Rumble At the Garden!

Don't you just love it when basketball games get this intense and dirty?



Nah, I'm just kidding. True, I love it when basketball players get emotional and physical - it gives a different drama to an already intense, high-contact sports. But there's nothing to love about this brawl at the Madison Square Garden between the New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets. It was an unfortunate incident, very unsportsmanlike and should not be tolerated.

(Oh, okay, I admit I did enjoy watching the sequence of events, especially Carmelo Anthony making that cheap shot and making a break for it at the center of the court. I guess I like how guys settle their differences through physical and violent means. I like how very confrontational men are hahaha...)

I just find it weird that Isiah Thomas, the Knicks' coach, seemed to justify the flagrant foul committed by Mardy Collins against J.R. Smith (which triggered the free-for-all) by saying that the Nuggets starters shouldn't be at court anymore with more than a minute to go since the Nuggets are already leading by 19 points. I can understand how frustrated and humiliated the embattled Knicks must have been to be whipped at their own homecourt by a team that's also struggling in their games. But fans expect these athletes to conduct themselves more professionally, or what else separates them from the guy playing in the streets other than their hefty salaries?

Maybe being a professional, highly paid basketball player carries with it a lot of stress to win the game that to be on the losing end can get so frustrating. But still, basketball should be about having fun on the court. And most of all - basketball should be about respect - respect for the fans, respect for the players, and respect for the game.

I [still] love this game.