Kermit Washington the guy who hit Rudy T will be on Jim Rome today telling his side of the story once again. Also isn't it nice to see how much better Houston celebrates than LA. La with 15 million people only managed 250,000 at their parade and the rockets got what 500,000. and all the laker fans are on tv and stuff saying how they had the best celebration ever. anyway thought ya'll might want to hear kermit's sad story and all the excuses he had come up with over the last 20 years to excuse what he did to rudy ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be"
anyway this is a subject that no one will ever agree on completely just wanted to let everyoen know he will be talking about the incident on the rome radio show between 1 and 2 today ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be"
see i am listening to him on the radio right now and he is acting like he is a victim. he says kevin cooner started the fight but actually kermit is the one who grabbed kevin around the waist and kermit wonders why kevin elbowed him back after he grabbed him around the waist why they were just running down the court. i think yeah kermit has been treated badly long enough but he is still acting like he is the victim. like right now he just said i might have made a bad judgemnet in punching him but i'm sure rudy knows that he made a mistake running in. it's a lil differnt when you punch the guy then say the other g uy made the mistake running in ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be" [This message has been edited by Rocket Fan (edited June 22, 2000).]
ACCOUNTABILITY is the issue here. Too often we let people go because they have "Served their sentence" HOGWASH !!! You need to come down hard to set an example. Kermit has a radio show, he is not hurting that bad, he deserves everything he gets. I guess he should not have crossed that line huh? DaDakota "THIS COUNTRY IS GETTING TO DAMNED SOFT" ------------------
dadakota that is what i'm thinking. he is on the rome show and saying i might have made a mistake but not sure if it's something i wouldnt' do again if someone was running at me. then also saying rudy made a mistake running up like that. listen to this one though he said he didn't start the fight and a few years back he wanted the nba to give him money for some program he started. he even told the nba that he wanted his money back that they took from him long ago with interest. his reasoning is the guy who started the fight didnt' get his meony taken away from him ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be"
Guys it is like what 20 years?? I could understand if Rudy or Kermit can't let go of it (this would be up to them), but the rest of us should. Sports have always been dangerous, should we paralize Tatum for the hit on Stingly?? It was mostly a terrible, unfortunate incident, and I dare say Kermit has been help accountable for his atrocious behavior that day. Still looking for blame and retribution on this dead horse isn't going to help get beyond the incident. ------------------ "The Rockets were ahead of the Suns by 20 late in game 2 of the series, but when the going got tough, we just Pippened . We would not be done in the series though."
The Jack Tatum hit was in the flow of the game and was a legal hit.An unfortunate accident to say the least but not dirty. But to compare that with the Rudy incident, that is a VERY poor analogy. Kermit did not , I repeat did not have to hit Rudy ,(no matter what Kermit thinks) but he did. I am willing to let it go but come on. Football and Basketball are 2 different sports. There is no comparison between the 2 incidents. ------------------ Houston Rockets Forever!! In Rudy We Trust [This message has been edited by Dennis2112 (edited June 22, 2000).]
Yeah, I can see it wasn't a great analogy, though I had thought I remember some other context that made the incidents more comparable (e.g., Tatum had been warned before or perhaps the hit was illegal). ------------------ "The Rockets were ahead of the Suns by 20 late in game 2 of the series, but when the going got tough, we just Pippened . We would not be done in the series though."
I've seen that incident, and while I feel for Rudy, there was no intent on Kermit's part. He reacted to what he perceived as a threat and a Bad Thing happened. Bad things happen all the time and people have to deal with the consequences. Certainly he should have been -- and was -- punished, but he is still "serving" a lifetime sentence. In real life, Kermit is a kind, intellectual man who devoted his life to charity. He has a foundation that shuttles aid to Africa on a regular basis. There was a nice article about him in the Boston Globe recently about his efforts and how the NBA gives him the cold shoulder despite the worthwhile nature of his work. I think that rather than demonize him, we should understand him as a man and make a gesture of forgiveness. I wish Rudy would make a public show of solidarity by offering a donation to his foundation -- perhaps in conjunction with Hakeem. ------------------ If you don't remember the ABA, you don't know basketball.
I would be more than happy to cut the man some slack if he was a bit more apologetic. To try and paint himself as the victim is ridiculous. I person must take responsibility for his actions. To say that Rudy was at fault for coming out there on the court is silly. I am glad that he is so charitable but he needs to look in the mirror and stop pointing fingers. It is like a mugger saying it is the victim's fault because he had all that money and forced me into robbing him. It is not a matter of "forgive and forget", it is a matter of responsibility. ------------------ Houston Rockets Forever!! In Rudy We Trust
sir..i dind't see it happen and yes i would forget about it until he started doing all this. kermit is going on radio shows and doing articles etc lately to make it look like it was not his fault. i'm tired of hearing him act like it was just as much rudy's fault as his. dennis that is how i feel i have nothing against him but to keep trying to act like he is the victim is wrong. today he really didnt' ever act like he felt sorry for rudy at all he said he would have probably done it again if someone was running at him and really dindt' act like he was sorry for rudy. he acted like he was sorry because it caused himself a lot of troulbe not sorry for what he did to rudy. reason i'm brining it up because he hurt the nba bad and not sure if the nba should be helping him a lot. he even asked for his fine money and interest back that is insane and all he says was well uh the other guy started the fight. hes' been cut enough slack he didn't get put in jail like he should have been ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be" [This message has been edited by Rocket Fan (edited June 22, 2000).] [This message has been edited by Rocket Fan (edited June 22, 2000).]
The thing I find strange is that Kermit continuously says that he was just reacting to Rudy running straight at him. He says he wasn't going after Rudy, yet he was just startled. However, in Rudy T's autobiography, Rudy says that while the two were heading to the lockerrooms, they again tried to go at it. Mike Newlin said today on AM 950 (when a caller brought this interview to his attention) that in the lockerroom, Kermit again tried to hit Rudy. Mike said that Kermit had a reputation even before the punch as being one of the dirtiest players in the league. A week before the Rudy T. incident, he had elbowed Mike to the face. I have a hard time believing Kermit is the "victim" he claims he is, when the fact is he again went after Rudy just minutes after the initial punch.
ya today he said something about when going to the locker room he doens't know all what rudy said but rudy said something about why did you hit me. and kermit said ask kevin cooner. kermit said he didn't know how bad rudy was hurt and that he didn't know what all rudy was saying. hmm maybe a broken jaw makes it hard to talk do you think kermit. bobfinn..kevin cooner or however it is spelt is the guy that kermit said he grabbed around the waist and then kevin elbowed him and started teh fight and kermit was so surprsied he thought it was an accidnetal elbow at first because why would anyone want to elbow me when he just said he had grabbed conner around the waist running down the court. cooner is basically kermit's excuse. cooner started a fight with kermit so since cooner and rudy were teammates he hit rudy. and if cooner hadn't started a fight then rudy would have never got hit. i just find it weird sometimes he acts like he didn't even know it was rudy running and sometiems he acts like he does. anyways i have troulbe believing what he says. kermit also says back then it was tough game so fights happened every game. and he has asked for his fine money plus interest back from the nba. i know this is an old issue that should be forgotten but as long as kermit keeps coming on shows saying he is the victim basically it should get brought up. to hear kermit talk he was a bigger victim than rudy ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be" [This message has been edited by Rocket Fan (edited June 22, 2000).] [This message has been edited by Rocket Fan (edited June 22, 2000).]
I think you mean Kevin Kunnert. I was just having fun with the name cooner. Man do I feel old, geritol please
bobfinn..ya that is probably it but i could't understand if kermit said cooner or kunert or what exactly i knew it wasn't cooner but had no idea how you spell what the name really was ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be"
As much as I hate what happened to Rudy T, Kermit Washington has served his sentence, so to speak. You can tell that he is truly sorry for what he did, and he's had to live with that for 20 some-odd years now (not that Rudy hasn't had to live with it or anything). His explanation for it, while it doesn't excuse the action, is a good one. What can you expect in that type of situation. You're in a brawl, someone is running toward you at full speed. Sure, you should push him or tackle him, but in that moment, there's no way of knowing what any of us would have done, not knowing Rudy's intentions. ------------------ "Go to hell Costas"-Dave Nelson after sweeping the ABSCAs on NewsRadio visit www.swirve.com
Rocketman, your signature is awesome!! That's one of my all-time favorite News Radio episodes for that one quote right there! ------------------ He who stands for nothing will fall for anything.
i agree in some ways but from what i've heard rudy could have died from that. i think kermit should have of course been in jail for that and also he ruined rudy's playing career and kermit has gotten what he deserves. after 20 years of course he is going to act like he had no other choice but he did. i just think players sh ould be held accoutable for that. if rudy would have been killed i guess it wouldht' have mattered because most people t hink what happens on the court shouldn't be accountable to the law. he should have of course expected this from the nba they shouldn't let him back in the nba to coach and stuff after what he did. i just think it is something that he has to live with. if a normal person assaults someone he has a criminal record and lives with it kermit should just be happy he didn't get put in jail. the one thing i dont like is that on the court things aren't usually accountable to the law. if rudy would have died they would have said it was on the court during a fight and kermit would probably not have even been thrown in jail ------------------ Shane "Save Our Rockets" "Life without basketball in Houston........without an arena that is what it will be" [This message has been edited by Rocket Fan (edited June 22, 2000).]
