Read about the fallout here. A fan from suburban Redmond punched a player from Central District Garfield during a tense moment on the floor.

What’s going on here? Redmond is a wealthy suburban school and Garfield is a very diverse city school. Was their class tension? Was the 18-year old fan drunk? What’s going on with him now?

If the Seattle Times high school sports bureau (if it even exists) wasn’t so depleted, this would be worth a good follow-up investigation or story. Some of the strongest aspects of the original game story are the quotes from the punched player’s dad. He says:
“We stress to our kids not to act like that. We do that over and over. We come out here where it’s like the upper class, in suburbia, and their kids act like that. People have the perception of our kids acting that way, but this doesn’t happen at Garfield.”
“What if the shoe was on the other foot? I don’t think everybody would’ve reacted this way if Garfield was attacking their fans. I think the police would’ve been a little more forceful.”

He’s probably right.

It’s the second violent, game-ending incident in a basketball game (in KingCo 4A, the same league) in the last couple weeks. The first involved a referee, a player, and the player’s dad.

What’s going on with Seattle high school basketball, one of the best prep scenes in the country?

Why do sports phenoms fascinate everyone from sports agents to college coaches to shoe companies to journalists to fans to professional teams? The answer, a rather obvious one: their precocious ability at such young ages. As Americans, and perhaps as people, we love potential. Our stock market is built on the idea.

Tony Wroten, a 15-year-old basketball player for Garfield High School in Seattle, already commands tremendous attention. The Seattle Times has cut legions of sportswriters throughout the paper’s series of budget and staff cuts, but they still had a writer and photographer at a Garfield game on Tuesday night.

The question is not whether Wroten is good (his stat line Tuesday: 20 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals), but why we can’t take our eyes off these phenoms, even though we know our attention might lead to their downfall? Most adults can’t keep up their act in the public eye, so we shouldn’t expect the best from teenagers. Wroten’s already been part of controversy over whether he actually lives in the Seattle district, which led to private investigators monitoring his family for several weeks. Seriously.

This post walks the same thin line it discusses: how do we balance our appreciation of phenomenal talent with our respect for the human being who possesses it?

Any answers or thoughts appreciated.