Vicious elbow to head thrown by Ron Artest

[tornado]

despite the guy calling himself "Metta World Peace" (what a mockery of anything to do with peace) -
.. this guy displays the most criminally violent and thuggish personality of anyone I have ever seen play this game or really any athletic endeavor - even ice hockey!

Here's Ron Artest's latest hit on a completely innocent and unsuspecting James Harden in last night's game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkvepCon4tg

I call on the NBA to give Artest a lifetime ban - this is far, far from his first or even his 10th incident - someof which are already legendary..

This crap is exactly why even kids in junior high are acting the same way because they think it's cool, tough, and gets very little penalty.

[lake Camelot]

I think lifetime may be excessive. But I could go for him missing all of the playoffs.

I really do think he has something wired wrong in his head. I mean some form of mental illness.

[tornado]

the ESPN talking heads hinted they thought he'd just get 1 or 2 games, maybe three...and I cringed when I heard that......
Look at Marian Hossa of the Blackhawks that we are discussing on the General Sports board - he was hit so violently that he's gonna miss not just the playoffs,
but his career might just be over because of that hit...

Likewise with Harden - it is conceivable that if he has a concussion he could miss a month or more...
Anyone recall Cardinals' catcher Jason LaRue whose career was destroyed and ended when he was viciously kicked in the head by Cincinnati's Johnny Cueto??

In other words - LaRue gets a lifetime penalty from the injury but remember what Cueto got?? Seven games suspension - which because he's a pitcher
actually means he misses JUST TWO GAMES, maybe even JUST ONE!

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100919&content_id=14843488&notebook_id=14843490&vkey=notebook_stl&c_id=stl

http://www.foxsportsmidwest.com/08/12/10/Rains-Cuetos-suspension-is-a-joke/landing.html?blockID=289060

I know the voice of just one fan is meaningless to these greedy people but I have been consistent over the course of my entire life
that this type of INTENTIONAL violence - especially when completely unrelated to the game - needs to be penalized in the severest way!

[sousaman2089]

I think it's safe to say Metta World Peace is gone, and Ron Artest is back all the way, which is sad. Artest has been pretty up front with his mental issues, he even thanked his psychiatrist live on national television after winning the NBA title.

I would guess he would be suspended for just the first series of the playoffs, then maybe some games at the beginning of next season. David Stern already messed with the Lakers too much this year (vetoing the Chris Paul trade), so I don't think he'd have the guts to do anything too drastic. With that said, I would be fine with any suspension really.

[tornado]

where are the "anti-violence people" and their outrage in this incident. ?.

[Gwright]

Kind of a taking this in a different direction, but one thing I did appreciate about the NFL handling the hit against Hossa, was that when the league handed down the suspension, they had the head of Player Safety, break down frame by frame video of the hit to show all the rules that were violated, which they put on the screen at the same time, and then showed all the hits before that had made the suspension justified. They put this video online, and I really appreciated the open nature of which they handed down their punishment make the violation clear, and the punishment totally justified.

Video

[Future Walk-On]

I like how he pleaded innocence with the refs.

If that elbow was an accident he would have turned and been like whoops my bad for elbowing you. Instead he kept struting down the court like nothing happend....

[AZ BU Fan]

A 25 game suspension without pay would be appropriate.

[Chico]

A 25 game suspension without pay would be appropriate.

Should be longer than that. There's all kind of contact in the NHL, so IMO, there's going to be dirty hits occasionally. But, also IMO, the fans of that sport get what they ask for. The hit by Artest was the most blantant I have seen outside of when the Minnesota players ganged up on Luke Witte of Ohio St years ago.

[FlyingSpaghettiMonster]

Let me first say that the elbow was bad. Zero question about that.

There is no way that this was near as bad as some are making it out to be. IMO Artest should be done for the season, but there have been far worse incidents in hockey and even the NBA. The Bynum shot on Barea last year was just as bad (it might have been worse).

Kermit Washington punching Rudy T

Todd Bertuzzi

Chris Simon stomp and swinging stick.

Don't forget the Albert Haynesworth stomp

I can't tell if some of you are speaking in hyperbole or have really horrible memories.

[tornado]

I contend that things are different now than in the past...
refs have been prompted to watch closer - leagues are under the gun to find and penalize offenders more vigorously -
behavioral issues are written right into people's contracts with "fired with cause" terms agreed to by BOTH parties,
(kinda like the Petrino firing -but different "cause")
and the players have been put on notice time and time again -- they HAVE BEEN WARNED..
especially Artest....so this umpteenth violation is like a end-all major violation AFTER being given the ZERO-TOLERANCE LIMIT....(eg-Bobby Knight) and thus I think he needs to be banned.

[LittleBrave]

The crazy thing about the incident was that it came after something GOOD happened to Artest.
An elbow or fist might be thrown after something bad happens to you, or you're humiliated, or disrespected on the court.

Just isn't logical for a player to react this way after a play - maybe taunting to some degree, but not with physical force.

He is one messed up dude and is promoting kids toward anything BUT "World Peace".

[FlyingSpaghettiMonster]

The crazy thing about the incident was that it came after something GOOD happened to Artest.
An elbow or fist might be thrown after something bad happens to you, or you're humiliated, or disrespected on the court.

Just isn't logical for a player to react this way after a play - maybe taunting to some degree, but not with physical force.

He is one messed up dude and is promoting kids toward anything BUT "World Peace".

It made no sense. He clearly has issues, and it's too bad because he can sound like a really nice, good person at times.

Not relevant interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZrVRU5G2dg

[tornado]

a few nights earlier Miami's James Jones threw a cheap shot foul into Bulls' Joakim Noah's face and got ejected with a Flagrant Technical-2....
but it wasn't just a foul - it wasn't even a basketball play or in the process of playing defense at all -- it was just a cheap, blind-side attack for no clear reason whatsoever....

Problem is, tho, Jones is not an important or key player - they were not hurt at all by his ejection, and beyond the ejection, the softies in the league added no additional penalty so he was able to play again right away, next game!
So, just what deterrent was there to Jones doing this again and again?? He literally got away easy for this attack - which would have been a serious crime had he done it on the street, in a bar, or anywhere else in the world.
Had he done this to a child or a woman it's a serious crime but instead he's almost kind of a Miami hero.

I think this thug should have gotten a 10-game penalty - he even added some trash talking after the classless hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7wt4eiVFbs

Magic Johnson (on ESPN) admitted that he is a Lakers fan to the bone and would never criticize his Lakers yet-
he was completely embarrassed and stunned that Artest would do such a thing and called for a severe penalty..
let's just see if the NBA has the ba**s to give Artest what he deserves, and doesn't put the financial well being of one of their favorite franchises up front.

[LittleBrave]

a few nights earlier Miami's James Jones threw a cheap shot foul into Bulls' Joakim Noah's face and got ejected with a Flagrant Technical-2....
but it wasn't just a foul - it wasn't even a basketball play or in the process of playing defense at all -- it was just a cheap, blind-side attack for no clear reason whatsoever....

Problem is, tho, Jones is not an important or key player - they were not hurt at all by his ejection, and beyond the ejection, the softies in the league added no additional penalty so he was able to play again right away, next game!
So, just what deterrent was there to Jones doing this again and again?? He literally got away easy for this attack - which would have been a serious crime had he done it on the street, in a bar, or anywhere else in the world.
Had he done this to a child or a woman it's a serious crime but instead he's almost kind of a Miami hero.

I think this thug should have gotten a 10-game penalty - he even added some trash talking after the classless hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7wt4eiVFbs

Magic Johnson (on ESPN) admitted that he is a Lakers fan to the bone and would never criticize his Lakers yet-
he was completely embarrassed and stunned that Artest would do such a thing and called for a severe penalty..
let's just see if the NBA has the ba**s to give Artest what he deserves, and doesn't put the financial well being of one of their favorite franchises up front.

The NBA is pretty much a joke anyway, which makes College Hoops even more fun to follow!

The few games I've watched of the Bulls this year and last, they are a good group of guys more or less. I despised Noah in college, but he's not a thug or anything like I see on other teams. They really play a team game and have guys that just wanna' win and put it all on the floor on Offense & defense - a credit to their coach too. And you've gotta' root for a guy like Korver - no matter how much damage he's done against our Braves in the past!