The Media Again...Completely Uncalled For

Friday night, after returning to a friends apartment after a cultural show to find that the Pacers vs. Pistons game was still on. I was ecstatic because I thought that I was going to miss the whole game, but I hadn't. Plus, I've been a Pistons fan since the 87-88 season when they should've won their first NBA title, but lost it in 7 games to the LA Lakers (and yes, I was even a fan during the "teal" years), so I try to catch as many games as possible.

When I turned the game on, there were about 8 minutes left, and the Pistons were down. "The Palace" was loud and rowdy as the Pistons pulled within five in the closing minutes of the game (I later found out they were down by as many as 20 at one point). The Pacers had successfully maintained their 5 point lead, and eventually built on it as the game entered its final minute. The lead was too large for the Pistons to surmount, but they had to play it out anyhow.

That's when it happened!

With 45 seconds left to play in the game, while driving to the hole, Ben Wallace was hard (flagrantly) fouled by the Pacers' Ron Artest. Extremely angry, Wallace violently shoved Artest in the neck, and a standoff between the two teams ensued. It was the typical NBA "fight" scenario...almost.

After being shoved, Artest actually laid down on the Pistons' scoring table all while players from both teams were trying to separate him from Ben Wallace. Tempers flaired, but Artest' disrespectful gesture of laying on the Pistons' scoring table enraged some already upset fans (mad because the Pistons were dominated at home) and made him an easy target. A drink in a cup was thrown at him and hit him in what appeared to be his head (from the camera angle). He then swiftly lept off the scoring table as if he were Spiderman, and violently attacked a fan whom I assume he thought threw the drink.

An all out melee then took place that pitted Pistons fans against Pacers players. And if you're reading this (even if you're not), I'm sure that I don't have to fill you in on what else happened because I know you've seen the footage of the bedlam that took place.

Therein lies my problem.

Everywhere I went Friday night, there were dozens of people crowding around TV's to watch the repeat footage of the carnage at the Palace (I should mention that I happened to be outside of Detroit visiting friends this weekend). With each wildly thrown haymaker, an emphatic "OH!" was uttered, and for every ounce of beer that was thrown at the Pacers' players there was jubilant cheering. After one 12 minute cycle of the footage would complete (just prior to another 12 minute cycle), the TV viewers would yell out with glee as if world peace had been achieved, with the occasional shout of "Yeah, that's Detroit," or "Detroit what!!!"

And that's why I'm frustrated. Over and over again commentators and news personalities have expressed how sad and disgusted they are at such a scene. Well, if it is such a sad sight to see, then why show it repeatedly on an endless loop? Why give so much time to such a negative occurrence? Why bombard our minds with such senseless violence?

So yes, I am ripping the media again. I think that it is completely irresponsible of our media to show such footage. It is my heartfelt conviction that the only people that should have witnessed this sad event are people who were either at the Palace when it went down, or those of us who happened to be watching it as it unfolded on our TV screens. If you weren't one of those people, then you shouldn't have even had the chance to see it.

And I don't buy the argument that this is the USA and the people have a right to know. Fine, you do, but the story could have been reported on without camera footage. Furthermore, if camera footage was going to be used, then it didn't have to be as ubiquitous as Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's sex tape. Once an hour is more than enough. ESPN, for example, literally showed the footage for like 8 hours straight Friday night into Saturday morning. Why?

And believe it or not, stuff like that affects the psyche. I am more than convinced that all of the violence we witnessed Saturday afternoon during multiple college football games (the most notable and severely nasty being Clemson vs. South Carolina) was as a direct result of the "Pistons/Pacers brawl" being shown on a loop all Friday night and Saturday morning. I'd also be willing to bet some serious money that there were numerous random street brawls over the weekend as a direct result of this footage.

The media is so backward. This reminds me of the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" during last years Superbowl Halftime show. I happened to be watching the Halftime show and I knew what I saw in that split second when she bared her breast. But, half of the people that saw it had no clue what had occurred...until after the game when that incident was aired repeatedly on every news station.

What I don't get is if Janet showing off her tit was so immoral and repugnant, why in the world would it get so much press? Everyone who wasn't sure what they saw, and millions of people who didn't even watch the game, all got ample opportunities to behold Janet's supple breast. If it was wrong of her to bare her boob, then why did all press outlets re-air it?

I think that Michael Powell (the head of the FCC and Outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell's son) should be ashamed of himself for being so critical of events like Janet's wardrobe malfunction, but then allowing the news stations to repeatedly air the footage without consequence. I think all forms of media, including this blog, should be shut down for 317 days until every media voice vows to use common sense in what they report and how they report it.

Better yet, there should be a law that I get to regulate common sense in the media. Because then the media would actually report on things that actually matter, and incidences such as the "Pacers/Pistons brawl" would be handled wisely, so as to not provoke other negative situations (like the college football fights) to occur.

Now that would be a wise decision!
-Maelstrom