The clock has struck midnight on Big Ben, and the 6-foot-9-inch center of the Detroit Pistons has escaped the ball in time to make it home unscathed.
The NBA finalized its suspensions Sunday, and the winner of the ruling is the same team that won the latest NBA championship - the Pistons. Embodying that victory is center Ben Wallace.
For those of you who have not seen the constant replays on the major sports and news channels, a minor incident occurred in which players from the Indiana Pacers fought fans of the Detroit Pistons.
I contend that Wallace and the security personnel are the most to blame.
Here's what happened - Pacers forward Ron Artest gave a hard foul to Wallace and walked away. Wallace did some talking and pushed Artest in the face with both hands. Artest walked away again and proceeded to lie down on the scorer's table while the coaching staff calmed him.
Big Ben Wallace, being his bad self and whatnot, decided he could best show how tough he is by throwing his towel at Artest, who was just trying to take a little nap before the end-of-game locker room speech.
Now, Artest did not need a towel - he already had one - but he mentally walked away from that incident.
However, inebriated fans who wear Wallace jerseys, buy Wallace bobbleheads and pretend they are Wallace by throwing it down on Nerf hoops in their offices felt that throwing things at Artest was the "NBA way" to be cool.
And that is exactly what one idiot fan did. He threw a full cup of some sort of liquid at Artest. Artest took exception to this and attacked the fan he believed to be responsible.
You can blame two people here - Wallace and the fan(s).
If Wallace had "pulled an Artest" and walked away, none of this would have happened.
Let us consider this whole situation as if it was a fire and the police were looking for the arsonist. This situation, after all, has sparked a wildfire in the office of NBA Commissioner David Stern.
In a suspected arson case, the police do not immediately arrest and execute those who were effectively fleeing from the burning building; they go through the rubble and try to find what started the blaze.
In this incident, the igniter was Wallace. Without his pushing Artest in the face or throwing a towel, this whole inferno would not have started.
The second group to blame is the fans. They hated that their team was losing, and they thought the only way to become winners in their mind was to attack the players like it was a South American soccer match.
Sure, in replays, the NBA players are going to appear much stronger - they are.
However, that does not excuse fans from coming onto the court and challenging players.
And the fact that a player threw something at another player does not allow every fan in arm's reach to Artest, O'Neal and others to dump liquids, popcorn and cups on their innocent heads.
The actions of the fans in Detroit are inexcusable. As if the dominance of hockey's Detroit Red Wings was not enough reason to despise the Motor City, I now have another.
Just because they can afford front-row seats and personalized Pistons jerseys does not allow fans to act like Wallace and get "all up in" other players' "grills."
Although Wallace was the ember that exploded this incident, he received a measly 6-game suspension while Artest was dealt a season-long suspension.
One final note: I am sure the owners of the Pistons and Pacers are not overly upset with this situation. After all, the combined money lost from these players totals more than $4.5 million. That is $4.5 million that can be used to sign other players or - more likely - to pad the pockets of owners.
Congratulations, Wallace and Pistons fans, your mission was accomplished: You totally damaged the Pacers' chances of beating your team this season by forcing the elimination of several of their key players. But you were the ones who lost; you lost the respect of many around the nation.
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