I just want to know how anybody can say this and try to gain respect from other people? He's not getting it from me period.
Well, he shouldn't have said the things he said, but at least Shaq apologized for his negative comments..
I bet most of you are in your teens or something and think cursing is cool and should be allowed on TV. Well when you grow up and have your own children it's not something you want on basic cable while you're trying to watch the game with your kids. I don't need my son or daughter running around at school saying ***** because they saw Shaq do it on TV. Not to mention he's disrespecting the league and officials. I commend scobtuic on his comments, however overboard they may be, he was just showing what you guys are saying by blowing it completely overboard. scobutic was just saying what a lot of us with kids are thinking, he shouldn't be allowed to do that on TV and get away with it. Shaq shouldn't be given ANY special treatment because he plays basketball... and it's stupid that you think he should. There are plenty of smarter, better people in the world than Shaq and they all have to obey the rules... what makes him special? Because he's 350 pounds and plays for our favorite team? Come on guys, I'm a Lakers fan too, but I wasn't amused at all when Shaq cursed with my kids in the room. Between that and the Superbowl I'm pretty disappointed in sports television!! It's 1 game, who cares until Playoff time anyway... I just hope others take notice and won't drop the F-Bomb on TV. You are up Scorbtic's ass, Yet it ok for Shaq dropped a F-bomb on TV, Because he was "cought up in the moment" What about Scorbtic? Maybe he was Cought up in the moment as well! Oh wait maybe because he isn't on TV, and doesn't make 50 billion a year. You all seem like children fighting over a Barney episode
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting the MDE:</div><div class="quote_post">Well, he shouldn't have said the things he said, but at least Shaq apologized for his negative comments..</div> No not Shaq, I'm always used to him going off like that, I'm talking about that Suns fan with those ridiculous comments.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting YaTwice:</div><div class="quote_post">Not to mention he's disrespecting the league and officials. I commend scobtuic on his comments, however overboard they may be, he was just showing what you guys are saying by blowing it completely overboard. scobutic was just saying what a lot of us with kids are thinking, he shouldn't be allowed to do that on TV and get away with it. Shaq shouldn't be given ANY special treatment because he plays basketball... and it's stupid that you think he should. There are plenty of smarter, better people in the world than Shaq and they all have to obey the rules... what makes him special? Because he's 350 pounds and plays for our favorite team? Come on guys, I'm a Lakers fan too, but I wasn't amused at all when Shaq cursed with my kids in the room. Between that and the Superbowl I'm pretty disappointed in sports television!! It's 1 game, who cares until Playoff time anyway... I just hope others take notice and won't drop the F-Bomb on TV.</div> I'm going to be 19 in a week, I myself don't think cursing is cool, but when I'm really upset, that's when the cuss words come out. I'd never think that cursing on TV should be allowed. It's inappropriate and stupid. Shaq always has to have the last word on everything. I'm used to it. All Laker fans should be used to it by now. I just thought it was funny that Shaq would trashtalk minutes after the Lakers won the game. If Shaq cussed at a reporter when they lost, that's unacceptable and shouldn't ever be tolerated.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">You are up Scorbtic's ass, Yet it ok for Shaq dropped a F-bomb on TV, Because he was "cought up in the moment" What about Scorbtic? Maybe he was Cought up in the moment as well! Oh wait maybe because he isn't on TV, and doesn't make 50 billion a year.</div> Yet Scorbutic is not being fined or suspended either for his comments. I understand your concern as a parent, and I agree Shaq should be fined for his poor decision. However, an immediate one game suspension, without the opportunity of an appeal was over the top. If we want to enforce rules, then the NBA should also abide by their rules. I don't think they are allowed to suspend a player without giving him time to appeal it. I'm surprised the NBA Player Union hasn't stepped in to defend Shaq yet. Allowing the league office to suspend a player right away gives them, too much influence over the players and the game and could easily be abused to decide outcomes of games. Suspending Shaq isn't going to keep your child from repeating curse words at school. And if you feel a one game suspension is not much, then why even do it in the first place?
Umm guys what does Shaq being "unfairly" suspended for "an important game" have to do with anything? The league should suspend him if their next game is against the Hawks but shouldn't if it's against the Pacers? It should be Shaq's responsibility to know that his team needs him for the next game, and thus know that he shouldn't be doing anything so controversial. Why does a suspension surprise you guys? A fine is all that's merited? Players have always been fined for calling out refs, the commissioner, etc. However, in this situation, Shaq directly insulted the refereeing and commissioner (whether that was warranted or not is irrelevant because he knew he was going to get in trouble either way), and swore on television, and explicitly stated that he had no qualms about it. People have been suspended, whether by the league or the franchise, for far less, sometimes for longer periods of time.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting YaTwice:</div><div class="quote_post">I bet most of you are in your teens or something and think cursing is cool and should be allowed on TV. Well when you grow up and have your own children it's not something you want on basic cable while you're trying to watch the game with your kids. I don't need my son or daughter running around at school saying ***** because they saw Shaq do it on TV. Not to mention he's disrespecting the league and officials. I commend scobtuic on his comments, however overboard they may be, he was just showing what you guys are saying by blowing it completely overboard. scobutic was just saying what a lot of us with kids are thinking, he shouldn't be allowed to do that on TV and get away with it. Shaq shouldn't be given ANY special treatment because he plays basketball... and it's stupid that you think he should. There are plenty of smarter, better people in the world than Shaq and they all have to obey the rules... what makes him special? Because he's 350 pounds and plays for our favorite team? Come on guys, I'm a Lakers fan too, but I wasn't amused at all when Shaq cursed with my kids in the room. Between that and the Superbowl I'm pretty disappointed in sports television!! It's 1 game, who cares until Playoff time anyway... I just hope others take notice and won't drop the F-Bomb on TV. You are up Scorbtic's ass, Yet it ok for Shaq dropped a F-bomb on TV, Because he was "cought up in the moment" What about Scorbtic? Maybe he was Cought up in the moment as well! Oh wait maybe because he isn't on TV, and doesn't make 50 billion a year. You all seem like children fighting over a Barney episode</div> Okay, just to set the record straight from my POV. No I'm not a teenager who thinks cursing is cool, nor do I believe Shaq is "above the law", or that he shouldn't be repremanded for his comments. This post started off with a fairly intelligible conversation about Shaq and his comments following the game. And it stayed that way until somebody came in and started comparing his comments to Kobe raping 30 women (which I would think would be much more offensive to a female than Shaq saying the forbidden four letter word), Shaq killing people, and Phil Jackson betting on games. You're outraged about Shaq's comments, but these comments seem logical to you? I'm not a parent, and I can't speak to how difficult is to raise a child in today's world. But from what I know about kids, they usually don't pick up language like that from professional athletes, they pick it up from other kids. If, or when I ever have children of my own I will be much more concerned about keeping their eyes and ears away from the kind of crap that MTV glorifies on a daily basis. With so many other egregious things being shown on television, to me a player using two profanities is barely even on the radar. I 'm a Laker fan, but I'm not childishly defending my team. My beliefs and convictions go beyond my allegiances to my favorite basketball teams.
Well I don't have children myself... and I'm not really arguing FOR the children, it's about keeping RULES the RULES and not allowing rich famous people to break them and get away with it. I don't like how NBA players can do anything they want freely (and yes I went overboard, but it's demonstrating how bad it's getting, and the fact you guys want them to get away with "murder") and without penalty. "Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Oh wait somebody said something bad about the Lakers, he shouldn't say that, let's censor him." Double-standards, gotta love it :bigthumbu shapecity, I didn't go on LIVE TV and drop the F-Word either... so of course I'm not suspended or fined for typing words that aren't concidered "bad" -- plus on top of that I'm not representing the NBA while typing out what I think. P.S.>> Is my name THAT hard to spell?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting OgShowtime:</div><div class="quote_post"> But from what I know about kids, they usually don't pick up language like that from professional athletes, they pick it up from other kids. </div> If my son's favorite player is SHAQ, and he is watching the game, and Shaq says F-BOMB 2 times, You know he will go to school, and tell all his friends he said F**k! What happend to Shaq? He got a slap on his hand. So what will my child think? Oh, I will only lose a 30 minute recess.
i'm glad shaq got suspended. i know that emotions were running high and that's understandable, but you just don't swear on live national tv. you just need to keep your opinion to yourself and if you can't do that you better be willing to accept the consequences. the nba has every right to suspend shaq. shaq doesn't only represent the lakers; he also represents the nba. on the flip side, i completely agree with everything he said, but he could have used better words. that was one of the most poorly officiated games i've ever seen.
I agree that what Shaq did was wrong...often, I make my little 8 year old cousins watch bball so they can learn the game, so I understand some of the arguments...I wouldn't want to expose them to such language either...but you know what, they're going to get exposed to it anyway.... I didn't learn how to curse from television, I learned it from observing my family and friends around me...the fact is that it's everywhere, it's unavoidable...you can't hold Shaq accountable for little kids learning curse words.... While I don't agree with the suspension, i do think it's fair enough...but I would've rather that he got a <u>huge </u> fine instead...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting YaTwice:</div><div class="quote_post">If my son's favorite player is SHAQ, and he is watching the game, and Shaq says F-BOMB 2 times, You know he will go to school, and tell all his friends he said F**k! What happend to Shaq? He got a slap on his hand. So what will my child think? Oh, I will only lose a 30 minute recess.</div> Look, I'm not saying it's okay. Just that it's going to be extremely difficult to keep these words out of the mouths of children. Even if you can keep your child from using those words, he/she will still inevitably hear them from the other children around them. I agree that it's important to teach kids that these words are not acceptable for them to use, but that's about as much as any parent can do. Every one of us has used profanity at one time or another in our childhood, but we wouldn't think of using it around our parents. This is just my opinion, but if I were a parent, the halftime "superbowl sextravaganza" would have been 100 times more offensive to me than Shaq's comments. Children are much more likely to go to school and talk about the anatomy of Janet Jackson than Shaq's "dirty mouth". It's not that I would even be that upset about an exposed breast, but the lewd actions of the people that target kids as their main sales demographic. Kids are essentially seeing softcore porn on TV these days, that to me is much more bothersome.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting YaTwice:</div><div class="quote_post">If my son's favorite player is SHAQ, and he is watching the game, and Shaq says F-BOMB 2 times, You know he will go to school, and tell all his friends he said F**k! What happend to Shaq? He got a slap on his hand. So what will my child think? Oh, I will only lose a 30 minute recess.</div> It doesn't matter if your son's favorite player is Shaq. Look around and witness how many little kids cuss. Kids cuss all the time, it doesn't matter what age. They can either pick it up from school, or get it from their parents, or hear it amongst their friends. You wouldn't believe how many little kids all across the country say foul language. It's incredible.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting scorbutic:</div><div class="quote_post">it's about keeping RULES the RULES and not allowing rich famous people to break them and get away with it. I don't like how NBA players can do anything they want freely.</div> You'd be amazed by how many people besides Shaq do even worse things and get away with it.
Rules should be followed, but penalties for breaking those rules should also be fair and just, no matter the stature of the individual socially or economically. As Shapecity has stated, an appeals process is much needed when penalties such as this are levied. Baseball has the right idea, a player can appeal a fine or suspension and recieve a hearing to assess it's fairness. Most of the time the penalty isn't significantly altered, but the players are at the very least able to speak their peace. Again, I refer to Rasheed Wallace's comments about Stern and the NBA. Why did he not recieve a suspension for basically, making comments about the league being racist and exploiting it's players? Those comments were way out of line and completely senseless. Everyone in the league is a commodity, no matter what color or ethinicty and David Stern is the number one proponent of players staying in school and recieving a full education before entering the league. I acknowledge the fact that players who speak out against NBA officials can often expect to receive a suspension, but how then can Wallace make those comments and recieve no penalty at all? The expletives aside, this makes very little sense to me.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting scorbutic:</div><div class="quote_post">Well I don't have children myself... and I'm not really arguing FOR the children, it's about keeping RULES the RULES and not allowing rich famous people to break them and get away with it. I don't like how NBA players can do anything they want freely (and yes I went overboard, but it's demonstrating how bad it's getting, and the fact you guys want them to get away with "murder") and without penalty. "Free Speech!! Free Speech!! Oh wait somebody said something bad about the Lakers, he shouldn't say that, let's censor him." Double-standards, gotta love it :bigthumbu shapecity, I didn't go on LIVE TV and drop the F-Word either... so of course I'm not suspended or fined for typing words that aren't concidered "bad" -- plus on top of that I'm not representing the NBA while typing out what I think. P.S.>> Is my name THAT hard to spell?</div> Well ofcourse you don't drop f-words on LIVE TV, are you ever even on TV? Secondly I do agree Shaq should have had some punishment for the second cursing, after he was informed he was on LIVE and still did it. I also agree with Shapecity, the league shouldn't have been the ones suspending Shaq, and it did come too soon. I can see where people come from when they say Shaq shouldn't have been suspended at all, but I would have been fine with it as long as it came from the Lakers. As for your comments always commenting about Lakers fans complaining, you really need to mature. I've seen many posts by others saying the same, and you seem to take your posts too far every time. I hate saying your a "Laker Hater" because I don't like saying that in the first place, but I would have to say it seems to fit you. Every time a Laker fan posts a complaint or any sort, you seem to be right there criticizing that post. You also defend your Suns like you describe us of how we do with our team. I have to say I'm sick of your posts always trying to criticize us. How about growing up a little and just stick to posting your opinions instead of all the criticism?
You guys are looking at this as if Shaq only committed one mistake and not the other. Call out the refs and commissioner? Ok, you get fined. Swear on live TV? Ok, you get fined. Knowing that it's national TV and shrugging it off with another profanity (and thus implying to all the kids out there that there's absolutely nothing wrong with swearing at people who would get offended, and subsequently using another swear to emphasize your negligence for proper social conduct), you should probably get suspended, but a liberal commissioner/owner may still just fine you. Do ALL THREE, ONE RIGHT AFTER THE OTHER? A 1-game suspension is the least you should expect.
The league instantly imposed the suspension to express the severity of the situation. It would not be better in any way to ignore what happened for a few days and let a more bureacratic (meaning slower) process with appeals, prepared statements, etc. take place first. Lakers management certainly isn't complaining about this punishment.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ANiMuS:</div><div class="quote_post">The league instantly imposed the suspension to express the severity of the situation. It would not be better in any way to ignore what happened for a few days and let a more bureacratic (meaning slower) process with appeals, prepared statements, etc. take place first. Lakers management certainly isn't complaining about this punishment.</div> good call. the suspension wasn't about not giving shaq a fair chance to defend himself. it was completely about giving the players a wake up call; that throwing out f-bombs on live tv was completely unacceptable. by waiting a few days before deciding to levy a fine and suspension, the league would be sending the message that it might be ok to swear on television. the nba acted swiftly and fairly and i commend them for doing so.
