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