I Fought Melo and Killed Him

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All fun and games aside, a few things have to be said about this fight. Some of these have been mentioned already by my fellow bloggers and a few brave commentors, but I wanted to make sure they were all in one place.

Not a big deal. Mutoni already said it best:

you know what's hilarious to me? had this happened in baseball, hockey, nascar(!!!), or any other white sport, no one would've batted an eyelash. i find that simply awesome.

This kind of thing happens all the time in sports that aren't the NBA. There were no civilians involved, and all it proved is that athletes have tempers. Don't forget that it was kind of a messed-up situation to begin with, so this was just some rivalry stuff that got out of hand. Not sociopathic millionaires corrupting our gentle youth and threatening American life.

I've heard it suggested that spilling over into courtside seats does make it Auburn Hills-like. No spectators were even scraped as far as I can see, so maybe it's time to put the court back under a steel cage if you want to avoid this kind of thing. Plus, go back and check the penalties handed out to Ray Allen and Jamal Crawford when they had a fight tumble across the invisible wall. Very, very minor.

Ease back off of Melo. I didn't realize the internet was full of trained assassins. People, just because you want athletes to be perfect tough guys, doesn't mean they're always going to be. And it shouldn't affect how you view them as ball players. Brawls are chaotic and individuals make split-second decisions; how do we know Melo wasn't just fleeing from the entire Knicks teams, or trying to extricate himself from something he already regretted? I guarantee you that most Americans would have behaved similar to how he did, or maybe I just refuse to believe that everyone criticizing him would do a "better" job.

And then there's the "hood people should fight" meme. I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous. Just because someone is from a bad neighborhood, it doesn't mean they have to be some kind of super-ghetto gladiator. Although the sucker-punch was kind of weak, it's not like being from Baltimore means he has an obligation to stick around and battle the Knicks to the bloody end. I suppose you can call him a "thug" after this, but do it because of what he did, not what he didn't do.

Now let's get back to those Nate Robinson jokes. Dude is a clown, in all senses of the word.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

12-17-2006 @ 10:39AM

Ryan said...

Nobody said you have to be gangsta but if your going to make the decision to throw a punch, don't run away like a little bitch. And he ran away immediately upon throwing the punch, not that he regretted it as you seem to believe. If your throwin a punch you obviously wanna do something, so be a man and do it. He caught Collins with a cheap shot and sprinted to the other side of the court, not to mention ran away from the 5'9 Nate Robinson. And as far as Nate Robinson goes, the only joke I saw was that Smith tried to tackle him and Nate turned around and threw him into the camera men. Then chased down BitchMelo to the other side of the court and got a clipboard thrown at him. So if u wanna talk about clowns, Carmelo, Smith, Bethlehem Shoals, dudes are clowns, in every sense of the word.

12-17-2006 @ 10:40AM

Carmello Anthony said...

I'd like to have my thoughts on thismatter in a public forum.. for da children.

First off... you have to protect your team.... even if it costs you 20 games and 2 million dollars. I might be the next guy getting clotheslined on the break, and ol' JR- if he's any kind of man- will have my back when it happens.

Next... Mardy Collins totally undeniably McHaled my friend. He has a preppy girl name. He mouthed off to me. But that's not why I hit him.

When you clobber someone like that, professional honor dictates that you have to try to catch him before he breaks his neck. It keeps you out of jail. Once you land safely, you can say "not inmy house, n word," and if he comes after you... well, bombs away.

Mardy knows that, now. It was a brief, painful necessity... but he'll be a better man for it.

Speaking of honor... JR Smith owes me a steak dinner. I decked the guy who nearly killed him.

12-17-2006 @ 11:15AM

jerry rome said...

THE NBA IS FOR THUGS..IT HAS BEEN PROVEN AGAIN..AT LEAST IT KEEPS THEM OFF THE STREETS FOR 8 MONTHS...THATS A GOOD THING

12-17-2006 @ 11:41AM

Big Ticket said...

I attended the Nuggets - TWolves a couple of weeks ago and the nuggets were pulling the same shit. up atleast 17 in the fourth, Melo was taking jumpers with 10 seconds left on the shot clock, and Smith took a long three.

I thought outloud,"What is the deal with these assholes?" apparently i wasn't the only one bothered, Ricky Buckets was shouting from the bench (during the times he was actually watching the game...)a few times when the Nugs were on offense. Craig Smith looked like he was about to deck someone. (I love Craig Smith)

Play that way and people are gonna take notice. Sooner or later someone is gonna put you in your place.

12-17-2006 @ 11:46AM

Ron said...

Show me film on Carmelo Anthony when he has back pedddled that fast in a game and I will jump into Lake Michigan in January.

12-17-2006 @ 4:31PM

Joey said...

Mutoni got it right--this should not be seen as a "black eye" and wouldn't be cast that way were it not a black league.

You got it right about Robinson: a clown. I can't stand his inefficient, self-indulgent schtick. Give me Paul Millsap.

12-17-2006 @ 6:17PM

Psoulliere said...

Let em fight! NO BLOOD, NO FOUL! Prison rules baby. Besides they make enough money and I'm sure the kids love it, or at least most of them...

12-17-2006 @ 9:04PM

JP said...

Carmelo Anthony is a pathetic little bitch. He punched like a sissy and ran like a coward. Honestly, I lost all respect for him, and can't wait to go to games to heckle him until it hurts. Nuggets fans should be ashamed of supporting such a pathetic team, and that incident is an embarrasment and a black eye on the city of Denver. Shame on denver. shame.

12-17-2006 @ 10:59PM

pat said...

If at any time-you morons-that a fight anywhere else in sports has fallen into the stands,let me know. It is not a black thing or a white thing,it is a lack of control by the NBA. I say suspend them all for the season. If you fight it is one thing,but falling into the crowd and hurting someone that pays to see you is another. I hope both teams are sued and I hope that the NBA wakes up and takes a stand

12-18-2006 @ 1:57AM

Derrick said...

Pat,

First youre an idiot. Second the reason that few fights ever spill into the fans is because basketball is the one sport where guard rails don't separate the players from the fans. Soccer in Europe used to be closer to the fans, but they extended it so that crazy stuff like this wouldn't happen. I'm sick of the racist innuendo from people about this situation. Brawls have gone on in every competitive league in history. Hell, we all watched a race car driver drop kick another guy through his window, yet you would never hear him called a "thug". Some of these commenters need to wear their hoods, so they we can properly identify where they are coming from.

12-18-2006 @ 8:39AM

Manny Z said...

Hey, even though Carmelo Anthony (aka "Carmelo Stupidity") could get the worst of the punishments from this latest brawl, I don't think it was this fault that this happened. It happened over a stupid flagrant foul by Mardy Collins (aka Sucky Collins) on J.R. Smith! I mean as soon as that fight started, they should've called the police because that could've escalated into an all-out riot like what happened a couple of years ago with the Pistons and the Pacers!!!

12-18-2006 @ 8:45AM

This fight on Saturday proves that standards in the NBA are falling apart. These dumbasses should be ashamed off themselves and GET THEIR OWN LIFE!!!!!

12-18-2006 @ 9:01AM

Unsilent Majority said...

If only Kenyon had been healthy...then maybe things would have gotten ugly.

12-18-2006 @ 4:20PM

Waltonia said...

Please, all you guys who are on some please think of the children ish need to get a life-if you youtube "NBA" and "fights"-you will be shocked to see Larry Bird, Kareem, Dr J, Barkley, Kevin Mchale, etc, etc, etc ALL got into fights as bad or worse than this. EVERY OTHER SPORT HAS FIGHTS. Baseball and hockey fights have both gone into the stands, and NFL players are insanely violent enough that they are physically prevented from going into the stands.

12-26-2006 @ 8:30PM

Cizzle said...

Pat-

You, sir, do nothing but show your own ignorance and willingness to jump to negative conclusions about the charcter of the NBA and its players.

A few years back, the entire LA Dodgers' bullpen jumped into the stands at Wrigley field to brawl with fans. Then there was that pitcher for the Rangers who threw a chair and nailed a fan in her face.

That's just off the top of my head. Where were you then saying that the MLB is "out of control?"