Sports Beat

Sports Beat

By Rich Briggs
The Weekly Recorder
March 28, 2008

*Unfortunately, over the course of the last several weeks (months, actually, going back to January), our Pittsburgh Steelers have been in the news for all of the wrong reasons. First, it was Najeh Davenport and his girlfriend in, of all places, Cleveland and a domestic dispute regarding their child. It continued with Cedrick Wilson in January after an argument with his girlfriend at his home. He left the residence and she held police at bay for roughly 11 hours.

Earlier this month, James Harrison (Team MVP) was involved in a domestic dispute with his girlfriend, again, over a child. Wilson was involved in another incident with his girlfriend, this time at a bar, and was arrested for his actions. All three incidents have become a case of he said, she said. All have involved children at some point. However, of the three, only Wilson was released by the team in what owner and chairman Dan Rooney described as intolerance towards domestic violence and, more specifically, violence towards women. Davenport is scheduled for trial in April.

First, I don’t think anyone, myself included, tolerates any kind of violence against women and children. It is just plain wrong and should never be tolerated. However, Rooney painted himself into a proverbial corner when he released Wilson and kept Harrison (Team MVP and star linebacker versus serviceable wide receiver). He then released a statement that each situation would be handled on a case by case basis. The flame turned into a fire and Rooney struggled to put it out.

I do not know all of the particulars of any of the aforementioned situations, nor do I want to. But, based on what I do know about Wilson and his girlfriend, it appears the two of them deserve each other. It seems both of them have some severe issues they need to work through and that this should be a private matter. Wilson lost his job and will most likely hook up with another team before training camps open in July.

Athletes, and football players, are not perfect. As a matter of fact, most of them will never be confused with being choir boys. They play a violent game and they have a certain mentality to play it. Maybe for some of them, it is hard to separate their public personas with those they display on the playing field. This is not an excuse, this is a fact based on perception. It is a warrior’s mentality.

What attracts these women to these athletes? Is it the money, the fame, the notoriety? That is anyone’s guess. These women need to know what they are getting into when they start to become involved with an athlete, especially one that plays football. They need to be careful. The Steelers now have a proverbial black eye, thanks to these incidents, and they have much to do to exercise some damage control. Most of these players are, by and large, good people. But this also proves that none of them are invincible. They make mistakes. I only hope Rooney and the Steelers organization can survive this latest round of negative news in time before the start of the 2008 season. I also hope these players, and their significant others, receive the help they need to get through these respective situations.

*One of our contributors, Ken Bonnell, made remarks in reference to Terrelle Pryor, the Jeannette High School athletic phenom who was the #1 ranked high school football player in the country by a number of scouting services. Pryor finally made his decision last week that he would be attending Ohio State University after being recruited by the Buckeyes, Michigan, Penn State, and Oregon. While a number of issues, on and off the athletic arena, plagued Pryor, he did not ask for all of this attention. But, with the monster that is high school football in this region, Pryor could not duck the media, no matter how hard he may have tried, due to his athletic gifts and leading the Jayhawks to WPIAL and state titles in football and basketball.

We have to be careful we are not hypocritical when we are discussing this situation. On the one hand, we root for the kid and hope he is successful in his athletic and scholastic endeavors; on the other hand, we chastise him for not making a decision sooner just to satisfy our own curiosity. It was as if his decision was our right to know. He chose not to sign a letter of intent in February because he wanted more time to think about his decision. When a young man is making a choice about where he wants to spend the next four years of his life (hopefully), he should be given the time necessary to make that decision. Even if he had decided on Ohio State two months ago, he wanted to make sure it was the right one. You can’t blame him for that, after all, the kid is only 17/18. He needed to make the right decision for himself and his family. That decision had no bearing on us, other than to satisfy our own needs and to watch him play in the next number of autumns.

A number of media types, Ken included, based on his thoughts last week, felt as if it was about time he made his decision. What business is it of yours? So what if most of us had him penciled in at Ohio State? (Ken said he had Pryor going to the Buckeyes and I had the same feeling for awhile). We support these kids in the athletic arena and give them face time and ink, then blame them for not giving us what we feel we deserve – his decision. These kids are then treated like pieces of meat because of the money generated by the universities during football season. They are nothing more than pawns in a chess game.

Pryor made his decision and now the suspense is over. We can all go back to our daily lives and wish him well as he makes his way from Jeannette to Columbus, Ohio. I wish Terrelle Pryor nothing but the best as he sheds the red and blue and dons the red and gray. I hope he chooses who he associates with very carefully. The name of Maurice Clarett comes to mind. Clarett was the all world freshman running back when Ohio State won the national title in 2002. He fan afoul of the university, and the law, and got himself into some serious trouble. He played, briefly, for the Denver Broncos, who used a third round draft pick on him, and the Broncos quickly cut him in short order. I hope Pryor is better than that and takes advantage of all of the opportunities that await him with Ohio State.

*The Pitt Panthers exited the NCAA basketball tournament in short order over the weekend when they lost to Michigan State in the second round. Unfortunately, this was not surprising. I know I picked Pitt to make it to the Sweet 16 last week, as I was optimistic they could get that far. Their poor shooting and Michigan State’s experience under coach Tom Izzo proved to be too much to overcome.

This program is built to win 20 games a season, make a run at the Big East Conference Tournament championship, and maybe win a couple of games in the NCAA tournament. That’s about it. This team is not built to win a national championship. That is not a crime or an excuse. The types of kids Pitt recruits are from New York City and play a different brand of basketball. This is not a bad thing, just not the type that will make a long run in this tournament. We should be glad they made it this far, with all of the injuries they suffered during the season, and wish them well for next season. It was a great ride in the Big East tournament.

*In case anyone hasn’t noticed, baseball season starts this week upcoming and I have not heard much about the Pirates. Maybe it’s because the Penguins are putting it into overdrive for the stretch run for the playoffs. This might be the best thing for the Pirates, coming off 15 straight losing seasons and in danger of 16. All of the attention will be focused on the Penguins, as they will be strong favorites to win the Stanley Cup. The more attention focused on the Penguins, the better it will be for the Pirates. Hopefully, by the time the Stanley Cup playoffs are over, the Pirates will be fielding a competitive team. I am not counting on it; I hope they prove me wrong.