April 18, 2001
				Williams' Fine Critic Although IMO, Jason has done some REALLY dumb things this year, this is one where I'm on his side. His "retaliation" seems in the right spirit to me and made me laugh out loud when I read about it. "Spit on me? Ok, get used to an up close and personal view of my butt and those of my 7'0" teammates!" Sweets for the Sweets. He's rich enough that it was likely worth the $25K. It was a Barkley-like move and I applaud his imagination and restraint. Mad Max would have likely gone into the stands; JR Rider the same, only with a
	weapon. Hopefully, the Kings will appeal on his behalf. No excuse for an NBA team letting fans spit on players. Taking verbal abuse w/o retaliation is the way it has to be for NBA players, but standing up when spit on seems ok to me. I guess the NBA is concerned about obstructing the views of non-spitters along with spitter(s), but those folks could have called security and ratted out the spitter(s), so "**** 'em if they can't take a joke" would be my position. U-D-Man, Jason! Reno Lady NBA fans are becoming too much like NHL or WWF fans for my liking. What has happened to "do unto others" here, or at least respect for the men playing the game. What kind of "fan", and I use that word here in its purest meaning, would pay a considerable amount of money to go see a game they allege to love and players they claim to admire and then treat any of them the way Jason Williams is apparently treated? Just doesn't make any sense to me. A player of any sport shouldn't have to put up with abuse from fans - good natured heckling and ribbing - "Shaq, you need to get your mom to make your free throws for you" or "Vlade, you need to buy shoes with built-in springs in them" is one thing but personally attacking a player by either word or gesture has got to stop and it's up to the league to stop it. Punishing the few for the crimes of the many is putting water in a paper bag, sooner or later the bottom is going to fall out. The league definitely needs to think about posting signs near at entrances warning fans they'll be escorted out if players complain of harassment and a buffer zone needs to be established behind and beside players benches where no fans are allowed. Jag115 I agree, it was great to hear that Jason and the others stood and held a towel up. The NBA's reaction to this, and the fact that they did not even speak to any of the Kings, shows that Jason is now a marked man, any move he makes to counteract the annoying fans will get him fined. One day soon, the league needs to deal with the loud obnoxious fans, and soon before it gets out of hand. As Reno Lady said nicely getting on the players case is one thing, but when it gets so low that they are making signs that someone is doing or has done drugs, spits on people, uses obscene language toward the players, action needs to be taken against those fans. It is kind of a sad tale that the league is so concerned about teams scoring a lot that they put in a whole bunch of new rules, but ignore the problems that really plague the league such as the refrees and this obnoxious fan behavior. Does this fan stuff mean that we could e-mail the league office and state that an incident happened that a player from the other team held up a towel and we couldn't see and that player would be fined??? No way unless his name is Jason Williams.
	Bonsy I was just reading an article on Shawn Bradley from the Dallas News and I thought this bit was fascinating. It shows the disconnect of fans in the stands from reality. One fan response was almost surprised to be reminded that the player was also a person with a wife and family. The other responded that "I'm a fan" so I can be obnoxious and rude. Interesting psychology here... Shawn and Annette say most Dallas fans are friendly and supportive when they see the Bradleys in public. Game nights sometimes are another matter. Shawn is convenient prey for fans who regard their ticket stub as a hunting license. Big target. Large contract. "One time there was a guy in front of me who was kind of bad-mouthing Shawn," Annette says. "I nudged him and said, 'Hey, that's my husband you're talking about.'" The fan apologized profusely, offered to buy Annette a soft drink and spent the rest of the game cheering loudly for Shawn. A similar episode this season, however, produced a different result. After Annette identified herself to a fan who was "just really killing Shawn," the man stammered for a few seconds, then explained: "Well, I'm a fan." With the latest J-Will attacks, it's interesting to see how far some people think they can go in being abusive.
	kingme4 I'm really angry about Stu Jackson fining Jason for what amounts to self-protection. All the other Kings players bascially said the same thing - fans were getting on Jason and getting nasty, so he stood up to get away from them. and his teammates joined him, in solidarity and to act as a human barrier against the animals who have decided that since they paid $ it's okay to act like vulgarians in public.This is really weird because i taped that game, and the broadcast (ch. 31) shows this older woman standing near the kings bench at the end of the game or the ot, and she's really upset. She's talking to a security guard and gesturing towards Jason. the guard looks like he doesn't care, but she's enraged. Too bad for her -every arena is configured differently. at Arco, for instance, players can stand up and not obstruct anyone's view, but maybe at the huge Alamodome, it's different becuase the seats near the court don't elevate up stadium-style as sharply on the bottom rows. So how the hell is Jason williams supposed to know that???? What's wrong with the league just giving him a call and telling -or warning him- about it? And as Bonsy said, is that all that the league needs to take action against players? A few irrate e-mails? You never hear of any incidents related to Arco involving players(with the exception of OP)and we're supposed to be the most vocal,crazy fans around.As Mark cuban said, the league wants to him to change by using the David Stern School of Behavior Modification. Well, I think the league just enrolled jason also.
	PistonJW Warning: This will be a long post that filled with grammar mistakes and wrong spells... During the last 2 days I have always been on a somber mood. Yesterday I even became kind of furious when I heard the news about the latest fine of Jason Williams by the league. I believe most of the fans here are not very satisfied with this judgement also. I saw kind-hearted fans here like Reno Lady suggested that we should mail to the NBA to show our "fans" reaction about this. But I doubt it seriously that will make any difference to this league. I believe more and more fans have beginning to wonder why NBA could ignore their steadily descending of the refereeing. Every night when we think it's the worst even seen, next day they will give you another surprise. You would think that considering the intellegence of David Stern, he should foresee all of this 100 miles before us. I will not forget this scene in my life. In January 15th, 2001, the defending championship Lakers facing the Grizzlies in the Staple center. Surprisingly for everyone the Griz made this one into OT and had 1 point lead while 6 seconds remaining in the first OT. Then the Lakers possession. Ball to shaq, guarding by Issac Austin, shaq hesitated and finally got the shot. The ball CLEARLY released his hand AFTER time expired. And the referees said count the basket. The crowd just went nuts and so did the Griz players and coaches. Later after about 2 minutes of huddle the refs back to the court and said Austin fouled shaq before the time ran out so it's a continuation and will be a 3-point play. A touching foul just being called 2 MINUTES AFTER THE GAME IS OVER. I will not forget this scene in my lifetime, to me, it seems some kind of fairness just lost at this moment and will not be back forever. But at the same time, we can also see the league is just willing to fine each and every "foul" behavior about their players, coaches and even bosses. Mark Cuban being fined 100K because he sat on the floor with the players during a road game (I will never like Cuban in my life though), George Karl being fined 50K because he joked with the reporters about he'll trade Gary Payton for all managements, now, Jason Williams being fined 25K because the standing and cheering for his teammates will block some fans' view. This got to have a reason... And my best explanation to all of this is: NBA was not settled for us fans. For us fans who would like to spend a great amount of times to come to this board (or other message boards) to share their feelings after the game, for us fans who remembered each and every important game, even each and every trip down the court about our favorite team, for us fans who will check every news and rumors about the NBA, and for us fans who use to see NBA as an important part of our life. We are the fans that at the top of the pyramid. And we are the freaking insane minorties. For most of the people, NBA is just one of many entertainment after their work. They just want to have some excitement, passion and fun. "Sit back, relax and enjoy it". So you can guess why the league was that sufficiently in changing the rules into zone defense (and this was just one of many times NBA changed its rule in recent years). If it will have some help with the ratings... And I seriously doubt that Stern will have any need to re-evaluate his referee crews right now. It hasn't become the "general will" yet. Still a long way to go. And I don't know if I could see this before I still have some interests in the NBA. Or the NBA will faded first...
	Doug Christie PistonJW Doug Christie is my MVP of the Kings of the season. Because he's the only player in this team that brings the same fire, intersity and effort on the court every night. Without Christie, the Kings will not have the one of the best rotation D in the league right now. Kings are the no.1 team in steals in the league, also ranked very high on forcing TOs and TO off points. Without Christie, the Kings could be in the 2nd half of the western playoff seeds right now. We have seen this team working out well without Webber or peja, but the only game Christie did not play in this season Kings let the Celtics shoot over 50% as a team...and that's the frist time this season that the Kings allow their opponents shoot over 50%. Christie is the MVP of the Kings this season IMHO and I will stand my points.