In all the hoopla surrounding Friday’s brawl between the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons and their fans, one thing shocked me.

Rasheed Wallace the peacemaker?

The Pistons’ Wallace, a NBA veteran with great game, a 6-11 frame and a penchant for making trouble was the man trying hardest to separate the warring bodies in the fight.

What happened to the old &uot;Sheed,&uot; the angry, flagrantly-fouling, cursing son of a gun who despised NBA referees almost as much as they despised him? Has Sheed gone soft? Is the old angry Wallace a thing of the past?

Perhaps it was bound to happen sooner or later. Wallace is getting older and perhaps he realizes the time remaining in his career is dwindling. Maybe he is getting wiser with age.

Maybe.

Part Two

When the suspensions were handed down, something was wrong. Ron Artest lost a full season, Stephen Jackson is out for 30 games and Jermaine O’Neal will sit for 25.

Suspending Ron Artest for a season doesn’t help him. He needs to get help for his problems, and merely removing him from the court doesn’t do that.

He’ll come back contrite and ready to play next fall, but nothing will have changed. Until he solves his problems, the old Ron will keep coming back.

On the other hand, Stephen Jackson, who was suspended for 30 games, got the short end of the stick. Jackson ran into the stands to help his teammate Artest. He fought back against fans who were hitting Artest.

Should he have done so? Maybe not, but Jackson was protecting his teammate. That’s what you’re supposed to do. If you see a teammate in trouble, you go help.

That’s the kind of guy I want on my team. Nobody wants a teammate who sits on the bench and watches while his buddy goes into the stands. Jackson went with Artest, he protected his friend and teammate.

Perhaps the player with the biggest gripe is Jermaine O’Neal. He didn’t go in the stands, he hit one fan who had already been involved with Artest in an altercation. He had a chair thrown at him. And now he’ll spend the next two months sitting on the bench in street clothes.

Part Three

The guy who should be suspended (for life) is the fan who threw his drink at Artest. That sort of behavior has no place in sports, something a handful of LSU football fans who threw their drinks at referees during Saturday’s game against Ole Miss would do well to remember.

Coda

Thanksgiving, one day later.

I want to thank my parents for coming to visit and the kind Natchezians who opened their doors to us for Thanksgiving lunch.

I’m also thankful for this job, which not only lets me pay the bills but also actually pays me to cover sporting events.

Christian Schmidt is a sports writer with the The Natchez Democrat. Reach him at (601) 445-3633 or by e-mail at

christian.schmidt@natchezdemocrat.com

.