As I said on The Low Post yesterday, Plaxico Burress is clearly an idiot. On the other hand, based on the media coverage of this you’d think Plaxico makes Pacman Jones look like Peyton Manning. Just a little over the top.
How many NFL players routinely take guns with them into clubs? Over the course of a year, it’s got to be… hundreds, certainly. Plaxico is just the one who was dumb/unlucky enough to shoot himself. Remember that he’s not being prosecuted for firing the weapon, only for possessing it in violation of NYC registration laws.
To be clear, I’m not defending this guy. He obviously has a track record of ridiculous behavior. If the Giants want a divorce, you can’t fault them. And he’s got to be prosecuted.
But if convicted, Burress could face a sentence of 3 ½ years to 15 years in state prison. Yes, kids, some politicians tried to play tough by tacking a mandatory-minimum sentence on a law. What it really means is there will probably be a plea-bargain down to a lesser charge.
Sudden thought: I wonder if we’d have heard from the NRA on this now if Plaxico, um, better suited their demographic…
IN OTHER NEWS:
Penn State’s Aaron Maybin is one of six finalists for the Ted Hendricks Award, given to the nation’s top defensive end in the opinion of some people. I dunno… Maybin is a spectacular, explosive, athletic player, but he’s pretty much a speed rusher and not much more. The fact that Maybin had to be an every-down player down the stretch at Iowa (due to Josh Gaines’ ankle injury) is one of the many little things that went wrong in that game.
My man ET is passing along a report that JayPa will interview for the head-coaching job at Toledo. The Rockets went 3-9 this year (including, absurdly, a win at Michigan) and nudged eight-year coach Tom Amstutz into the alumni office. Given the resumes and track record of Penn State’s staff, it’s amazing there hasn’t been more of this. Maybe this offseason there will be more of it.
I know why the Phillies didn’t offer Pat Burrell arbitration. Jamie Moyer I don’t get, and the Ruben Amaro, Jr. quotes in this Paul Hagen story don’t clear it up.
Example:
“First, we still have the ability to negotiate with both of them,” Amaro said. “The fact that we didn’t choose to offer them arbitration really doesn’t have much to do with letting them go or not having a relationship with them anymore. We can still bring them back.
“But the problem with offering them arbitration is that, if in fact they were to accept arbitration, we would be locked into a number that would not give us the flexibility that we have to have to do some other things. Plus, it would delay the process of knowing what those numbers actually would be, possibly until February. So for us to be able to do our business and try to improve our club in other ways, it would kind of handcuff us because there would be some uncertainty with what we can do.”
I’m unimpressed with Amaro, but this is not meant to rip him. He is apparently intelligent and is considered a numbers-and-contracts guy. It’s entirely possible I’m missing something. However…
Moyer obviously wants to be a Phillie. He’s his own agent, and he’s unlikely to be bananas in his money demands. Offer him arbitration, and if he accepts you get to keep him, probably at a reasonable number, but only for one year, which seems like a good thing considering he’s 46 years old. And if the arbitrators screw around until February, you can still negotiate with him in the interim. If he goes elsewhere, you get draft picks, which are more valuable than they used to be.
Seems to me this would increase the Phils’ flexibility, not hinder it.
