* It happens all too often these days. An athlete of some promise or prominence makes the police blotter. The University of Florida football team has seen its share. Now add the name of J.C. Jackson, a redshirt freshman cornerback and projected starter for the Gators next season. He’s now out on bail after being accused of armed robbery.
But the response of Gators’ new head coach Jim McElwain was, well, odd. “…We don’t condone any of his actions,” said McElwain, “and it is not something that reflects on the expectations we have in our program.”
Yo, Coach, get some better spin staff to help you. There should be no need to underscore that ARMED ROBBERY is not something that the UF program would CONDONE. Nor that ARMED ROBBERY doesn’t reflect your program’s EXPECTATIONS. It sure in hell better not.
Upon further reflection, how about this: “First of all he stands accused. I want to know more–and I will know more really, really soon. But if this is true, then J.C. Jackson is gone guy. There are no second chances after ARMED ROBBERY. None. At least not in my program. And thanks again, Coach Muschamp, for the recruiting coup.”
* Not a good sign that the Rays, after a successful road trip to Miami and Toronto, returned home and drew less than 16,000 to a Friday night game with the Yankees.
* We hear how tough it was for Rays manager Kevin Cash to break the news to veteran pitcher Grant Balfour that he was being let go. And that Balfour, 37, handled the news professionally. Well, the overpaid, under-performing Balfour should have. He now walks away from the Rays with $12 million of their money. However professional his demeanor, Balfour’s not giving any of it back to a franchise that can ill afford this sort of payroll debacle.
And, BTW, this one’s also on Andrew Friedman, the former general manager who was hired in the off-season by the uber deep-pocketed Los Angeles Dodgers. He brought in Balfour before last season after the Baltimore Orioles, who had signed him previously, got out of the contract after Balfour had failed a physical. That was a sign to all but the Rays that he might be damaged goods by this time in his career. He was.
Some franchises, including the Dodgers (with a $270 million payroll), can write it off as the cost of doing business and then keep spending. The Rays can’t.
* College basketball’s “one-and-done” syndrome is hardly confined to John Calipari’s Kentucky 13th graders. Three underclass members of Duke’s national champions, for example, will forgo further eligibility and head to the NBA. Plus, numerous players from elsewhere around the country are leaving early.
The reasons are two-fold.
First, the NBA stipulates that player eligibility can kick in a year after high school. The better ones, often nominal “student athletes,” can punch their ticket early–frequently after less than two semesters.
Second, it’s obvious that teens with barely a year of college experience can compete right away. And that, frankly, says more about the NBA talent pool that it does about the skills of many “one-and-dones,” most of whom are not the second coming of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.