STILL ON PATROL

LeBron's Choice a No-Brainer

Finally, the absurdity is over.  The nationwide watch to see which NBA team LeBron James chose for the next stage of his career is over, and he chose the Miami Heat.  People in Miami rejoiced, and people in Cleveland burned James' jerseys, t-shirts, and shoes.  Many other people around the country saw the whole hoopla, including an hour-long ESPN special surrounding his announcement, and a "watch" on CNN's Larry King Live, as much ado about little.

As I drove to work this morning in a driving rain, it occurred to me that the decision to ditch Cleveland for Miami was, well, a no-brainer.  I have made a pro-con list to sort this out, and you'll see what I mean.

Miami vs. Cleveland - duh.

South Beach vs. Lake Erie - duh.

Key West vs. Akron, Canton, and Youngstown - duh.

Average January temperature - Miami 75, Cleveland 24.8 - duh.

Miami Heat, a sensible nickname, vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, a leftover from the ABA Virginia Cavaliers - last time I checked, there is very little history of "Cavaliers" in Cleveland - duh.

Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh as teammates, vs. Mo Williams and over-the-hill Shaquille O'Neal - duh.

Pat Riley (Heat President) vs. Dan Gilbert (Cavaliers owner) - duh.

Paying Ohio income taxes vs. no Florida income tax - duh, when your salary is multi-millions.

"CSI Miami" vs. "Hot in Cleveland" - duh.

The Caribbean vs. Canada - duh.

Hurricanes vs. Lake Effect Snows - toss-up, although I would pick occasional hurricanes as opposed to annual and endless heavy snows.

Mojitos vs. Great Lakes Beer - for me, a no-brainer choice for the Cuban mint julep. 

So, Dan Gilbert's vitriol (which sounded more like what Elin Nordergren should be saying than an owner of   an NBA franchise) notwithstanding, to me it is a fairly simple choice.  James had lived in northern Ohio all of his life, and as a comparatively young man who is a mega-millionaire, who can blame him for sampling the "good life" in south Florida?  Just remember the opening sequence to the old "Miami Vice" show, or just about any episode of the beautifully-filmed CSI - Miami, and, like I said, who can blame him?

Why I Still "Hate" Duke

All of a sudden, sports fans are being inundated with sports "journalists" telling us why we should not "hate" Duke any more.  Enough, already, because these knuckleheads just do not get it. 

They all seem to think we who "hate" Duke do so because they've been successful.  WRONG.  There are plenty of successful college and pro sports teams, and individuals, who have been wildly successful and I have admired them and even been a fan in some cases.  For instance, I like and respect North Carolina and Roy Williams, who carry themselves with class whether they're winning a national championship, or taking it on the chin as they did this year.  I like and respect Kansas and Bill Self, for the same reasons.  Success has nothing to do with my strong anti-Duke feelings.

Here's the real reasons:

1. I am a Kentucky alumni and fan.  I am not one of those rabid ones that have given UK a bad name in recent years, but I do tend to bleed blue.  I am still depressed that we are not in the Final Four when our talent is better than anyone who is there.  Kentucky and Duke have a history, and we do not like one another, not one bit.
2. I am sick to death of seeing replays of the Christian Laettner shot that beat us in the 1992 East Regional final, after that SOB should have been thrown out of the game for stomping on Aminu Timberlake's chest earlier in the game.  How many years do we have to endure similar acts of officials looking the other way at dirty play by Dookies?
3. Why does CBS never show anything about UK coming from 18 down to beat Duke in the 1998 South Regional?
4. Why do CBS and ESPN, starting with Billy Packer and Dick Vitale, seem to have their lips firmly affixed to Mike Kryzewski's backside, year in and year out?
5. Why does the NCAA not see Mike Kryzewski's American Express commercials a few years ago as an unfair recruiting advantage, when so many other programs get hammered for stupid things?  For example, why did Indiana's Steve Alford get suspended for several games for posing for a charitable calendar?  It strikes me as an odd double-standard.
6. The underlying reason, in addition to all of the above, is not Duke's success, but the obnoxious arrogance of Dookies everywhere about their basketball team.  They act as if their fecal material is not the least bit odiferous.  I come from a family that has rabid Alabama and Texas football fans, and I can tell you from first-hand experience that their worst day does not approach what I hear from Dookies. 

But, I am pretty sure a lot of SEC fans think Kentuckians are just as bad.  Ya gotta love Ashley Judd, though - after all, who can possibly make a Kentucky t-shirt look better?

Anyway, sports "journalists", I don't need you to tell me that I shouldn't "hate" Duke.  I do, and I am going to continue to revel in rooting against the Dookies every chance I get. 

Let's Go-o-o-o-o, Mountaineers! 

 

Tiger Woods to Make Statement Friday

It was announced yesterday that Tiger Woods will make a public statement Friday at 11:00 a.m., from PGA Headquarters in Florida.  It will consist of Tiger reading a prepared statement to a select group of reporters, but taking no questions, according to the announcement.  Of course, sports talk radio people have been speculating and opining endlessly since that time.  "What will he say?  Should he bare all?  Tiger "owes" the public this or that..."

I hope whatever Tiger does is for his own good and that of whatever may be leftof his family life, as opposed to an effort to somehow feed the circling media.  I hope this is something he has been advised to do as part of his "therapy" or counseling he has been receiving.  Why?  Because Tiger Woods owes us, the ravening public, nothing.  He owes his wife and family whatever it may take to make amends and move forward, if that is even possible.  If this statement is part of that effort, great.

You see, I don't necessarily buy into this "sexual addiction" thing we have been hearing about.  Sounds to me like Tiger is no more horny than most men are, with the major difference being his money and public adoration probably creating in him a false sense of being bulletproof, and the arrogance to think he could get away with it.  How else can you explain his allegedly texting one of his mistresses while he sat in his own living room?  One need only be around professional sports, including golf,  to witness the numbers of beautiful women who regularly make themselves "available", to understand how easily he could have made these liasions.  Once he had done so and initially did get away with it, it is likewise easy to see how his arrogance grew right along with the risk-taking.

And going to rehab?  It's the new celebrity way to show contrition once busted for "transgressions."  Arrested for DUI?  Go to rehab.  Arrested for drugs?  Go to rehab.  Busted for fooling around on your wife?  Go to rehab.  The rest of us poor schmoes just go to Court, either criminal and/or divorce.  This pattern is one of the main reason why Paris Hilton going to jail a couple years ago was so shocking to many - after all, she paid her societal due like the rest of us, instead of whiling away some time in a luxurious rehab facility.

But back to Tiger's impending statement.  I will join most of the rest of you and listen to what he has to say.  I have been and remain a fan of Tiger's for his golfing talent and his relentless work ethic to get better.  I am not so dependent on how he lives his personal life that I now suddenly dislike him for what he has done.  Despite what he has shown in playing golf, he is a human being and is susceptible to error like the rest of this species, albeit his being much splashier than ours.  I wish him luck in the difficult task of trying to salvage what is left of his family relationships, and in finding a constructive path forward.  What he says tomorrow, however, should only be of significance to that task, not anything he supposedly "owes" the public.

Lane Kiffin "Clampetts" His Way to USC

Just like Jed Clampett and his kin did many years ago, Lane Kiffin has "loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly...Hills, that is...Swimmin' pools...Movie stars" in leaving the football coaching job at the University of Tennessee after only 14 months, and taking the newly-open job at Southern California.  The major difference this time, though is more than Kiffin's move not being accompanied by some blazing banjo licks from Earl Flatt.

As a twice-alumni of the University of Kentucky and life-long Wildcat fan, I must try to conceal my delight in anything bad happening to Rocky Top.  Between the Kiffin story and the recent arrest of four UT basketball players on gun and drug-related charges, there is much celebration of UT's misfortune in central Kentucky.  This is particularly so because most of the SEC has wondered for  years at UT's ability to step in a huge stinking pile of manure yet come out smelling of something akin to roses.

The basketball scandal is, by any measure, a sad reminder that many high-profile athletes are, despite their physique and prowess, still often immature, and do not realize the risks they take of ruining their collegiate careers with an evening's missteps.  In many respects, these individuals are told daily how wonderful they are, leading some to a bullet-proof mentality, and problems such as those that settled in Knoxville a couple of weeks ago.

Kiffin, on the other hand, represents something that is still a problem in NCAA athletics, and that is, what about the kids?  I cannot blame Kiffin for taking the USC job - he is going home, and going to one of the highest-profile coaching jobs anywhere.  I suspect his income has been kicked up a pretty good notch, or two.  For a California boy, the task of weighing living in LA versus living in Knoxville must have been a veritable no-brainer.

Don't get me wrong - I don't like Lane Kiffin.  I think he's a smart-ass and thinks more of himself than do most others.  His biggest attraction is his father, Monte, who at age 72 is perhaps one of the true defensive geniuses in football.  I'm not the least bit sad to see Kiffin, his mouth, his attitude, and his string of NCAA "secondary violations" leave the SEC.  The issues of his departure, however, are much bigger than that. 

In leaving, he has left in limbo a 26-member recruiting class that some have rated in the top ten classes in the country.  Some of those kids, including a very good running back from Breathitt County, Kentucky named Channing Fugate (I know, sounds like a Duke basketball player, but this kid can PLAY), have enrolled early at Tennessee so they can participate in spring practice, so they are stuck there with Kiffin gone.  Others who have not enrolled are not "stuck" because the date for signing letters of intent has not yet come.  All of them, however, are now dealing with upheaval in their athletic and academic future at a time when they should be enjoying the last weeks and months of high school.

The NCAA does not have guidelines or rules to cover this, other than the enrolled athletes would have to sit out one year if they transferred.  The simple fact of the matter is that they committed to come to Knoxville to play football for Kiffin.  Let's be serious, Knoxville is no garden spot, and the girls are prettier at Florida, Alabama, Florida State, and so on, so what does that leave?  The coaching staff and the chance to play in the SEC.

So, if Kiffin leaves, or is fired such as Mike Leach at Texas Tech, or Jim Leavitt at USF, there should be provision for those students the coach recruited to transfer, without penalty, to another school.  If this is supposed to be about the student-athlete (koff, koff), then why not let the student-athlete NOT be the one left holding the bag in Knoxville when the coach jets off to Tinsel Town?  Would the coach recruit them to his new school?  Probably, but if the athlete wants to play for that coach, what's the problem?  These athletes are not supposed to be indentured servants, but should be able to end up at the school of their choosing.

This is supposed to be about the student-athlete, isn't it?

The Verdict on McGwire?

It was a non-event this week when Mark McGwire, he of the Popeye biceps and single-season home run record, admitted in an interview with Bob Costas that he had used steroids and human growth hormones (HGH) during his baseball career, and indeed during the time he was hitting so many baseballs out of National League stadiums. 

Why do I call it a non-event?  A couple of reasons stand out.  First, when McGwire was playing, his muscular biceps and forearms in and of themselves convinced me that something beyond weightlifting was going on with his physique.  And second, when he was summoned to testify about steroids before Congress, he took the Fifth and refused to answer questions about steroids, thus avoiding a perjury charge.  In other words, his "confession" was no big surprise, particularly with his hiring as hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals this coming season.

The "confession" was quite the pity party for McGwire, who invoked God (who apparently told McGwire to use steroids to recover from injuries and blessed him with superior hand-eye coordination), Little League (he's always hit a lot of home runs), and the steroids culture in baseball in making his apologies to baseball, his teammates and coaches, and the fans.

It remains to be seen what will happen with McGwire and baseball as a result of his "confession."  Some people argue that he should be banned from baseball, like Pete Rose was for gambling.  Others say everything should be forgiven and forgotten because steroid use was pervasive in baseball for many years.  I tend to fall somewhere in between

There is little question that baseball spawned a steroids (and other drugs) culture at least in the '70's, '80's and '90's.  Baseball kept its collective head in the sand and lagged behind other professional sports in extensive testing, and imposition of discipline, to prevent use of performance-enhancing drugs.  As a result, steroid users have broken some of the most hallowed hitting records in baseball, including home runs in a season, and in a career.  To most baseball fans, and particularly to the purists, these new "records" are at best meaningless.

Given that the sport itself was clearly complicit in the widespread drug use, and was more than glad to profit from the publicity it garnered over the home run derbies, to me it is difficult to call for the ban of an individual or two from the sport.  Unless baseball is going to do a retrospective look at all former players and whether they used steroids, which would be highly impractical, it remains that they played within the rules and the system as it existed during their careers, and only baseball is at fault for not protecting the integrity of the game.

So, I would not "ban" McGwire from holding a coaching or management position.  I might think he would be properly subjected to scrutiny over and above the average coach, and perhaps testing himself, but an outright  "ban" would be unnecessarily harsh.

As for records, I would propose that baseball form a committee including former players, management, and medical personnel with knowledge of performance enhancing drugs, to review any and all records to make a determination of whether the record was achieved with the assistance of such drugs.  If the conclusion is "yes", I would think that the record should not be deemed an "official" mark of major league baseball.  The "official" record could be footnoted with the "enhanced" record and the committee's decision.

As for the Hall of Fame, I believe this will take care of itself.  So far, known steroid users, including McGwire, have not come close to the 75% needed for election to the Hall of Fame.  I doubt an outright ban will be necessary because the baseball writers as a group are very unlikely to vote in even a suspected drug user.

So, while I am sure Mark McGwire feels better today as a result of his "confession", I'm not sure what it may mean in the greater scheme of things in baseball.  To me and to many former fans, baseball lost its appeal when a players' strike cancelled the World Series and free agency ruined the sport by making it into a money-focused entity where players are paid obscene amounts to play a kids' game.  The rampant drug use in pursuit of "records" has only further destroyed any allure baseball may have once had.

In other words, where I once cheered for the Pirates of Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell, and later for the "Big Red Machine", baseball is now little more than a distraction between college basketball and football seasons.  Prices to attend a game are so exorbitant that if I were to want to go, I would attend our local Single-A team's games long before I would care about the short jaunt to Cincinnati from my home.  They have no one to blame but themselves.

$6 Million Man Arrested for DUI

Following directly on the heels of Rick Pitino's rant at the media yesterday about coverage of his sex scandal, news reports this morning have revealed that former Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie was arrested for DUI last night in Anderson County (Lawrenceburg), and spent the evening in the Franklin County (Frankfort) Detention Center.  Watch out, Tubby Smith, it's not looking like a good week for former UK basketball coaches!

From www.Kentucky.com:

According to arrest records, Lawrenceburg police received a complaint about a possible intoxicated driver traveling north on the bypass from the Shell Station near the Bluegrass Parkway. The vehicle, a white 2009 Mercedes-Benz 300, had Texas plates. 

The officers smelled a strong odor of alcohol as they spoke with Gillispie, who was driving, the police report says. His eyes were red and glassy and his speech was slurred, the citation states.  Police asked Gillispie for his proof of insurance, and he said it was in his golf bag in the trunk, according to the court document.  "During the exit he used the door for balance and was confused on how to open the trunk," the citation says.  The report says Gillispie's insurance information was not in the bag, so he went to the passenger side of the car.  "He was confused about how to unlock the vehicle and took several tries to unlock the glove box," the citation says.  He was still unable to find the insurance, according to the officer's report.

Police said Gillispie refused breath and blood tests.  According to arrest records, O'Connor also smelled of alcohol and was "heavily intoxicated, very unsteady on his feet and had slowed, slurred speech."

This was not Gillispie's first encounter with DUI arrests:

He was arrested in 1999 on charges of driving while intoxicated and improper use of a lane in Tulsa, Okla. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving; other charges were dismissed.  In 2003, he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving while in his first year at the University of Texas-El Paso, but the charges were dismissed after a prosecutor decided there was not enough evidence to suggest Gillispie was drunk.

With Kentucky's current DUI laws, Gillispie will not skate so easily as he did in those two earlier encounters. 

The Memphis situation notwithstanding, Mitch Barnhart and Lee Todd have got to be feeling just that much better about John Calipari this morning, especially when they look at that booking photo of Gillispie. 

Speaking of the Memphis situation, isn't this just another example of why some serious reform of the NCAA needs to happen?  Sure, it's a bad thing if Derrick Rose had someone else take an SAT or ACT for him.  But who is really at fault?  How did this happen in the first place if the Educational Testing Service, or whomever administers the test, cannot pick upon a substitution?  The integrity of the whole testing process should certainly be questioned.

Then, the so-called NCAA "Clearing House" approved Rose for admission on an athletic scholarship.  Don't John Calipari and Memphis have some right to rely on the very section of the NCAA that is charged with verifying eligibility?  In normal legal theories, the NCAA should be estopped from later disqualifying a player if it has cleared him/her for eligibility, and surely should be prevented from punishing the school.  The NCAA needs a long look in the mirror on this one, not punishment of the school who really only was mistaken in relying on the NCAA.

Third, the NCAA's response to the above point was that the school had "strict liability" in these situations and had to be punished.  The NCAA regulations, however, contain no such terms as "strict liability", and its own precedent in similar situations involving schools such as Duke, USC, and others does not support any "strict liability" contention. 

The NCAA's ruling in the Rose matter only provides further fuel to the allegation that certain schools are seen as fair-haired children, while others are considered bad actors that are guilty of anything and everything.  In the SEC, Alabama and Kentucky are constantly under the microscope, while Tennessee seems to continually step in manure and come out smelling like the proverbial rose.   I wonder how much longer this kind of thing will go on until there is an open revolt on a much larger scale than the BCS Football schools doing their own thing?

NOTE:    For those of you not addicted to UK basketball, the appellation "$6 Million Man" has to do with Gillispie's severance claim from his being fired by UK.  That is the amount he is claiming in a lawsuit.

Why the Plaxico Burress Sentence Is Not Excessive

If you have even a passing interest in sports, you have probably by now read something about Plaxico Burress pleading guilty and being sentenced to two years for illegal gun possession.  Burress, the New York Giants' wide receiver who two years ago caught the winning touchdown in the 2008 Super Bowl, was charged for carrying an unlicensed, loaded gun in his pocket into a night club.  While in the club, the gun went off and wounded Burress in the leg.

It was fortunate that no one else was injured; the bullet barely missed a club security guard, and was found embedded in the floor later that evening.  No charge for "wanton endangerment" was filed, but in my opinion could have been.  The weapon carried by Burress was unlicensed in New York or New Jersey, where he lives, and his Florida license had expired.

Many people have criticized the two-year sentence as "excessive."  The simple fact of the matter is that the sentence is less than what the law calls for in New York,, which is a 3 1/2 year minimum sentence.  Obviously New York takes carrying a loaded gun into a public place very seriously, which before that night Burress apparently did not.  What any other state may do is irrelevant; under our Constitutional system, each sovereign state is free to define and punish crimes as it sees fit. 

I think the New York prosecutor, Robert Morgenthau, and his assistant, Mark Dwyer, should be applauded for enforcing the law and not giving in simply because Burress is an NFL star.   Unlike the Scottish Justice Secretary who released a mass murderer last week, Morgenthau obviously believes in the rule of law, which is an all-too-rare quantity in these star-struck times.  Dwyer said that a two-year sentence is the minimum to which his office will agree in such cases, and Burress should be treated no differently.

In addition, Burress was clearly what I like to call "felony stupid" on many levels for carrying the weapon as he did. 

• If Burress was under any sort of threat, why did he go to the club, and if he had to go, why did he not rely on a bodyguard?  Surely Burress could have afforded to hire private security if such was truly necessary. 
• Why do NFL players, and other celebrities and athletes for that matter, expose themselves to criminal charges by doing stupid things, like this and like driving drunk, when there will always be help available to them?  Burress has lost two years from his career now, and, given the short shelf life of NFL wide receivers, has to be considered unlikely to resume his career once he is paroled.
• The weapon was not in a proper holster, but simply in his pocket, and a shell was chambered, i.e., in the barrel and ready to fire.  Anyone with any sense about guns should know better.  His permit course, if he actually took one, should have taught him better gun safety than that.
• A large part of owning and carrying firearms should include the responsibility to know the local laws and comply with them. I have a Kentucky permit, but some states accept it with reciprocity, and others do not.  Even with reciprocity some states have different requirements for how a gun can be carried.  When I cross into another jurisdiction it is my responsiblity as a gun owner to find out what the law is, and to comply with it.
• The efforts of Burress and his friends to "cover up" the shooting by not reporting it was also a violation of the law, although it was not charged as such.  Most of the time, however, the "cover up" can end up being worse than the original crime.

I am sorry to see yet another celebrity athlete fall prey to his own outsized ego and immaturity, and perhaps sacrifice not only his own career, but the fans' enjoyment at watching him perform.  At the same time, though, Burress' punishment will hopefully serve as an object lesson to other athletes, of all ages, that their skills at their chosen sport do not provide them with a permanent "Get Out of Jail Free" card.  More cases like Burress, and yes, Michael Vick, where the athlete does the time for his own stupidity, and fewer where athletes get below-minimum sentences for serious crimes, might just save some careers, and lives, down the line.

 

Vick Update

Michael Vick has been approved for home confinement at his home in Hampton, VA, because there is no room for him at a Newport News halfway house.  Vick's 23-month sentence at Leavenworth, KS, Federal Penitentiary is winding down, and he will be released in May to serve out the remainder, which ends in July, at home.  He will be on electronic monitoring and allowed to leave home only for activities approved by his parole officer.

Here's hoping his parole officer is a dog lover and a Carolina Panthers fan.

And here's a thought - along with the little electronic ankle bracelet he will have to wear, why don't they attach a rabid pit bull to his other ankle?  That would restrict his movements pretty effectively.  Yes, indeed, I do get Old Testament on these kinds of things.

Vick's lawyers still insist he will try to return to the NFL.  The Falcons have been trying to peddle his contract rights, but so far no one, not even the Raiders or the Cowboys, have shown any interest.

Let's see, Mike, the NFL has been making some effort to clean up its public image.  Pacman Jones is about to go down for the count for several public drunkeness and fighting issues, some of which have included gunshots.  Plaxico Burress is on thin ice for shooting himself in the leg at a bar.  There've been drug dealers, drug users, wifebeaters, most of whom are history.  With PETA and the millions of dog lovers out there, My prediction is that Roger Goodell is either going to say "NO", or is going to require some pretty major penance to let you back in, even if there is a team that wants to take the PR hit.  I wouldn't put a whole lot of whatever money you have left on the shot to get back in the league.  Maybe NFL Europe? 

Baseball: Just When You Thought It Was Bad...

With every new revelation in Major League Baseball's ongoing steroids scandal, it may seem as if it can't get any worse.  But just like Anglican meetings, the truth is, yes it can.

This week, the guy who many believe is the "Best Player in Baseball", A-Rod, Alex Rodriguez, has admitted using performance-enhancing drugs between 2000-2003 while with the Texas Rangers.  He claims it was because of the pressure to live up to his contract.  And we're supposed to believe that once he came to the New York Yankees (the Clemens, Giambi, etc. Yankees?) for his mega-millions largest sports contract ever, now I work for Steinbrenner contract, he just stopped using the drugs?  No sale, A-Rod.  Sorry.

On the heels of that story is the news that Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada has entered a guilty plea to charges of lying to Congress about another player's drug use.  In the "let's-get-Capone-on-tax-evasion" mode, prosecutors got Tejada on the misdemeanor.  The kicker still hanging over Tejada's head is whether U.S. immigration officials will approve his annual work permit for him to come to spring training from the Dominican Republic.

I was talking to a friend about how badly steroids scandals have damaged baseball, and howeither of us would prefer to go to a minor-league or college game any more.  My friend observed that the all-time home runs leader, the single-season home runs leader, a multi-Cy Young and sure-fire Hall-of-Fame pitcher, and many other "certain" Hall of Famers now probably will not even come up for a vote because their accomplishments are tainted by drug use.  Add to that Pete Rose being banned for betting on baseball, and there is a chance that, in the future, the most-often heard phrase will be, "Dad, who's that guy?"  And Rose defenders are now heard saying, "At least Pete didn't juice up."  Or did he just get out with his Popeye forearms before anyone looked too closely?

My favorite player growing up, without question, was Roberto Clemente.  Clemente had it all - if the Pirates needed hits, he hit for average.  If they needed power, he hit home runs.  Right field at old Forbes Field was his - old-timers said he could "throw a strawberry through a locomotive."  He was a 12-time All-Star and a 12-time Gold Glove winner.  3,000 career base hits.  Clemente, of course, died on December 31, 1972, when his airplane crashed into the ocean while on a humanitarian trip to Nicarauga for earthquake relief.  Thirty+ years later, another Latin player, Miguel Tejada, may not be allowed to get on a plane to come to the U.S. to play because he lied to federal investigators about steroids. 

How far baseball has fallen.

Plaxico, Plaxico, Wherefore Art Thou, Plaxico?

The answer?  Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants is probably sitting somewhere, not playing football, recovering from a .40 caliber gunshot wound to the leg, and wondering how many felonies with which he is ultimately going to be charged, and how much of his multi-million dollar salary this is going to cost him.

In the latest installment of "Stupid Professional Athlete Tricks", Burress this past Friday night at a Manhattan night club "accidentally" shot himself in the thigh when the pistol in his pants pocket discharged.  Luckily for Burress, the pistol apparently was pointed downward instead of to the left, or a much more serious injury may have been inflicted.

The 6'5", 232-pound Burress now faces felony charges for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, and failure to properly report a gunshot injury.  The concealed weapon charges carry a potential jail sentence of 3.5 to 15 years.  Maybe Burress can get a double room with Michael Vick?  Burress, whom I drafted in an early round for one of my Fantasy Football teams, is likely also facing suspension by the NFL for at least the remainder of the season, and one wonders whether hard-nosed Coach Tom Coughlin has reached the end of his patience for the star wide receiver.

Burress has been his own sideshow this year.  Prior to Friday's gunshot wound, he has, according to ESPN.com, had these episodes: 

• Oct. 5: Suspended for game against the Seahawks and fined $117.5K after missing a team meeting for "family issues," which he said included having to pick his son up from school.

• Oct. 24: Fined total of $45K for three violations and penalties in a game vs. the 49ers, including verbally abusing an official during the game, "inappropriate" comments about officiating after the game and $5K for throwing a football into the stands.

• Oct. 26: Held out of the first quarter of a 21-14 victory in Pittsburgh after missing treatments for a neck injury.

It is a tribute to Coach Coughlin and the rest of the Giants that they have shrugged off this nonsense and forged an 11-1 record, tied with Tennessee for best in the league.

It is often said that star athletes have to come to terms with the fact they are not "bulletproof."  Burress can now be cited as particular evidence of this truism.  For his sake, I hope Burress can grow up after he pays the price for this incident, and return to football.  Otherwise, he will become just another sad, sad story of a life of potential gone wasted.