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.