New 'Shooting' Guard - Gilbert Arenas 00 Agent

The Washington Bullets, errrr, Wizards are the biggest fans of the morning 'Shoot around' of all teams in the NBA. Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton of the Washington Wizards have been implicated in a clubhouse dispute over a gambling debt where the two apparently pulled guns on each other. There was an investigation before this incident that Arenas was housing firearms in his locker at the Verizon Center. If any investigation finds that these allegations are true there is a good chance that they will face a stiff penalty from the league, likely a suspension of at least a few dozen games. The NBA under commissioner David Stern has worked overtime to clean up its image which is that it is more of a thug league and that there are severe character issues among a large number of its members.

Players may contest that they are targets more now then ever and they need these weapons for personal safety. Granted, with there position in society that they are held in a different regard but one must also take into account that if you are putting yourself in a bad position things can go the wrong way in a hurry. You would think the safest place should be the locker room, will all the building security and that security around the locker room that that would be the last place you would need to store your guns.

What makes this story just a little bit more funny is the team that they play for. It has been a while now but this was a team that had the name of the Washington Bullets but the owner thought that it sent a bad message to the league and its fans. Washington, DC has been known to be a violent city and this was a way of trying to distance themselves from rising gun violence. In one "foul" swoop all the good will of becoming the Wizards has just turned them back into the Bullets. Maybe it was throwback night and they got caught up in the festivities.

Arenas has tried to defuse the situation with humour implying it was all in jest and he was just a practical joker and nothing more then a joke went down. The NBA and other officials don’t seem to be buying into that explanation even if it was in jest it is a serious issue and at the very least relay bad PR for a league that is trying to project a positive image for itself.

Plaxico’s Giant Mistake

Does the NFL have a gun problem or do sports in general have a gun problem or again can we just chalk it up to an overall social problem?
Why is it that you hear these stories about NFLers and not so many NBA players or MLB players, is it just the number of people that a team carries or is it more then that?

On Friday night Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants was involved in a club shooting. Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg with his own gun. Luckily he didn’t permanently hurt himself or anyone else but that is besides the point. He still had a loaded, concealed weapon without a permit in a club and no good can come from that. After the Pacman Jones issues in Vegas that left a bouncer paralyzed this issue has gotten a lot more media attention. Granted there is a culture that many people may not understand about where some of these guys come from and "carrying" is common and in some cases a necessity but sometimes common sense must play a roll. Sean Taylor was killed in his home and another NFL player was robbed just outside his house at gunpoint, but that is very different, that is at home. Have a gun to protect your family... many people get that, but maybe not at the club. Why? Maybe you shouldn’t be at the club- No good comes from being out after 12:30am in a club, nothing. Not the last drink, the last conversation, the last woman or the last piece of pizza. Just go home.
Athletes are targets, we all know that, both for the good and the bad and it may be hard to tell if a person want an autograph or your watch and money. But after midnight in a club it is more likely to be the latter. Here is a novel idea, hire an off duty cop or detective to be around you when you go out, maybe not to be an imposing figure but to at least act as a deterrent or someone to de-escalate bad situations.

Plaxico has had a rough year with fines and suspensions from the team but this will no doubt be the last straw. His issues affected mainly just him but this recent issue brought teammates into it, namely Antonio Pierce who was apparently there and may or may not have been involved in some way, possibly involving the gun itself.

It is doubtful that Burress will play for the Giants again with the injury as well as the NFL’s personal conduct policy, not to mention that New York has one of the strongest anti-gun laws he could be in more serious trouble and could get anything from probation to 5 years in jail. This doesn’t look like being a star athlete is going to help get him off the hook this time. Playing football will be the least of his worries for the next while.