Ingredients:
One generation of gangsta rap culture.
Several immature individuals highly overpaid for playing a game
Lots of beer
A pinch of adrenaline
A total lack of self-control
Mix thoroughly and what do you get? An NBA basketball game of course!
However, worse than what happened at the game, was the response of the ESPN commentators on SportsCenter this morning… it was all the fan’s fault! Pahleeease! Yes, there was uncalled for fan involvement… yes, the fans got out of control… yes, the fans showed poor judgement… but to exonerate the players? I don’t think so.
Presumably, the players were the ones with clear heads and the fans clouded by alcohol (I guess that’s a fair assumption). The players were the ones out there making more in two hours than most everyone else in the arena makes in a year. Couldn’t they show a little discipline? Evidently not.
Seems to me that this was only the tipping point of a trend that’s been brewing for a long time. I stopped watching basketball long ago. Gone are the days of classy players like Wilt, Larry, Doc, Pistol Pete, Kareem, etc…. replaced by a generation raised on gangsta rap and seemingly determined to bring those same values to the court.
It won’t be long now until the NBA and even colleges will have to provide terrorist level security just for a basketball game. I fear that basketball is only the start. Seems that football is headed in the same direction.
A sad day when what used to be a valuable learning experience (sports) turns into a bad example for our youth.
