Crazy Athlete of the Week! (Kinda)

By Brian

This week the award for the craziest athlete will actually go to one who hasn't done anything truly crazy this week, however is involved in a situation so ironic its crazy.

Ron Artest was suspended for the first seven games of next season which may not surprise many of you. After all he was the instigator in the famous brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills and pleaded no contest to domestic violence charges on March 5th. However this situation is very ironic due to the fact that Artest took a while to respond to the suspension because he was doing humanitarian work in Kenya. Artest joined other NBA players to interact with AIDS babies in African and distribute rice to those in need. And if you think this is a one time publicity stunt consider this, Artest has bought a house there so he can return and continue his charitable work every offseason. Could it be someone that we all prejudged has another side to him? Apparently he does have another side and it is worth noting.

Artest is often vilified for being a no good thug, which many people believe is all too common in the NBA. The NBA issued harsh suspensions for misconduct and implemented a dress code to try and improve its image. The NBA started doing this long before Roger Godell set out to clean up the NFL's image which has taken hits for many athletes being crazy which we have been tracking for several weeks.

Exposing athletes acting stupid is the reason for crazy athlete of the week. We think it is important and often funny to point out the insane behavior of certain athletes who go way too far. However there are two sides to every story. Artest has done a lot of good things and the negatives in his life have been overblown. The fight at Auburn Hills was a nasty event but really began due to a thug fan trying to start a fight. Billy Beane beat up an asshole fan at a minor league game when he was a player, which is why you don't try and fight professional athletes. Ty Cobb was suspended for a month because he went up into the stands and punched a guy in a wheel chair. These incidents had very different consequences for those involved.

The reason the NBA came down so harsh on these players is that the white owners, sponsors, and season ticket holders got upset over certain events and decided to crack down. It happened in the NBA first because of pure racism. The NBA is mostly black and players don't wear helmets like in football...you can still see them through headbands. You can clearly see the players and this individual recognition, of both who they are and their race, leads to more scrutiny. Domestic violence is obviously wrong and the suspension is probably justified but before we go and vilify a player like Artest we should see what else they are doing with their lives and look at ourselves and ask some questions. What have we done for those less fortunate lately? Would we be angry about a hockey player getting into a fight on the ice? Would we be mad about a baseball player throwing a ball at someones head, or charging the mound? And finally would we be as upset if Ron Artest was white? Would the NBA take such drastic measures if the players were mostly white?

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