Friday, January 20, 2006

Antonio Davis Update

Antonio Davis got a 5-game suspension for going into the stands to protect his family Wednesday night against the Bulls.
Over the past 24 hours I have immersed myself in this story. I have read internet reports of people who said they were there, I heard witnesses on ESPN, I heard from the alleged attacker on CNN and I saw some more tape of the incident.
Here's how it went down:
Kendra Davis was being loud cheering for her husband and protesting calls. The guy behind her told her to "sit down and shut the fuck up." She got in his face and refused to sit down. Twice he motioned for security. Then, she either put her hand on his shoulder or her finger in his face and he may have slapped her hand away. And that's when Davis charged the stands."

Davis after the game said the man he thought was threatening his wife, Kendra, was drunk. But that fan, 22-year-old Michael Axelrod, said all he had was a glass of wine at dinner.
Axelrod's attorney, Jay Paul Deratany, said he planned to sue Davis and his wife for more than $1 million. Deratany said he was writing the papers Thursday for a battery suit against Kendra Davis and a slander case against Antonio Davis, and planned to file them Friday.
Axelrod's father, David, is a prominent Democratic political consultant in Chicago who has worked with Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.
Axelrod said the problems were caused by Kendra Davis.
According to Axelrod, he was sitting in the seventh row and booed an official's call. Kendra Davis "came out of her seat. I didn't even pay attention to her. I thought she was just going to the bathroom or something," he said.
Axelrod said Kendra Davis put both hands on his face, and that he motioned for security. He said she later went after another fan.
"I was glad she was done hitting me, but I didn't want her to hit anyone else," Axelrod said.
"When I go to games, I cheer as hard as I can for the Bulls, and I boo as hard as I can for whoever they're playing," Axelrod said. "I don't feel comfortable if players are allowed to easily jump into the crowd whenever they feel like it's necessary."

1 comment:

D said...

Every bit of footage I see of the incident before Davis got there is always start and stop. They never let it run from the beginning to the end so you can see what happened. axlerod also sounded like he was making it up as he went along during one interview I saw. Could have been nerves tho.