The Psychology of Sports
By Dr. Richard Lustberg and Charles Deitch

 On The Couch: An Analysis of Current Topics and Issues in Sport
December 1, 2004

Little Ronnie Artest: Problem Child

Little Ronnie Artest and his buddies Jermaine O’Neil and Stephen Jackson got into trouble while playing in their neighbor’s yard.  It seems that Little Ronnie, who has a long history of misbehaving, can’t stay out of trouble for very long.

Just a short time ago, Little Ronnie -- who is more than capable of getting into trouble all on his own -- wanted to leave his playmates and go play on a different type of playground.  He told his pals that he was tired and bored with playing with them and needed to go out and find some fun. He told his friends that they could have fun without him, and not to worry, he’d be back in the blink of an eye.

He professed to his buddies that the game they were playing was not important, and that he would really try his hardest when their game was important. After all, these early games they were playing were kind of like practice until the real fun started. Besides, his new playground was completely different than his old one. He wanted to start singing a different tune.

As you can imagine, his playground parents were displeased with Little Ronnie. They were very angry that Ronnie, who had been treated very well by his friends and parents, could act this way, especially because they had put up with all his hi-jinks and paid him a very nice allowance to play in their yard. So like all bad children who push too far, Little Ronnie was grounded and forbidden to play with his buddies for two whole days.

However, this tap on the fanny and all of the other things that his parents, friends and the authorities have done to try to help Little Ronnie, have had little impact on his behavior. It always seems that Ronnie is never at fault, has an excuse for everything, and has trouble learning his lesson from his past punishments. To put it simply, Little Ronnie is really naughty.

In the short time he has been living in his current neighborhood, Ronnie has been known to all as a challenging little fellow. Around his hood, he has a rep for being selfish, exhibiting a mean streak, and he has shown disrespect to the neighborhood authorities. Most appalling is the fact that Ronnie is unrepentant when punished.

Little Ronnie’s parents have professed to be good moral people with outstanding values, and they always seem to give the right answers when asked about Little Ronnie’s negative behaviors. 

But on closer inspection some seem to question why, as self professed good parents and the holders of higher moral values, they have not been making any progress in changing Little Ronnie’s tune? Was Ronnie totally incorrigible?  Could his wagon be fixed?

Not so fast, the neighbors said. Many had noticed that his parents tended to indulge many of his behaviors sending inconsistent messages to Little Ronnie, which only further reinforced his negative behaviors and bad attitudes. Some said this happened because he was the best player in the yard and his parents and friends stood to gain from his talent.

Given this state of affairs some said it was only a matter of time until Ronnie got into trouble with the law, or a higher authority. Others just scoffed and said little boys will be little boys.

But one day it happened, as noted in the beginning of our tale. It happened one night when Little Ronnie and his pals, Jermaine and Stephen were playing a competitive game in some else’s yard against Little Bengie and his motor city buddies. It seemed like the whole neighborhood was there that day -- young and old alike.

During the game there was the usual pushing and shoving that goes on when little tots get together, and Little Ronnie’s team was clearly going to win the game. With just a scant amount of time left, Little Bengie was trying to get some pointless points for his team, and Little Ronnie for whatever reason decided to try and stop him!  He pushed him a little too hard, as Little Ronnie is known to do, and Bengie pushed him back.

The next thing ya know all the Little Boys from both teams, their parents and all their little friends were fighting on the playground like grown-ups – as little boys tend to do. The neighbors had varying reactions as they watched the melee. Little Ronnie went to lie down at the place where the score of the game was being kept. 

All of a sudden one of the visitors at the house threw some spicy juice on Little Ronnie. It seems that everyone blames that juice for a lot of things these days, and a few of the neighbors had their fill.

Little Ronnie, who as we know has trouble controlling his impulses, immediately jumped up and ran into the hood and began punching people indiscrimantely while interrogating the onlookers, his friends Jermaine and Stephen followed suit.  Oh Ronnie! Oh Stephen! Oh Jermaine!

While most of the majority of the neighborhood watched, a few of the visitors decided to join in the scuffle. Some of the onlookers believe it or not were even younger than Little Ronnie and his friends! Some little ones were traumatized and of course cried, with facial expressions of sheer terror.

Little Ronnie and his two friends had to be restrained, subdued and escorted out of the yard, as the most of the visitors and the other team were not too happy with him to say the least.

So, as you can imagine the rumble amongst the Little Ones became the talk of neighborhoods near and far. Little Ronnie was told that he could not play for a very long time by the grandfather of all the little ones, Grandpa David.

“Not fair” cried Little Ronnie, predictably blaming the visitor who drank too much juice. After all an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is the driving developmental force for tots like Little Ronnie.

"Not fair,” cried his parents, who surprisingly or not so surprisingly stated they were supporting Little Ronnie which seemed perplexing to many, but not to those who had suspicions about their motives in the first place.

“Not fair,” cried Little Ronnie, who said Grandpa David’s punishment was too harsh for the crime. “Not fair,” cried Little Ronnie who said Grandpa David just didn’t understand him.

“Not fair,” cried some of Ronnie’s friends, no one truly knows Ronnie the way we do. And anyway we need him on our team to help us win the games.  He is not a thug, said his parents, he’s just a little misunderstood. He is just a tot who has been trying really hard to improve his anger management skills.

“Not fair,” cried the head of the Little Tots Association, we will plead with Grandpa David to make Little Ronnie’s punishment less severe.

It was not surprising that just a few days after the fight Little Ronnie was out visiting with his supporters, who didn’t seem to be fazed by the Little One’s transgressions.  In fact, Little Ronnie ended up getting the break he wanted all along to play that new game with a different melody! Did he get what he wanted all along?

Oh well, boys will be boys….At least that’s what Little Ronnie and his parents will tell us as long as we continue to believe them.