Hopefully Our Final Post Re Selwyn Lymon

You may recall an unfortunate incident where then-Purdue football players Selwyn Lymon, Jonte Lindsey, Stanford Keglar and Dustin Keller got into a bar brawl with a couple of civilians in 2007. We really weren't sad to see Lymon go.

To close the loop on that story from more than five years ago, while Keglar and Keller settled out of court with the plaintiffs, Lymon and Lindsey did not and found liable for $100,000 and $50,000, respectively, pursuant to default judgements.

The moral of the story, of course, is don't push women while tying to enter a ladies restroom or beat up a guy in a parking lot while you're drunk and parked in a handicapped spot. You know, the basics. 

We're all entitled to our day(s) in court, but neither Lymon nor Lindsey showed up for theirs.

Which makes this story just like their on-field days at Purdue.

The Dismantling of a Legend Rightfully Continues

For about a decade, I can remember Joe Paterno telling the world that if he wasn't coaching football, he'd would literally die.  In fact, he credited the game and his players for keeping him young-acting and alive.  In hindsight, there seems to be a ton of truth to that.

We know a lot about the guy that we didn't years ago.  We know that he struggled privately with various illnesses...most noteworthy, the cancer that took his life shortly after he was fired.  But, the most dangerous illness Paterno probably suffered from was a mental illness that made him believe in a reality that simply didn't exist.

In Joe Paterno's world, football, loyalty, reputation, public perception and graduation rates were more important than laws or even lives.  No one will ever say that it was a bad thing that so many of Paterno's players graduated from college.  In fact, many of his players were given opportunities at lives they would have never had if it wasn't for Paterno's football program. But, there were many parts of his program that were in shambles before most of the world ever knew what The Second Mile even was...or knew of the disgusting underbelly of its founder.

As Paterno aged, he did what a lot of older people do- he began to slow down and care less about the details that once defined him.  In this process, he stopped looking for lawlessness and poor behavior; and worse, he stopped caring about this behavior's repercussions.  It's been pretty well-documented that in the 00s and after, PSU football players were arrested at a much-higher rate than they had been in the previous decades under Paterno's watch.  In spite of that, the head coach didn't see the interest in the change of the program as anything more than a "witch hunt". A few years of rough water and sub-par records later, Paterno's Lions emerged once again as a powerhouse.  And Paterno's national reputation remained mostly-unblemished.

On the field, Paterno was fiery...even when hobbled by injuries or illness. His players reflected that fire with a hard-nosed brand of football that reflected the lunchpail perspective that the simply-dressed coach often exuded.  But, like some other legendary coaches before him that held on a bit too long, discipline and principles were sometimes replaced with outright anger, a bully's mentality and little proof that consequences existed for the actions.  But, in press conferences, Paterno's awe-schucks answers were lauded by the media and Nittany Lion fans alike.

The man could do no wrong...even when he did wrong. If he assailed an official as he ran toward the tunnel, not only would he not get penalized in the second half, ABC would cheer on the effort as spunky and gritty. If he dodged questions in press conferences, we'd hear about how he was a master at handling issues with political savvy and wisdom that young people just don't have.  I'm pretty sure that he didn't think that the final serious issue that he'd ever have to deal with on this earth, was the cover-up surrounding one of his ex-assistants sexual deviancy and mis-conduct.

I'm also sure that he believed, no, knew, that he was above the law.

His grandfatherly public persona was hardly ever broken.  Even after he was fired, his boyish smile and pithy comments to the student body made it seem like the entire Sandusky case was an overblown mis-understanding.  But in spite what some PSU alums and fans try to tell us, there was no misunderstanding here.  JoePa knew exactly what was happening...and intentionally directed people to look the other way and cover-up some of the most-monstrous behavior imaginable.

Outside of cannibalism, is there anything that our society is more disgusted by than adults that make children their sexual prey?  I can only speak for myself and the people I know well...but I don't think anything is lower than this.  It has the power to completely ruin lives- it robs the victim of not only their childhood, but also an adult life of much of the perspective and joy we take for granted.

YET, Paterno, part of Penn State's administration, and much of its athletic department thought it was better to protect one of their own than bring to the light this horrible darkness. This is the worst case of lack of institutional control that the NCAA will ever investigate.  They probably will not give the football program what they deserve later this year...but that in itself is a different conversation and enough material for a month of posts.

Delusional.

PSU fans continue to defend the deceased leader of their football program, but nothing I've read, and no one I've talked to, can convince me that Paterno is any different than a gangster that saw the family as more important than law, decency or those who aren't part of his inner circle.  He abused his bigtime power in a small town to perpetuate a conspiracy that left lives shattered and all but encouraged lawlessness to continue. As recently as last fall, Sandusky was welcomed into Penn State's facilities by Paterno and Co. as a guest of the coach. Now try to relate for a moment. Could you, would you, welcome a child predator into your home time and again if he wasn't repentent? I'd hope not.  Could you, would you,give him the apparatus to continue his abhorrent behavior? Probably not. Could you, would you, instruct others to lie on his behalf in order to protect him? Absolutely not.

The more that's investigated, the more awful this case becomes.  The more digging that occurs, the more we all get to see just how dark things really were.  And while Paterno and his PSU lemmings were never guilty of the repetitive act itself, they were all guilty...and all should pay in some way.  It seems only just that the PSU football empire that Paterno built should be dismantled by the scandal that he covered up for a decade.

Knocking down statues and chipping away at the legacy should be the just the beginning of the destruction of a mythical legend that simply doesn't match the true story. But sadly, by dying, Paterno got off way too easy...and he'll never see the consequences of the fraud that he enabled and perpetuated.

Ray Lewis Remains a Criminal

I normally don't mind Chad Ochocinco being blasted while going over the middle -- he's a weird-o and really, kind of insane I think. But Ray Lewis' hit on him in yesterday's game was atrocious.

Lewis should be suspended, without question, in my opinion. If that's not worthy of a suspension, what is? Are we waiting for someone to be paralyzed or killed? When a guy has already dropped a ball and pulled up and you still dump truck him like that, well, you're a fricking thug. That's classless. And the best part is, you could argue it cost the Ravens the game! A 15-yard personal foul on the game-winning drive? Savvy, veteran leadership, Ray. Go do your little dance. (At the beginning of the clip, you'll see him hamming it up because there's a camera present.)

If you haven't seen it, go to 3:40 into this highlights clip.

Plaxico Burress Weekend Line: One Catch For One Wound

Picture courtesy of the funnymen at Tirico Suave.

So I got called out for in the comments of another post by an old college buddy about how I haven't written about Plaxico's idiotic move over the weekend. We don't normally allow goading like that to dictate what we write, but fine, my resistance is down... like a married, drunk Minnesota fan at the Metrodome.

As you no doubt know, Plaxico Burress went to a club in New York and had a concealed weapon on him -- a fricking felony in New York -- and further demonstrated that he shouldn't be carrying it (as though we needed any evidence of that) by "fumbling" the gun, according to reports, and somehow shooting himself in the leg. (I do love that he "fumbled." Gosh, Plax is usually so sure-handed!)

Now, I guess it makes sense that it went down like this -- Plax is a WR and so it only makes sense that he would "catch" a bullet rather than send one to someone else. (Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week.) But seriously, how idiotic is this?

I don't want to hear about how football players are targets. Several people have brought up Sean Taylor and his tragic death during a home break-in last year. Yes, that was awful. And yes, unsavory characters could very well target other rich athletes. And so, presented with this knowledge, Plaxico chose to carry a loaded, illegal gun in a public place.... instead of:

- Not going to places where he feared being accosted
- Licensing his gun and getting a permit to carry legally
- Hiring bodyguards
- Any other option besides what he ended up choosing to do

And let's dispense with the "fear" issue. This wasn't about him being afraid somebody was going to rob him. He's in a public place with other large football players. And any club like this is going to cater to New York Giants and Plax had nothing to worry about in terms of safety (though, like I said, if he was indeed afraid, maybe it's not the right place to be). No, what this is about is ego. So many rich athletes can't figure out what to do with their money and so, in an attempt to be more "street," they buy guns. Allen Iverson comes to mind... what need did he have with guns? Besides to wave in the face of his girlfriend/wife/whatever?

Plax wanted to feel like a tough guy. And you know he wanted to show off his weapon now and then to impress people. And that's just so very sad. Show them that you're Plaxico Burress, man, and they'll be plenty impressed. And if that's not enough for you, figure something else out.

I've never really liked Burress. He's a malcontent who has, incredibly, NOT ruined the Giants locker room. I imagine this has something to do with the fact that WRs are always moody, distant little bitches. I also give a lot of credit to Tom Coughlin and some of the other players. In the end, Plax always played and seemed to play hard, so whatever BS went on off the field was somewhat forgivable. He didn't ever appear to be lollygagging like, oh, say, Randy Moss did in Oakland.

But when he become such a problem that the team had no choice to suspend him earlier this year, I was more worried and wished there was a way to get rid of him. Yes, he's great to have on the team because he pulls out incredible games now and then and almost always draws the best corners away from guys like Toomer, Smith and Hixon. But I'm fine with the Giants finding a way to get rid of him now. He's one of the only "criminal" types on the team right now and no Giants fan wants to be the Dallas Cowboys.

Thanks for the TD catch to win the Super Bowl, Plax. That was nice. But you made your own bed, completely. Have fun in the clink.