brewery. We started out by ordering a sampler and some calamari. The sampler is 16 little glasses of beer, one each for each of the beers they brew. As we sipped and ate the calamari we each gave the other our review for each beer. Karin, doesn't like the dark stuff so she stuck mainly to the Pilsners, Wheats, and light Ales. I believe her favorite was the Blonde Ale. I enjoyed each with the Blonde being one of my favorites, but the Green Hops Ale trumped it. In terms of dinner, Karin ordered the Filet with spinach and mashed potatoes. I had the Chicken rotisserie with mashed potatoes and stuffing. I can say mine was excellent as I'm sure Karin's was as well. We finished off the dinner with Karin having a cup of coffee and me a cappuccino.

Happy day everyone and try not to fight!