Just what exactly were they arguing and fighting about in the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium?

September 4, 2010 By 8 Comments

Fuggedaboutit!

It says something about the sport of tennis when Joey Pedevill becomes a bigger name at the U.S. Tennis Open than third-seeded Novak Djokovic.

Pedevill is the name identified as the fouled-mouth fan who was involved in a fight with 49-year old mother of six Tracey Falco, along with her 75-year old dad Lawrence Burnett in the upper reaches of the Arthur Ashe Stadium during Djokovic’s otherwise routine straight-set win Thursday night.

Here is the video if you haven’t seen it yet:

Sounds like Novak better win the tournament, because it sounds like Joey has some serious money running on this…

That’s right – the whole fracas was fueled (along with adult beverages), by Joey having action on the match. First weekend of the college football season on the horizon and the man is BETTING ON TENNIS!!! Now that’s a class A degenerate.

We are told that Pedevill is a 27-year old Mike Tyson fan (there’s a shock) who is now in Steve Bartman-like exile in his East Side apartment as he quickly became an internet sensation Friday, and now he, Falco, and Burnett have been handed three-year bans from being on the U.S. Tennis Center’s grounds.

us-open-fight-in-stands

Photo credit: Antonelli / NY Daily News

I don’t feel too sorry for Joey, he’ll be back in 2013; but a three-year ban on a 75-year old, who had to stand his ground because I guess security was on a lunch break? That’s harsh.

That is my first question. Most sporting venues I attend these days have signs urging fans to text a number to report issues. Unfortunately it looks like most of the fans where too busy using the cell phones to record the fracas instead, and then beat the traffic home to upload it on YouTube.

And that gets to my other point, which is that it’s not a good idea to do go crazy in public these days. The resolutions on these cameras are getting way too good, not to mention the audio. There were more cameras on this than on the tennis match. And you have to love the guy who’s trying to urge the parties to ‘RELAX’; think anyone in NYC has ever heard of that word???

And we heard just about everything from Mr. Pedevill…

Ten seconds into the video we see Joey get slapped by the woman, who I guess had heard enough of Pedevill swearing and cussing over every point. My former neighbors who hear me go ballistic after Jonathan Stewart scores two fourth quarter touchdowns against the Vikings in Week 15 would sympathize.

For a good minute-plus we then hear Joey’s verbal barrage, with no one stepping in to intervene, and his Christopher Moltisanti routine was pretty good, along with the commentary of the patrons as the scene unfolded…

I CAN TAKE TWENTY OF THOSE…’ (referring to the slap)

‘I CAN TALK ALL I WANT, I PAID MY (FREAKIN’) TICKET…’

‘I DON’T GIVE A (HOOT) WHAT ANYONE WANTS, I’VE GOT A LOT OF MONEY ON THE GAME…’

‘SIT THE (F—K) DOWN…’

‘EVICTED FOR WHAT??? I’M NOT TALKING DURING THE POINTS. GET THE F—K OUT OF HERE’

‘YOU MADE ME MISS HALF THE (FREAKIN’) GAME…’ (soon to be all of it)

Eventually, Mrs. Falco finally gets off of Pedevill’s face and walks towards her seat, and Joey finally sits down and reaches for his beverage, but still has one parting shot saying ‘I GUARANTEE IT, I GUARANTEE IT…’

Enter Tracey’s dad at this point, who kicks over the can of the man sitting next to Joey (who strangely is sitting calmly during the whole episode), then tries to put Pedevill into a headlock before tumbling down a couple rows, Tracey then gets a couple shots in before others grab on to Joey and the red-shirts finally arrive on the scene.

No charges were filed by either side, and in the end it was no worse than your typical NASCAR post-race confrontation.

According to the New York Post report, Joey wasn’t nearly as tough after being shaken down by the NYPD and eventually escorted out of the stadium. It’s also said that the last thing Joey was seeking out of this was publicity. Too bad; he’s got it.

And the guy next to him I have to wonder about. He didn’t defend him, didn’t try to calm him down, didn’t decide to just get out of dodge, he just sits there. I guess he was just…neutral.

Yup, a U.S. Open audience is not anything like Wimbledon, and if you don’t believe me about those Queens types just ask former Mets nemesis John Rocker…

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Filed Under: Tennis Tagged With: fight, Tennis, U.S. Open, video
  • Mike

    Are we watching the same video? I saw a woman assault a man for no good reason and, when the man in question sat down to continue to watch the game, her father came over and assaulted him, too. He defended himself put throwing the father off of him, only to be assaulted again by the woman and spectators who must be blind and deaf.

    The woman and her father should be in jail for assault. Plain and simple.

  • Jake

    The douchebag was clearly assaulted by the crazy lady and her dad. Mr. Allen, are you deaf and blind too? Clearly you haven't seen the video you just posted. The douchebag was slapped by the crazy lady and then was hit by the old man when he sat down. He should press charges.

  • http://twitter.com/kacsports Kurt

    Calling and'/or texting security would had far been the better move rather than slapping/physical contact, and should have highlighted it more in the piece. Both parties were wrong in their own ways…

  • james

    Spot on. Some people seem blind to the fact that a man was assauled not once but twice here.

  • Thiago

    This woman is very dummy! I'm in Brazilian and in our stadium theses woman don't buy tickets to watch the games !!!!
    It's very funny!!!

  • Guest

    Mr Pedevill was quite gracious not to retaliate when she slapped him.
    Mr Pedevill was quite gracious not to press charges on these "take matters into your own hands" cowards.
    He coulda.
    He shoulda.

    "Security" was lax for letting it go as far as it did.

    But instead, this article highlights:
    That he had money on it.
    That he's a Tyson fan.
    That he's a "degenerate" for betting on tennis over football.
    Bold print quotations. (She did make him miss half the match! He's right.)
    "Foul-mouthed" vs "Mother of six" (who obviously doesnt know when to quit).
    "one parting shot" (yeah but at least he kept it VERBAL).
    Sympathy for the 3 yr ban on 75 y/o "man" who "had to stand his ground." HAD TO??

    Way to paint a picture….
    Kurt, did you even watch the video??

  • Slick Dick Rick

    Yeah that fat lady was at fault. She is a fat pig anyway.

  • John

    I agree with everyone that commented here. The father and daughter were clearly wrong. Nobody has the right to assault someone else just for being loud and obnoxious. The old man and his daughter should be thankful they picked on the right guy. As much of a douche this guy is, I'd have to commend him for his restraint in not hitting back. They both could have easily been sent to the hospital by this young guy.