Fallacious Comparison
In the wake of the Pistons-Pacers brawl last week, there have been numerous commentaries defending the players by positing what would happen if a player showed up at people’s workplaces and started heckling them. Wouldn’t we be within our rights to defend ourselves?
I see two problems with this line of reasoning. On Friday, no one got directly in Ron Artest’s face and started harassing him until after Artest entered the stands. Someone threw a cup of beer at him from a distance. Had the person stood right in front of Artest and threw the beer, Artest would have had every right to defend himself. Not, however, by beating the guy mercilessly as he did the fan he wrongly singled out.
But more importantly, athletes know and accept the fact that they will be in the limelight when they step onto the court or field. They get paid obscene amounts of money or receive college scholarships to play before thousands of people. It is why they call it “spectator sports.” Last time I checked I don’t work in spectator transportation planning. If someone comes into my workplace and starts harassing me, it’s called trespassing.
Not that I am defending the fans who got out of hand. They were wrong just like the players and deserve to be punished. It’s just that the players have to expect a certain level of abuse, right or wrong, and when it happens, to let security take care of it unless they are in imminent danger. No one but the fans were in imminent danger on Friday.