Today, my friend Anders told me there had been an awful fight during the Pacers-Pistons game this Friday. Check an article about it here. A snippet from that article:

Indiana's Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson, and Detroit's Ben Wallace were suspended indefinitely by the NBA on Saturday for taking part in one of the ugliest brawls in U.S. sports history, a fight with fans that commissioner David Stern called "shocking, repulsive and inexcusable."

Oh yes, it sounds a little like the steroids caught up with some of the players. I can imagine the fans were very cocky, in any way one in particular who threw a cup of beer in Artest's face, but his anger must have clouded the fact that a very muscular, over 2 meters-tall guy is a tad stronger than a fat fan, like here where (according to FOX sports) a fan gets a beating from both Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest. Anyway, watching some fans and some others you get the impression their judgements will stay clouded forever.

Well, it looks like Artest's out for 30 games, and the rest for 5-10 games. Horrible things happen. By the way, here's a page linking to a WMV video-file showing Artest in the crowd.

Post viewing the incident:

I think it's very strange that Ben Wallace, who actually started the whole ordeal, only got suspended for 5 games while the guy he first attacked, Ron Artest, got suspended for 30. 30 games! And Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson got 20 each! I don't know about you, but now having seen the idiots who pounded Artest with a beer mug in the face as he was lying down after being attacked by Ben Wallace, they deserved every punch they received. There's even footage of Artest being attacked from the back by a Pistons fan, who recoiled when he found that Artest turned around, prohibiting him to get struck from the back. No wonder Artest gave him a slap. On the other hand, I'm totally against violence (...) and I think this was a farce. Somebody had to get punished, but I think it's unfair not to give Ben Wallace more suspension. Sure, I have no idea about things going on behind the scenes up in herre, but never the less, I like to see my favourite teams compete, not fight.

Post receiving the facts from Rade:

NBA.com has just issued the facts on the suspensions. Ron Artest will be out for the remainder of the season, missing at least 80 games, Jermaine O'Neal and Stephen Jackson out for 30 and 25, respectively, and Ben Wallace only gets suspended for 6 games, among others. Gah.