THE US media has delivered its verdict on Wednesday night’s controversy at the Illawarra Hawks-Sydney Kings NBL game, during which a fan was ejected for blatantly pouring a beer on the head of Boston Celtics draft pick Marcus Thornton.
And while all agreed the incident was unsavoury, many seemed more perplexed by the fact the spectator appeared to deny his involvement — despite the game being nationally televised on Fox Sports.
On Thursday the company who rented the corporate box — Figtree Private Hospital — apologised to both teams and said the man was the 83-year-old father of the woman shown in the video, a long-term employee of the firm.
The man was said the have “cognitive impairment and does not recall the incident.”
“The 83-year-old father of a long-term, valued employee, has some cognitive impairment and does not recall the incident. His family are very regretful of the incident and have indicated they will be making a formal apology on his behalf.”
Nick O’Malley, writing for Boston-based masslive.com, was among the US scribes left shaking his head at the spectator’s attempt to shrug the incident off — and the fact he was allowed to leave the arena with beer in hand.
“While Thornton was lying on the floor, an Illawarra fan reached over the railing and poured a beer on Thornton’s head before reaching back and putting on a “Who? Me?” act,” O’Malley wrote.
Tan contemplates his actions after pouring a beer on Marcus Thornton.Source: FoxSports
“It didn’t work. The fan immediately got an earful from the lady sitting next to him (who was the announcers in the video above presume is his wife) and jeers from fans throughout the arena.
“The man was later ejected from the game. But here’s what more frightening: As the announcers in the video noted, the man left with the beer in hand, free to continue his spree of tippage as a serial beer spiller in the streets of some poor Australian city.
“The boozy assailant’s weapon of choice appears to be a can of Cascade Premium Light, an Australian microbrew lager with an ABV of just 2.8 per cent. It has a rating of 69 on BeerAdvocate.”
Another Boston writer, the New England Sports Network’s Darren Hartwell, was also perplexed by the spectator’s failed attempt to plea his innocence.
“As expected, Thornton was pretty incensed,” Hartwell wrote.
“The culprit went with the bold move of trying to pretend like nothing happened, but since pretty much everyone saw him dump beer on the poor 22-year-old, he soon was escorted out of the building.”
Samer Kalaf, writing for Deadspin, was equally perplexed.
“Why did the guy dump beer on Thornton, and also, why did he think he’d get away with it?” Kalaf wrote.
“He was at a televised basketball game in an arena with a capacity of about 6000, and also, he was the only person in the vicinity holding a beer.
“Thornton, the officials, and the announcers all knew who did it. (The announcers really enjoyed solving the one-minute mystery.) The guy kept drinking his beer while his wife looked embarrassed.”
Fox Sports US wrote the spectator has earned himself a place in “sports infamy.”
“Obviously, this isn’t cool,” Fox Sports noted. “But the culprit’s reaction, doubled with the announcer’s response, makes the whole thing hilarious.
“With a ‘who, me? Beer? I didn’t do anything wrong’ look on his face despite multiple cameras catching him intentionally pouring alcohol on another human, the gentleman was ejected, earning himself a spot in sports infamy.”
The Thornton beer pouring incident made it all the way to the esteemed pages of the Washington Post, where Marissa Payne noted the absurdity of the situation.
“With great seats comes great responsibility,” Thornton wrote.
“And by that I mean you should not pour beer on an athlete’s head. Apparently, though, this bearded fellow in Australia didn’t get the message.
“Yes, that dude just blatantly dumped beer on the head of Sydney Kings player Marcus Thornton (the Celtics draft pick, not the Houston Rockets guard), who slid into the barrier while attempting to recover a loose ball against the Illawarra Hawks in a game on Wednesday.”
Kyle Newport, writing for Bleacher Report, remarked: “instead of just drinking the beer he paid for, one fan decided to share it with Thornton. And by “share,” I mean he poured some on the 22-year-old basketball player’s head while he was down on the court.”
