By Steve Haywood Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Dec 20, 2006 at 2:28 PM
Here is my take on the melee Saturday at Madison Square Garden:

Stuff happens!

Carmelo Anthony was out of order, but he was stepping up for J.R. Smith. The Knicks are what Isiah Thomas made them to be, which are names with no substance. Nate Robinson was wrong in his actions, but right with his intentions. George Karl is a person I know well. After watching him coach the Bucks for five years, I feel qualified to say this: He was sticking it to Isiah, because George is vindictive and can be spiteful (ask Ray Allen and others).

If you put all these combustible elements together and spark it with physical actions and emotions of getting your butt handed to you; BOOM! Now, lets not overreact to the melee. Rather, lets respond in a proactive way and remember life is about a lot of things, including conflict.

Spitting on someone is the nastiest, most disrespectful, demeaning act one can do to another person. That being said, Terrell Owens should have been fined the way he was, even though there are nasty actions all over the football field. I know that in the world of sports there are just different rules, policies and justice in terms of what happens between the lines. That's, cool but some things in life cross over. Spitting is one of those things. Nothing good can come from this nasty act.


Steve Haywood Special to OnMilwaukee.com

Steve Haywood is the host of “That Being Said,” which airs weeknights at 6 p.m. on Milwaukee’s ESPN Radio 1510 Days / 1290 Nights. A lifelong Milwaukee resident, Steve has been working on the radio since 1996 and also is executive producer of Sports Perspectives on MATA Community Media.

After graduating from Milwaukee Tech High School in 1985, Haywood attended college at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he graduated in 1991.

He has covered a number of major events, including the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 2002 and the NBA All-Star Game in 2003.

Haywood, 39, is married with two kids, a dumb cat and a dog described as a “real curmudgeon.”