The NBA Debacle

Ok, so there are many people far more expert than I discussing the Pistons-Pacers-Pistons Fans brawl. Many of them have some good things to say, so if you're interested, check out Marty Burns at cnnsi.com or some of the espn.com folks (except Chris Mannix at cnn, who I think overstates the case when he insists that Artest should be banned for life). If you haven't seen the replays, I think they're still up at espn.com.

Ok, the players get suspensions. I don't think they'll stay at their current game counts for everyone, but they'll be long, and that's as it should be. But my point today is about how to punish the fans and the city as required. I know that there will be an investigation and the powers that be will try to find the offenders to charge them with crimes and probably revoke a bunch of seasons tickets. That's good. But it's not enough. From the replays, there were a lot of offenders, and even though it punishes a lot of people - the majority of fans, I'd guess - who weren't involved, it's time to do something real. It's time to shut down the Palace for a game.

I'd like to see the NBA take a page from the European soccer playbook and make the Pistons play their next game behind closed doors. Show it on tv, ok, but no fans. None. Just the players, coaches, trainers, and refs. No luxury box visitors. No courtside high-rollers. And yes, even though it means no kids there with their fathers, no rowdies get in. No one.

What does it do: it punishes the rowdies in the crowd. It is an appropriate step to take against the organization, which includes the fans, and an appropriate step to take against the Palace operation (whose Tom Wilson has sounded alternately near-rational and totally idiotic throughout this thing). It is also a message to NBA and sports fans everywhere that even if you pay the ludicrous prices to get into a major sporting event, being there is still a privelege and the people around you should be respected.

Sorry, ranting.

Voted

Voted on my way to work this morning. No lines, no muss, no fuss. Well, one of the poll workers was a little hard of hearing, but it didn't cause much trouble. I won't bother to say who I voted for in the Presidential race - if you know me, you probably already know, and if you don't, you probably don't care.

It was a small ballot today. There were two contested races in my district: president and US Representative (where Barney Frank will likely hold on to his seat). The others were uncontested. Probably should have written in a contestant for one of them (Taco Bell's talking chihuahua for Sherriff, maybe).

I will say that I want to know the results, but really don't want to watch the tv coverage of the election. It's often hard to listen to our increasingly partisan and divided "leadership" debate anything because of the politics than infuses all that they say. But to listen to them discuss politics itself is even more painful. Tonight, I'll either work on photographs or maybe watch some old episodes of The West Wing on TiVo. [Maybe watching an idealized White House is escapism in the face of important real-world developments, but some days we need a little positive fantasy.]

Nonetheless, I hope everyone with an opinion is able to express it today at the polls and that no one is intimidated or incapable of voting because of long delays or administrative issues that are an unfortunate necessity of the system. The whole world is watching, and we'd better not screw this one up.