Malice at the Palace, Part Deux

In what will probably go down as the first brawl in the history of women's athletics, four players, including rookie superstar Candance Parker, were ejected during a scuffle at the end of a WNBA game between the Los Angeles Sparks and Detroit Shock. Although nowhere near the severity of the original Malice on November 19, 2004, the sequel will certainly draw a legendary announcement from the league office tomorrow.

With 4.6 seconds left in the game, Parker and Shock forward Plenette Pierson got tangled up following a free throw attempt, and that's when the fireworks followed. Pierson and Parker were immediately ejected after several punches were thrown at each other. Soon thereafter, Sparks star Lisa Leslie got involved, and that's when Rick Mahorn was tossed for allegedly taking a swing at Leslie. In response, Delisha Milton-Jones punched Mahorn in the back, an act that led to her ejection as well.

Pierson appeared to purposely aggravate Parker, stemming from a play moments earlier when the Sparks rookie was involved in a hard foul with Cheryl Ford of Detroit. Ford and Parker were ready to go at each other then, but were separated before anything could escalate. It's turn out the refs only stopped the skirmish for the short term. The video can be seen below.



First, Danica and Duno and now this? I must admit that women's athletics has gotten really heated recently, and with no other major sports news going on, it might even spark a mild interest in the WNBA and the IRL. It's a shame that Candace Parker, who is redefining the women's game at the moment, and her wonderful rookie season where she's averaging 19 and 9 just hasn't been enough to cut it.