Better save that suitcase for your lawyers ...

Ah, Plaxico, Plaxico …

It’s not surprising that someone who carried an unregistered gun into a New York nightclub might have another one or two weapons lying around his house.

In the case of Plaxico Burress, it was two — a 9-mm handgun and a rifle — along with ammunition for three other guns that were found when police recently raided his home.

As of Thursday, police had not determined whether these — unlike the Glock pistol with which he shot himself in the thigh at the Latin Quarter — were legally possessed or not.

Burress, it seems, has difficulties with rules; to him, they simply don’t apply. Witness the other little legal scrape Burress finds himself in — being the target of a civil suit for rear-ending a woman in Florida.

With a price tag of $140,000, Burress’ Mercedes-Benz most likely had every little accessory a modern-day jock-hero could possible need — except a piece of paper showing valid proof of insurance. It seems our star’s insurance had run out three days before the accident — he had neglected to pay the premiums.

Not that he didn’t have the money; in fact, in their raid of Burress’ home, police a suitcase full of cash — the perfect accessory for one’s next get-a-way weekend.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3791174

Perfect day-after-Christmas stories

Recommended reading:

Wayne Drehs’ ESPN piece on Kurt Warner and the price he pays in locker-room popularity for simply doing good — off the field. Warner's Goody Two-shoes’ reputation is well-deserved, but there’s more to the man than that.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?page=hotread17/kurtwarner&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1

Also worth noting is Dwayne Wade’s impulsive help for a South Florida family that lost a home due to fire.

"That's what I try to teach my kids," the Miami Heat star said. "It's not about what you're going to receive — it's what you can give to others from what you've received."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3792612

Gee, this should help recruiting …

Mississippi basketball coach Andy Kennedy was arrested early Thursday in Cincinnati and accused of assaulting a cab driver. Kennedy, 40, allegedly punched 25-year-old cab driver Mohammed Ould Jiddou in the face while shouting racial slurs.

Nice.

Kennedy denies the charges, but according to the Cincinnati Police Department, “there was an unrelated witness that observed the whole incident."

Also charged was William Armstrong, the Rebels' coordinator of basketball operations.

Liquor apparently was involved.

Nice.

Liquor. Racism. Violence.

Nice.

More than a statistical anomaly

I don’t know that NBA Hall of Famer and one-time Auburn Tiger Charles Barkley is right that “race was the No. 1 factor” in the school’s hiring of Gene Chizik to be its next football coach. Hiring Chizik meant bypassing Turner Gill, who has a better record as a head coach than Chizik — and, yes, Chizik is white and Gill is black.

I don’t know that race was involved in any specific coach hirings of the past few years.

I do know, however, that race HAS to be involved in the fact that out of 119 programs in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision, only four — count ’em, four — are black.

There’s a phrase to describe this: institutional racism, and the NCAA doesn’t seem to give a damn.

There's more under the Sampson rock

Ah, Indiana.

The list of bad things that happened on Kelvin Sampson’s watch just got longer.

According to Los Angeles Clipper rookie Eric Gordon, drug use helped tear apart last year’s Hoosiers basketball team.

Gordon said that then-coach Sampson tried to stop the drug use, but "was just so focused on basketball and winning and everything."

Everything probably being charges that Sampson had repeatedly violated NCAA recruiting rules, charges that proved accurate, leading to Sampson being paid three-quarters of a million dollars to go away, Indiana being slapped with three years probation, and the program going into absolute free-fall.

The IU Athletics Code of Conduct allows university officials to drug-test at any time. But, remember, Sampson "was just so focused on basketball and winning and everything."

High school basketball coach Doug Mitchell, who had three former players at Indiana last season, including Gordon, told the Indianapolis Star that the situation was “a mess.”

"I'm extremely disappointed in what appears to have been the lack of monitoring and supervision of the players' behaviors," he said.

Sampson landed on his feet, getting an assistant’s gig with Milwaukee in the NBA. The Hoosiers, on the other hand, landed ... actually, as Gordon's comments demonstrate, they're still in free-fall.

In a bit of rough

There’s class — and then there’s … well, shave off a couple of letters.
Tiger Woods has class. His caddie, Steve Williams? Ehhh … not so much.

Williams, who has a reputation for thuggish behavior and stupid remarks, reverted to form recently by calling Woods rival Phil Mickelson a word that rhymes with stick (no, it wasn’t trick).

At an event in New Zealand, Williams also told the press that Mickelson, after being heckled by a fan, fell apart on the 17th and 18th holes at this year’s United States Open at Torrey Pines.

Mickelson said that Williams’ account was an “absolute fabrication” and that the story was “grossly inaccurate and irresponsible.” And the facts back him up. Mickelson played with Woods in the first two rounds, but did not struggle on the last two holes in either round.

“I don’t particularly like the guy,” Williams was quoted as saying. “He pays me no respect at all and hence I don’t pay him any respect. It’s no secret we don’t get along either.”

Williams also indicated Woods and Mickelson are less than friends. “I was simply honest and said they don’t get along,” he was quoted as saying. “You know what it’s like. You’re at a charity event and you have a bit of fun.”

But Mickelson didn’t see the humor, and neither did Williams’ boss.

“I was disappointed to read the comments attributed to Steve Williams about Phil Mickelson, a player that I respect,” Woods said in a statement. “It was inappropriate. The matter has been discussed and dealt with.”

Woods might not like Mickelson, but he was raised too well to take pot shots at him in public — or to let his caddie do it.

It’s not in his nature, but Williams might want to tread carefully for a while. The last time a Woods’ caddie disappointed his boss, he quickly found himself seeking new employment.

Kudos all 'round

Recommended reading: Dana O’Neil’s ESPN piece on UConn forward Stanley Robinson, who was bounced from the team by coach Jim Calhoun, told to get a job and get his head together — and who did just that.

Robinson, a starter for the Huskies, wasn’t in trouble with the law and wasn’t academically ineligible. He was just acting immature, which prompted Calhoun to suspend him for the first semester of this year.

"The only one being harmed was Stanley," Calhoun said. "I had a couple of players I asked to leave the program. I didn't want Stanley to leave. He's a really good kid with a heart of gold, but he had to get his life square. I saw signs, little things. He'd be late to study hall or late to practice. He wasn't always going to class. He just wasn't focused."

After five months of sorting scrap, Robinson is back with the Huskies, focused and more grown up.

"I'm much different," Robinson said. "I'm more mature now. I'm a man. This made me a man."

Kudos to Calhoun for caring enough to risk losing a talented player, kudos to Robinson for taking the hard but correct route, kudos to Robinson’s family for encouraging him to listen to Calhoun, rather than transfering to another school.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=3769359

Someone worth remembering

Jan Kemp has died.

You ask, “Who's Jan Kemp?” Well, I’ll tell you.

Kemp, who died at just 59 from complications from Alzheimer's, was a woman who helped change the face of college athletics and make the moniker “student-athlete” not a complete farce.

Kemp, a University of Georgia professor, was fired in 1982 after blowing the whistle on the school for allowing athletes who failed remedial classes — yes, remedial classes — to continue to play sports.

She sued the school, and her lawsuit not only got her reinstated, it led to sweeping reforms at the school and helped lead to more stringent academic standards for students across the nation.

It did not, however, make her very popular in football-loving Georgia. An Associated Press story noted that “a newspaper columnist once wrote Kemp should be ‘the next teacher in space’ — not long after Christa McAuliffe, an elementary school teacher chosen by NASA's Teacher in Space Project, died in the shuttle Challenger explosion.”

For caring about doing the right thing — at the cost of incurring the wrath of an entire state — may God bless Jan Kemp.

For more on Kemp, see Pat Forde's column on her for ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3761411&sportCat=ncf&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1

Ah, those frisky freshmen …

A couple of freshmen are making Kansas University and the University of Iowa awfully proud.

Markief Morris, an 18-year-old Jawhawk basketball player (he's the one at right with the stubble), decided it would be fun a fire BBs into a university dorm courtyard. It seemed less amusing to the 47-year-old woman hit by the BBs.

To atone for his misdeed, Morris, who had been charged with battery, has agreed to perform 20 hours of community service.

Shooting BBs into a courtyard seems like a rather juvenile thing to do, juvenile and potentially dangerous, but it’s OK, folks, because …

"I've learned a lesson from this, and I apologize for any embarrassment this caused KU and the basketball program,” Morris said in a statement released (and probably written) by the school. “I'm going to do my community service so I can conclude this matter and concentrate on academics and the rest of the basketball season.”

“We’ve talked about this a lot,” said Kansas coach Bill Self. “And I’ve told Markieff and our guys that obviously they have to make better decisions and be much wiser in their judgment.”

Speaking of making better decisions, Iowa freshman Anthony Tucker (above right) also might want to consider taking that tack. Tucker recently was found out passed out in a freezing alley with a breath-alcohol level of .194. The blood-alcohol limit to be considered legally drunk in Iowa is .08.

Tucker was so wasted that police officers called to the scene were unable to wake him. He was taken to the hospital, where he was treated and released.

Another incident like this and Tucker might be looking at another release — from the basketball program. As it is, Tucker has been suspended indefinitely by Iowa coach Todd Lickliter.

The usual suspects

So.

The NFL Players Association is appealing the fine and suspension given Plaxico (Quick Draw McGraw) Burress after his little nightclub shooting incident.

What a surprise.

The NFLPA, after all, exists in part to contest the consequences of bad behavior, coming to the aid of such notables as Michael Vick and Pacman Jones.

That’s what the union does, I mean, when it’s not allegedly conspiring with EA Sports to cheat retired players out of the money due them for use of their likenesses in the popular Madden NFL game.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080930-lawsuit-nflpa-conspired-with-ea-to-cheat-retired-players.html

Also coming to the defense of Burress is Miami linebacker Joey Porter. (That's him above in one of his calmer moments.)

"For a person to carry a gun, I mean, you're not carrying a gun to show that ‘I'm tough.’ It's safety, it's nothing but safety," Porter said.

And exactly how did carrying a loaded pistol — which his firing into his thigh indicates he obviously didn’t know how to handle — make Burress safe?

It should be noted that Porter is sensitive to the issue of player fines, having been hit in the wallet several times himself, most notably for nearly $150,000 after attacking Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman Levi Jones in a Vegas casino in 2007.

An Indian Obama?

I’m all for ethnic pride. And if Native Americans are proud to claim Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford as one of their own, they could do worse, inspiration-wise.

Bradford is accomplished on the field and off, sporting a 3.95 GPA to go along with 48 touchdown passes. He’s also a class act, as you might suspect from the following quote:

"God has blessed me with a great platform. If I can use that in a positive way and be a role model for younger kids, set a good example for them, I think it's a really good thing."

According to USA Today, Bradford is “four generations from the last full-blooded Native American in his family, and his suburban rearing came with little exposure to American Indian culture,” yet he is a registered Cherokee. As a result, he’s brought excitement and hope to Indian tribes of western Oklahoma specifically and to Native Americans generally.

"It opens everything up for us," said one Native American high-school football player. “Like Obama becoming President."

I don’t think I’d go that far — even understanding the importance of college football in America. Now, maybe if Bradford becomes an NFL star …

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/big12/2008-12-09-bradford-cover_N.htm

The best of the game

Recommended reading: Gene Wojciechowski's ESPN piece headlined "Everything Maddux Wasn't" — which actually tells you everything Greg Maddux was — smart, classy, dignified, talented, a credit to the game of baseball.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3749958&sportCat=mlb

And at his farewell news conference, Maddux was, well, himself.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081208&content_id=3706977&vkey=perspectives&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Collateral damage

Something Plaxico Burress might want to consider — but judging from his history, probably won’t — is the trouble his little gun incident has caused for others.

Let’s see, whom do we have?

There’s his teammate Antonio Pierce (seen above), who could be in legal jeopardy for allegedly taking Quick Draw McGraw’s .40-caliber Glock pistol home.

There’s the entire Giants team, which has to deal with yet another Burress-created distraction, and has to try to get back to the Super Bowl without the services of their most-talented wide receiver.

There’s NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital — which might be in trouble for not reporting a gunshot wound, as required by law — and specifically Dr. Josyann Abisaab, who has been suspended by the hospital. Whoever allowed Burress to register under an assumed name also has some explaining to do.

There’s the NFL, which has been accused by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for not promptly reporting the shooting to the authorities, as well as for failing to make players available for interviews.

All this because of a 31-year-old adolescent who has been coddled for years just because he can catch a freakin’ football.

Is this a great country or what?

Actually, I forgot to mention the NYPD, which has been accused by some of not taking the case as seriously as they might have if the alleged perp wasn’t a hero of Super Bowl XLII.

When Burress was booked Monday, one detective reportedly told him, "You better get back, bro. We need you for the play-offs."

Actually, what we need, detective — and this goes for all of Burress' helpers and enablers — is a little perspective and judgment.

Watch out for those “friends”

I was thinking Thursday afternoon about the Giants’ Antonio Pierce, and how his trying to help his foolish and selfish friend, Plaxico Burress, could land him in a lot of trouble (see above blog item), when news concerning Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree moved on the wire.

Crabtree, a redshirt freshman, already might be the best college football player in the nation and is projected as a likely first-round draft pick on 2011.

That would mean millions of dollars and a dream realized.

Yet there was Crabtree being rousted in the early a.m. Thursday while DEA agents searched his Lubbock apartment for drugs.

Crabtree wasn’t the target — teammate/roommate De'Shon Sanders was — but if Crabtree had been dragged into the probe, he wouldn’t have been the first roommate accidentally netted in a drug bust.

Sanders was cuffed and taken to jail, booked on charges of dealing cocaine.

Crabtree, meanwhile, was left to ponder the importance of choosing one’s friends wisely.

There goes your credibility, counselor

"He is standing tall. He is a mature adult." — Attorney Benjamin Brafman on Plaxico Burress after the Giants' wide receiver was arraigned Monday on two separate counts of a weapons charge

o o o

Please.

I understand that lawyers are paid to lie — wait, did I say lie? I meant, put the best spin on a client and his situation. And as someone who has represented mobsters, Brafman has some practice with this. But calling Burress a mature adult?

By what standard, counselor?

There’s the 40-50 times Burress has been fined by the Giants for a variety of infractions. There’s his multiple suspensions. There’s his attitude about all of the above, which can be summed up in two words: Who cares?

Then there’s the maturity he demonstrated Friday night, not only in shooting himself in the thigh with a gun he had stuck in the waistband of his sweatpants, but afterward at a hospital, where he gave his name as “Harris Smith,” as though the 6-foot, 5-inch athlete with the scraggly beard — a hero of last year’s Super Bowl — could go unrecognized.

Then there was his reaction to his impending arrest — laughter, according to some of his New York teammates.

I think I’d drop the “mature adult” theme, counselor. If Burress is a “mature adult,” then Sammy "the Bull" Gravano — your former client — is Mother Theresa.

This is a first

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think Stephon Marbury has a point.

Granted, Marbury is a me-first greedhead and a locker-room cancer. Granted, it was a joke when the Knicks brought him in years ago and gave him a fat contract. Granted, he’s been overrated on the court and embarrassing off.

But …

When new coach Mike D’Antoni told Marbury to show up in shape and have a good training camp and he’d get a chance to play, Marbury complied.

Only to have D’Antoni stick him on the bench and publicly embarrass him by refusing to play him — even for a minute — when the regular season started. D’Antoni even cursed when Knicks fans called for Marbury at the end of one blowout.

So when a rash of injuries left the Knicks short-handed and suddenly needing Marbury, I don’t blame the guard for saying, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Is Marbury a selfish creep ? Yes. But in their dealings with Marbury this season the Knicks have acted no better than their petulant former star.