nba musings

Ok, stop the insanity. Every time there’s a flagrant foul these days, the crowd grabs their pitchforks and starts storming the town square. Just stop it. There should be a rule that says that any fan whose player is involved on either side of a flagrant has to wait 24 hours before commenting on it. It’s so predictable (and I’m guilty of it myself, so this advice is just as much for myself as anyone else): The foul happens. Immediately the fans of the team of the player fouled yell, “DIRTY FOUL! That guy is dirty! What a dirty son of a bitch! Tar and feather that piece of shit!” The fans of the player who commits the foul says, “He didn’t mean to do it. It was obviously a play on the ball. It was just a good hard foul.” Both of you — shut up.

First of all, it’s nearly impossible to prove intent. I don’t care how many angles you view the play from. You don’t know what the person who commits the foul is thinking, planning or intending. You don’t. You can guess. But, the guess you make will most likely be tainted by your affinity for the team and/or player involved. Sometimes that’s fair. If Bruce Bowen or James Posey commit a flagrant they have earned a rep that will make it hard to give them the benefit of the doubt. However, Glen Davis and Trevor Ariza commit a flagrant and I think they deserve the benefit of the doubt. You don’t have to be happy about it. Believe me, I wasn’t happy about it when Petro practically decapitated Scal and gave him a 3rd concussion (a foul that wasn’t even called). But, I think people need to chillax when it comes to labeling players “dirty”. That designation should not be assigned capriciously. It should be earned.