Lost a lot of respect for some Pistons yesterday....

[Maximus]

In The Q there is a VIP bar area called the Court Club behind the opponent's basket under the stands. All the players for both teams have to walk by the Court Club to exit the arena. There is a short barrier seperating the bar area from the players walking out. Kids can stand behind this wall and most of the players for both teams stop to sign autographs and take pictures....usually there's about 20 kids and then another 30 adults looking to get something signed. Players like Z and AV sign every autograph and pose for every photograph after every game.....Lebron usually signs 5 or so. Some of the opponent's players stop and sign a few....some blow by and go straight to the bus which is understandable(to an extent).

Yesterday was different....it was Kid's Day at The Q. There was the normal signings going on for the people behind the wall in the VIP area. But there was a group of kids on the player's side of the wall right by the door that goes out to the cars and buses. A lot of them appeared to have serious disablities - Cancer, Downs Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, many in wheel chairs....maybe 25 kids total. Security was there and told the kids and parents to stand behind a yellow line. Some had a jersey, a ball, or a program to be signed....some were just waving or wanted a high 5. Some of them were physically unable to hold items so their parents would politely hold out the items to be signed. Every Cav stopped to sign items or shake hands with these kids....some signed 5, some 10, some signed for every kid. Some of the Pistons signed items....I think Rip signed or shook hands with almost every kid. But the Wallace boys walked by every single kid....I saw Ben literally wave items away from some parents who were sheepishly holding them out for their kids. Sheed kept his hands in his pockets as jerseys and hands reached out to him....he wouldn't even make eye contact with these kids. Ben strolled past the extended hands refusing to take the minimal effort to give out a few high fives. Prince tried slipping by them all until a security guard pointed to the last kid slumped over in a wheel chair....reluctantly he signed it and then slithered out the door. It was incredible! I know they lost a tough game and they are pissed off, but for God's sake, some of these kids are dying and no doubt have an obscene amount of medical bills to worry about. Rasheed and Ben are making 10's of millions of dollars playing a sport....how freaking hard is it to take 30 seconds to sign a couple autographs, or to take 1 SECOND to give a high five and make these kids smile???? It was pathetic, I lost a tremedous amount of respect for some of the Pistons that "big-timed" these kids yesterday. Blowing off the fortunate ones in a VIP area when you are on the road is one thing....blowing off the small group of disabled and sick kids waiting by the door was a complete disgrace. You would think seeing those kids would have given them a dose of reality as to just how fortunate they really are in life. I guess they just don't get it.

Sorry for rambling, but I needed to vent. It really made me ill....

Happy New Year

 

[PIP]

That's weird because I saw Ben Wallace and Jason Maxille (sp) at Champs in Tower City friday night and they were signing all kinds of auto's and Ben was taking pics with everyone in the store...

So this throws me off... Maybe he was just in a bad mood... But, considering the circumstances, you would think he would stop...

Rasheed is just a prick... Probably the most classless player in the NBA, i've heard stories about him spitting at fans, telling them to get out of his face, and other stories about him involved with a couple other things...

 

[Mac]

Im reading, and Im taking this came after the game? If thats the case...then I dont really blame them because even though what those kids have is unfortunent, it isnt their job to sign their autographs, esp after getting whooped.

Now if it was before the game, than they certainly could have took some timeout to sign some things.

and damn LPip, do you live in tower city? You are always in that place.

 

[cdt]

The Pistons are b1tch3$ plain and simple. They are poor sports, I hate rasheed wallace with a fiery hot passion. It wouldn't surprise me, he is cocky and completely self absorbed. I literally can't stand anyone associated with Detroit coaches personell players fans or anything. I can't wait till we play those mf'ers and beat them again...

 

[PIP]

Im reading, and Im taking this came after the game? If thats the case...then I dont really blame them because even though what those kids have is unfortunent, it isnt their job to sign their autographs, esp after getting whooped.

Now if it was before the game, than they certainly could have took some timeout to sign some things.

and damn LPip, do you live in tower city? You are always in that place.

:chuckles: No, but I love that smoothie place right next to the Pretzel place...

I picked up a smoothie and was going to lids to pick up a hat, on my way there, I saw both of them in Champs...

Also, I think the players should have signed the stuff or met with the KIDS... Before the game, they should be all business and focused on the game, so I don't have a problem with it and could understand it.. But after the game, it's over and they should just be able to relax.

But, this team is 24-4 without a care in the hoops world, and it's not liked they should have been pissed about this loss...

Regardless, they should NEVER refuse a kid, espeacially a child that is handicapped physically or mentally... Priorities first....

I agree with MAC that it's not their JOB... But still, it's not their JOB to be dicks to those children and ignore them like they clearly did.... It's just common sense and shouldn't even be argued...

Rip Hamilton at least has his head on straight.... The rest of em' are just ignorant..

 

[West Remy]

I don't blame players for not wanting to sign autographs or take pictures with adults (too many requests, often disrespectful or coming at a bad time, etc.). But when it comes to children, most guys who often walk past kids, will usually do something, even if only for just a single kid. You're a man, you can sign for everybody or just keep walking. But if you can't even stop for one child, in my book, you simply don't care. I'm not judging or saying there is anything inherently evil or damning about that. Yet I believe what my father said, "Either you reach out to people or you don't. Either you have compassion or you don't." In light of reading this story, I agree with him.

 

[Maximus]

Im reading, and Im taking this came after the game? If thats the case...then I dont really blame them because even though what those kids have is unfortunent, it isnt their job to sign their autographs, esp after getting whooped.

Now if it was before the game, than they certainly could have took some timeout to sign some things.

and damn LPip, do you live in tower city? You are always in that place.

It was after the game. And I'm not saying they needed to stop for every kid or sign anything. Some of these kids were yelling the players names and were just looking for a "hi", a wave, a smile, or a wink from the players. Some of the Pistons ingnored them like they didn't even exist....and that's just wrong. I know "it isn't their job", but it also isn't work to give a few high fives....hell they wouldn't even have had to slow down.

 

[Mac]

I think who ever set this up dropped the ball..

This shoulda been set up before the game, with emotions that they had, its hardpressed to call them classless or anything because they didnt put on thier happy face losing a key game against a rival opponent.

If this was before the game, it would have been a whole nother story.

 

[Karma]

I think who ever set this up dropped the ball..

This shoulda been set up before the game, with emotions that they had, its hardpressed to call them classless or anything because they didnt put on thier happy face losing a key game against a rival opponent.

If this was before the game, it would have been a whole nother story.

Lose a season game sitting 24-4, or be stuck in a wheelchair for a short and often painfull life? I think I take the former, and I think I take 2 seconds out of my self obsessed lifestyle to give something back to the kids not so lucky.

 

[Mac]

it doesnt matter what the situation is, nobody sees it that way.

How many of you people pass that guy in the wheelchair on the way to the Q, he is right out front so I know you've seen him. Homeless, no leg, how many people have gave him some spare change?

Those same people who didnt are probably the same people who are saying the Pistons did something wrong, when they didnt. They may not have done the right thing, but as an opposing team, right after a loss, you honestly cant blame them for not noticing those kids.

 

[PIP]

it doesnt matter what the situation is, nobody sees it that way.

How many of you people pass that guy in the wheelchair on the way to the Q, he is right out front so I know you've seen him. Homeless, no leg, how many people have gave him some spare change?

Those same people who didnt are probably the same people who are saying the Pistons did something wrong, when they didnt. They may not have done the right thing, but as an opposing team, right after a loss, you honestly cant blame them for not noticing those kids.

Are you talking about the guy with the Pirate like fake leg ? I've seen him once....

Have you ever seen the guy that throws fritos and popcorn balls at you on Ontario ?

 

[Mac]

lol, havent saw that guy. And yes the wheelchair guy is the guy with the peg leg.

 

[Dirk Gently]

I disagree. I would love for the Cav's players to take a loss so poorly. It shows just how much the Pistons want to win every game, and when they don't, they aren't all high 5's and laughs. They were pissed and will probably use that anger of a loss to make them even better next time. Sure those kids may be bad off, but its not the players job to sign anything for them. They were probably mostly Cavs fans anyway, and got autographs from the players they cheer for most of the year. You could probably count the kids on one hand, who wanted Sheeds auto anyway.

 

[Maximus]

Sheed is making $125,000 per game because of the fans who buy jerseys and go to the games....they're paying his salary. Signing autographs may not be a job requirement, but it should be.

I think you can take a loss poorly and still not be an asshole.

 

[Flight Number 23]

It is truly tactless and cowardly to use any excuse to walk away from kids in need. I remember my father telling me how Babe Ruth would sit outside the ball park on a parked car and sign autographs for hours and joke with the kids. Whether the athletes like it or not they are role models and kids look up to them.

There is no excuse for this. The NBA is trying hard to improve their image that they are a league that cares. This kind of treatment won't help the league. Win or lose won't fly here. Stupid is as stupid does here.