Thursday, March 15, 2007

Athletes in Legal Hot Water


As the NCAA begins talk of winners and losers, what do you all think of Jamar Smith of the University of Illinois. Jamar allegedly got drunk, got in an accident in which his team mate Brian Carwell was severely injured, and left the scene. Jamar allegedly gets out of the car at his apartment and leaves Carwell in the car (thinking he was dead).

Not sure what you all think, but it sure seems like bad judgment. See the previous comments on why impaired driving must stop!

Speaking of athletes, on the left is Tonya Harding who recently has a run in with law. She claims an adverse reaction to a new medicine caused her recent less then stellar conduct. Is she a potential student Athlete for Illinois or Gonzaga?

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Iron Mike:

Well, if you ask me, Illinois is a bunch of whiners and they deserve what they get. They still cry about some high school basketball player changing his mind. Big deal. If I had to listen to the whining fans and coach, I might be tempted to be sloshed 98% of the time too!

Iron Mike

Anonymous said...

Blonde Bombshell:

Mike, just another example of your insensitive pig mentality. Drunk driving is serious stuff. I think that Illinois team ought to have forfeited the rest of their games and enrolled the whole team and staff in A.A.


Shell

Viper said...

Well, not to change the subject, but Illinois is not the only team with legal problems. Thinking of Anna Nicole Smith reminded me of another school Gonzaga. They have their starting center suspended because of substance abuse.

Ron said...

By Mark Alesia, The Indianapolis Star
INDIANAPOLIS — In the first such act of its ethics committee, the National Association of Basketball Coaches reprimanded new Indiana University coach Kelvin Sampson for NCAA violations while coach at Oklahoma.
For three years, Sampson will not receive Final Four ticket privileges or consideration for district or national coach-of-the-year honors. He also cannot serve on NABC committees.

The renewed publicity, however, is probably the worst part for Sampson, coming as attention to his NCAA violations at Oklahoma was subsiding.

The violations involved more than 500 impermissible phone calls to recruits by Sampson and his staff from 2000-04. In May, the NCAA banned Sampson from off-campus recruiting and from placing recruiting phone calls for one year.

Reggie Minton, deputy executive director of the NABC and chair of the ethics committee, said the group does not think NCAA sanctions are sufficient.

"You're talking about piling on?" Minton said. "What coaches are saying is that we're going to be held accountable among our peers. This is part of being accountable to one another."

The ethics committee was created in a highly publicized meeting of about 300 coaches in Oct. 2003 to discuss a spate of scandals in the sport. Sampson was the NABC's president at the time.

"When any of us know that there has been a serious rule violation, our members will no longer remain silent," Sampson told reporters after the summit. "We are going to police ourselves, and we are going to hold each other accountable to protect the integrity of our game."

Minton said the ethics committee does not conduct investigations and makes its decisions based on NCAA findings of major violations.

Sampson could have appeared before the committee in person but he chose to send a letter. He also had phone conversations with Minton, who declined to characterize the coach's reaction.

Minton said other coaches have been in trouble since the committee was formed but they were either appealing or out of basketball.

In a statement released by the school, Sampson said, "I have learned an invaluable lesson, and I hope that this reinforces to other coaches the importance of every aspect of NCAA compliance. I have tremendous respect and appreciation for the NABC, and I look forward to moving on to a great future here at Indiana."

Viper said...

Hey Ron, you missed the mark. This is about crimes not ethics. If we want to talk ethics, Illinois has had a long line of cheaters... Harv Schmidtt, Lou Henson, Mike White... Now here is another athlete in trouble with the law:

‘Tank’ gets jail time

By Courtney Flynn
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 15, 2007, 5:08 PM CDT

Bears defensive lineman Terry "Tank" Johnson was sentenced to nearly 4 months in the Cook County Jail this afternoon for violating his probation on a 2005 weapons conviction.

In addition to the 120-day sentence, Cook County Criminal Court Judge John Moran also sentenced Johnson, 25, to 84 days of home confinement, in which he received credit for time served while on house arrest since the latest weapons charges were lodged against him last December. The Bears player, who initially faced a maximum of 1 year in jail, was also fined $2,500.

Anonymous said...

Iron Mike:

Hey Ronald, don't tell me let me guess. You are one of the whiney Illinois fans that are pouting over losing your Indian. Well if Indiana wants an Indian for a coach in Sampson, why do you care. Not like Sampson violated Parol like Tank Johnson.

Iron Mike

Ron said...

IU in NCAAs, two and out. UofI was one and out. But both are out. See you next season.

Anonymous said...

Iron Mike:

I could give a hoot about Iu or U of I, Ronald. I am a Pitt grad. Now there is a school that can play both Basketball and Football without tripping on its member everytime the coach opens its mouth.

Legal Pub said...

Joey Porter was issued a summons on a misdemeanor battery charge after the Sunday altercation that began inside the Palms hotel-casino, Las Vegas police Officer Martin Wright said.
"They went outside. In the valet area, one struck the other, causing a small laceration above the eye," Wright said Monday, calling the injury minor.

Porter could face up to a year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine, Wright said, but no court date was immediately available.

Joey Porter, 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, left the Pittsburgh Steelers after eight years and signed a five-year, $32 million deal with the Dolphins earlier this month. Levi Jones, 6-5 and 307 pounds, missed much of last season with a knee injury

Anonymous said...

Blonde Bombshell:

So now you got two athletes getting into a little fight. Big deal. Based on your past stories, that's not news unless they were fighting over Paris Hilton or Anna Nicole's remains...

Shell

Ron said...

Help! This kid needs an attorney, and fast.

Indiana 8th-Grader Faces Expulsion for Putting Urine in Teacher's Coffee Pot
Tuesday , March 20, 2007
MUNCIE, Ind. —

An eighth-grader faces expulsion after admitting he put urine in a teacher's coffee pot, officials said.

The Wilson Middle School teacher noticed that the coffee had an unusual odor Friday and reported it to the principal, Muncie Community Schools officials said. A student who overheard classmates discussing it also reported the incident to officials.

Urine was found in the locker of the eighth-grade boy, who admitted to putting some in the coffee, authorities said.

The eighth-grader has been suspended pending a recommendation for expulsion, said Assistant Superintendent Steve Edwards.

"This type of student behavior will not be tolerated," Wilson principal DiLynn Phelps and Superintendent Marlin B. Creasy wrote in a letter to parents. "No student will be permitted to deliberately attempt to cause bodily harm to any other student, teacher or staff member."

Ron said...

Rowers in trouble too, need legal help now!

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian border guards arrested Belarus's national rowing team Tuesday for illegally entering the country on a flotilla of eight boats.

The border guard service said a coast guard vessel was dispatched to intercept and detain 10 rowers who had crossed into Ukrainian waters on the border with Transdniestria, a region of ex-Soviet Moldova controlled by separatists.

Team members told officials they were unaware they had crossed the border in the southern Ukrainian region. They now face charges in court.

News reports said the Belarussians had been invited to train for the world championship in Transdniestria as reservoirs in their ex-Soviet state, further north, were still covered in ice.


© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.

Legal Pub said...

Ron, thanks for your contribution. More fine examples of athletes run a muck.

Legal Pub said...

Illinois won't discipline AD for courtside outbursts.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — The University of Illinois will not discipline Athletic Director Ron Guenther for yelling at men's basketball coach Bruce Weber and Illini players during the team's NCAA tournament loss last Friday, officials said.
Guenther yelled substitution advice to Weber — who was just a few feet away — and at one point called Illini forward Warren Carter an idiot, according to a columnist for CBS Sportsline.com, who sat two seats from Guenther on press row during Illinois' 54-52 loss to Virginia Tech.

The columnist wrote that Guenther also pounded the table throughout the game in Columbus, Ohio, during which the Illini blew a 13-point second-half lead.

Richard Herman, chancellor at the Urbana-Champaign campus, said Wednesday that Guenther — in his 15th year as AD at Illinois — would not be disciplined. He said Guenther had apologized to Weber and Carter.

The outbursts happened because Guenther is a fan, Herman said.

"If you've been with director Guenther at a game, you know his intensity when he watches a game," Herman said.

But he added, "He's always the athletic director and the remark was inappropriate."

Herman said he'd heard from only two Illinois graduates demanding action against Guenther.

Guenther did not return calls from The Associated Press on Wednesday

Viper said...

Police Say Cricket Coach Was Murdered: Woolmer Was Strangled After Pakistan Loss
By HOWARD CAMPBELL
AP Sports
KINGSTON, Jamaica (March 23) - Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer was strangled in his hotel room after the team's shocking World Cup loss to Ireland and police are investigating it as murder.

Anonymous said...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Two Michigan football players have been arraigned on assault charges after police say they attacked a fellow student in a residence hall on St. Patrick's Day.

Carson Butler, 19, of Detroit, and Christian Richards III, 19, of Pacoima, Calif., are charged with one count each of aggravated assault, and assault and battery, said campus police spokeswoman Diane Brown.
The aggravated assault charge is a one-year misdemeanor, while the assault and battery charge is a 93-day misdemeanor.
The players, both sophomores, were arraigned Wednesday in Washtenaw District Court and released on $5,000 personal bonds pending a March 27 pretrial hearing, Brown said.

Michigan Hater

Anonymous said...

Iron Mike:

So add Michigan to the growing list of institutions that employ criminals in their athletic department.

Iron Mike

Viper said...

The trend is becoming alarming. I suppose athletes ought to be mentally tested before offering them a scholarship.

Anonymous said...

Looks like a scholarship athlete for Northwestern or Notre Dame.

J. D. Mills

Anonymous said...

Iron Mike:

Uh, more likely someone who went to Purdue or Penn State......

Iron Mike

Anonymous said...

Blonde Bombshell:

Well, if you ask me Tonya Harding originally had it right. If your an athlete who is a thug, use the direct approach and use a club. Even if you don't break a leg, you are bound to be noticed!

Shell

Legal Pub said...

Shell your insight is invaluable. I am really surprised Illinois Basketball fans did not post in support of Jamar Smith. I know Ron who posts on here has a blog on the subject.

Anonymous said...

Illinois may have whiners but they have a decent football and basketball team this year!