stop the brawling

[Gene Kirkpatrick <gkir@tjc.tyler.cc.tx.us>]

With all the marketing razzmatazz and all the money
behind it, our precious game may be able to outlast
almost anything, but I don't enjoy the level of violence
that it currently "frowns on," but can't stop.  It may be
that the refs and the commish are doing all they can to
return to the game of basketball, but I would suggest a
few simple ideas:

l.  Send a letter to all players, teams, coaches this
summer:  make it clear that certain uses of the elbow,
certain "through the defender" approaches to the
basket, and certain screening tactics, grabbing of the
shooter, and other devices will no longer be tolerated.

2.  Make it clear to Shaq (he's the easiest to pick on)
that he must go around his defender, not over him.
Foul these bulls out until they get the message.

3.  Admit up front that those players with a reputation
are indeed being watched closely; then, stop them
early in the season as Rodman has been stopped in
the playoffs.

4.  Fine them, but take away games; that's what hurts.

Oh well, I hate to see a game that involves contact get
to be like football, a collision sport  (B. Russell's
distinction of the two).

Gene  two days
(I apologize if this is in bold print; I can't fix it)