2008 Woodie Awards
Ambrose at Bat...Again!
The sports role models we have
Kate Ambrose
Issue date: 12/4/04 Section: Sports
On Friday the 19th as I was watching a little TV with my roommate, I was shocked at what I saw when I turned the channel to ESPN. The score of the Pacers and Pistons came flashed across the bottom of the screen, but instead of it saying "final" or "fourth quarter 0:45," it read "game called." In the background of the 97-82 score in favor of the Pacers, The Palace at Auburn Hills, Michigan was almost completely empty. Cups and popcorn containers were strewn under the seats and the few last fans moved across the screen and out of view of the camera. What had happened?
I immediately thought that maybe a player had been badly injured. After thinking it over for a second I didn't think any injury would be bad enough to force the calling of a game. What if the player had been killed? Maybe he had some type of heart attack and just dropped down right there on the court. That must be it. No, there would be something else flashing across the screen. Oh, it had to be a bomb threat. They had to empty the Palace because of a bomb threat. Maybe?
All of those thoughts flashed through my head as I tried to focus in on what the announcers were saying. As the station cut to four commentators sitting behind a desk, while looking utterly disgusted, the truth came out about what had happened. There had been a fight. A fight? The game was called because of a fight? In most fight situations, players are simply ejected from the game or if it were to happen in the stands, the spectators would be removed from the Palace.
As the commentator talked about how stupid and how ridiculous the whole fight had been, I realized it must be something more. The clip they showed next told the story of what I had been waiting to see for the past 10 minutes.
With only 45 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Ben Wallace of Detroit went up for a lay-up and was fouled by Ron Artest of Indiana. It seemed to be a normal slap of the arm with a little shove thrown in for good measure. Well, Wallace didn't seem to see it as I had - he came down ready for a fight. As he turned to Artest and shoved him almost to half court, Wallace was ready to get something started. Artest tried to simply walk away, not yet throwing punches - almost as if he had known what he did deserved what Wallace gave him.