We’re not particularly optimistic

So.

According to Rick Pitino, his former college coach, Antoine Walker is “eyeing an NBA comeback.”

Well, as Walker has agreed to pay a trio of Vegas casinos $900,000 to settle three bad-check charges, it’s clear he needs the money. So he’s got motivation.

On the other hand, Walker was a little chubby even in his All-Star days and was never known for his work ethic. Now at age 33, two years after retirement, he’s going whip himself into NBA shape? This is someone who made some $110 million from NBA contracts alone and now is in debt. So I’m guessing “self-discipline” isn’t his middle name.

Here’s a prediction: The “comeback” goes nowhere.

Friday column: Is jolt of reality a bad thing?

Hey, all you fans who think the game is about you. This week, a Philly police officer offered a reminder that it’s not.

The reminder — 50,000 volts worth — began a debate not on what should be done to keep the fannies of narcissistic ticket holders in their seats but on whether the Tasering of a 17-year-old was excessive force.

Among those answering in the affirmative was Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who called the action “a big mistake.”

“There’s no need to use Tasers on fans who run on the field,” Rendell said. “We should just have enough personnel out there to surround them, take them off the field and put them in jail.”

Backing Rendell was Mary Catherine Roper, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in Philadelphia, who said she didn’t understand why the officer had to use a Taser.

“How long can he really run around out there?” Roper said of the fan. “In this situation, he’s not dangerous, he’s not getting away.”

Well, in this situation, as it turns out, Roper would be right. Steve Consalvi wasn’t a danger, as it turns out. Did the officer know that for a fact when he launched his dart at the fleeing teen? He did not.

Same goes for the security at the Monica Seles-Magdalena Maleeva tennis match in 1993, which didn’t know whether Günter Parche was dangerous when he ran onto the court in Hamburg, Germany.

Same goes for the security at the Kansas City-Chicago baseball game at Comiskey Park in 2002, which didn’t know whether William Ligue Jr. and his 15-year-old son were dangerous when they jumped onto the field and moved toward Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa.

Turns out they were.

Gamboa was beaten up.

Seles was stabbed with a 9-inch blade. She could have been killed; as it was, her life and career were forever altered.

The people most affected when someone decides he needs “a once in a lifetime experience,” in Consalvi’s words, are the players, and if comments I’ve seen the last few days are any indication, athletes and coaches are not particularly sympathetic to Rendell and Roper’s view.

Said Seattle Mariners pitcher Cliff Lee: “You never know what their intentions are. They have probably been drinking, or maybe have taken drugs. You don’t know what they are going to do.”

Said Cardinals manager Tony La Russa: “If somebody comes up there and does some damage, they’re going to be second-guessing not doing anything. I just think it’s acceptable, because it’s a good deterrent.”

The Phillies have decided to handle such cases sans cop, unless one is suddenly deemed necessary. Of course, by the time one is deemed necessary, it might be too late. As long as proper guidelines are established and followed, why not keep the cop and his Taser in place?

Whose protection are we most concerned with here — the people who don’t belong on the field or the people who do?

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.

Roethlisberger suspension, first take

Recommended reading: Stephen A. Smith’s piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Roger Goodell’s suspension of Ben Roethlisberger.

If anyone’s questioning the justice of Goodell’s hammering — considering the lack of criminal charges against the quarterback — Smith provides you with answers.

Writes Smith, in part:

What Goodell did was remind professional athletes of what everyone from Pop Warner coaches to college coaches evidently haven't done a good enough job of teaching: that eventually, come hell or high water, you will answer to someone. None of us are immune. We are all accountable to someone.

To which I say, "Amen.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/stephen_a_smith/20100422_Stephen_A__Smith__Goodell_s_call_was_just_and_needed.html

Roethlisberger suspension, second take

As should be obvious by today’s column, I like Myron Rolle. I like that a football player sees there's more to life than the game.

Rolle may not be a brain surgeon — though he’s hoping to become one — but he is a Rhodes Scholar — so let’s let the NFL rookie wannabe have his say on the suspension of Ben Roethlisberger:

“I think it's awesome,” Rolle told an interviewer "(NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is) showing his stance on character issues by the suspension and by his positioning with a lot of players."

“I'm happy to see a league that values good men,” Rolle said.

Have I mentioned I like this kid?

Your job? 'Protecting' this

A friend of the coed who claims Ben Roethlisberger assaulted her in a dingy, nightclub bathroom told police she went up to one of the two bodyguards outside the room and told him, "This isn't right. My friend is back there with Ben. She needs to come back right now."

The coed’s friend said the bodyguard — now identified as Ed Joyner, a Pennsylvania state trooper — said he didn’t know what she was talking about. The friend also said the bodyguard wouldn’t look her in the eye.

I can't imagine why.

What a concept

From an Associated Press story:

USA Swimming is taking steps to protect its more than 300,000 members after being rocked by numerous allegations of sexual abuse by coaches.

 The sport's national governing body announced Wednesday a "seven-point action plan." The measures were outlined in an open letter from president Jim Wood and executive director Chuck Wielgus.

 In the letter, Wielgus says USA Swimming has "a responsibility to help create a safe and positive environment for children and young adults who are our members."

 The organization will, among other things, come up with a code of conduct for coaches and improve the system for reporting alleged abuse.



A code of conduct for coaches and a way to reporting abuse.

What will they think of next?

Friday column: Messed-up priorities abound

Lorena Ochoa always seemed to have a proper perspective.

Yes, she was probably a little too polite and treated people too well to be a true competitor, but look what she did on the golf course:

Thirty titles in eight years, 27 of them on the LPGA tour. For three years running, she’s been the world’s top female player and its biggest draw, and, at 28, would seem to be poised to dominate the game for many more years.

If it weren’t for this procreation thing.

Reportedly, the recently married Mexican star wants to start a family and so today is scheduled to announce her retirement. Ochoa apparently thinks that bringing new human beings into the world and rearing them more important than winning golf tournaments.

People can be so disappointing.

Myron Rolle, for instance.

At Florida State, Rolle was on his way to becoming a first- or second-round pick in the National Football League when he made a bad decision.

I know what you’re thinking: Bad decision? I’ve heard that phrase before. What did he do? Get busted for drugs? Knock over a liquor store. Grope the dean’s daughter?

No, it’s much worse than that.

He applied to become a Rhodes Scholar — and won. Worse still, he actually went to Oxford University and studied medical anthropology — yes, you heard me — and in doing so lost an entire year of football. Can you believe it?

Now, back on the right side of “the pond,” the safety is trying to convince the NFL — the enterprise that drafted the likes of Ben Roethlisberger, Pacman Jones and Plaxico Burress — that he’s not too intelligent to play professional football.

Considering his stated desire to be a neurosurgeon, I have four words for Mr. Rolle: Good luck with that.

And good luck to Grant Desme, baseball’s poster boy for skewed priorities.

Last year in the minors, the former Oakland Athletics prospect hit .288 with 31 home runs, 89 RBIs and 40 stolen bases in just 131 games. He also performed well enough in the Arizona Fall League to be named its Most Valuable Player.

Gushed Keith Lieppman, A’s director of player development, “He looks like the complete package.”

Then — are you sitting down? — Desme decided he wanted to become a priest. This summer, instead of patrolling the outfield in a beautiful park somewhere, he’ll be cooped up in a stuffy seminary, studying (shudder) theology.

“I love the game, but I aspire to higher things,” Desme said.

If Desme had done well this spring, he could have been called up to the major leagues — the bigs, The Show. Higher things? What in the world is he talking about?

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.