Tampa Bay Sports Blog

The NBA took a hard line approach to the Gilbert Arenas saga, which continues to get uglier each day as it continues to unfold, by suspending the former All-Star indefinitely.

In my humble opinion, this action is clearly the right call, and is actually overdue. If the NBA would have reacted more swiftly they could have avoided further damage to it’s already tarnished image. Instead, they allowed Aren-ASS to continue playing even after he admitted to bringing guns into the Wizard’s locker room. And what does Aren-ASS do? He continues to make light of a very serious situation via his Twitter account(which much like facebook and all other social networking sites is proving to be the demise of many) and had the audacity to point his index fingers as if they were guns while surrounded by his teammates in pre-game introductions in his last game against Philadelphia.

These antics most certainly drew the ire of NBA Commissioner David Stern, who ultimately handed down the suspension.

It’s poetic justice that the NBA  was seemingly punished as well for allowing Aren-ASS  to play and giving him the public forum to continue to act like the “Class Clown”. Can’t help but think of the old cliche “some people just never learn” after witnessing Aren-ASS’s cavalier attitude toward his indiscretion even after having talked to local and federal law enforcement.

The way this incident is handled by all parties involved has far reaching implications well beyond the NBA. As we witnessed with the Plaxico Burress fiasco, which lead to a two year prison stretch, athletes and everyone in society as a whole need to be held accountable for their actions. Otherwise, what kind of message are we sending to kids out there who watch these highly paid athletes and celebrities who continuously skirt the law and are allowed to walk away unscathed?

Throughout his entire career Aren-ASS has always been his own worse enemy and now he is paying a hefty price for his tomfoolery. It is going to cost Aren-ASS around $150,000 for each game he is suspended. Wouldn’t he have been better off just paying his original gambling debt in the first place? I can see it now; a league wide ban on card games during team flights.

I have a message for any other professional athletes out there who may own a firearm. GET RID OF IT NOW!

Athletes are paid quite handsomely for their talents and if needed can certainly afford to hire licensed security if they feel threatened.

In the last few years, there have been several tragedies in the sports world related to gun violence such as Steve McNair, Plaxico Burress, Richard Collier and Shawn Taylor just to name a few. In the NBA alone there were several mishaps involving illegal possession of a firearm. The list of culprits included Sebastian Telfair, Stephen Jackson, Delonte West and now Gilbert Aren-ASS for the second time has a gun related issue.

Let’s not forget former NBA standout Jayson Williams, recently in the news for a DUI, who shot and killed his limo driver while supposedly joking around showing off his shotgun, then attempted to cover up the whole incident.

What’s alarming is that most professional athletes come from disenfranchised neighborhoods where the evidence of gun violence is so prevalent. You would think they would be grateful to no  longer be subjected to that type of environment instead of trying to perpetuate the lifestyle so many can’t seem to leave behind. There is no excuse for bringing a gun to any workplace, much less an NBA locker room, where safety concerns are clearly not an issue.

If Aren-ASS lived in the real world he would be out of a job already and most likely charged with some sort of criminal conduct. Instead, his punishment was meted out by the NBA first, and he is still awaiting further possible action by law enforcement.

I’m shocked that the Washington Wizards didn’t take a stand initially, especially, since their recently deceased owner Abe Pollin was a staunch supporter of anti-gun legislation.

The simple fact is that most of these athletes that we watch and admire, are simply brazen enough to feel they are above the law and oblivious to public scrutiny. I hate to beat a dead horse by saying that this may somehow provide an impetus for people to change their behavior and learn from mistakes made by others.

Unfortunately, this will probably prove to be just another story to fuel the gossip columns until the next scandal breaks.So until then…… Stay Tuned!

Technorati Tags: Abe Pollin, David Stern, Delonte West, Gilbert Arenas, Gun Violence, Illegal Firearm, Law Enforcement, NBA, Sebastian Telfair, Shawn Taylor, Stephen Jackson, Steve McNair, Washington Wizards

The Magic invited the Wizards into Orlando last night for what has become common occurrence, a loss. Granted these are the Gilbert Arenas-less Wizards, but they are an NBA team none the less. Caron Butler went off for 29 points but got little help as the Magic’s balanced scoring and good defense carried them throughout. Hedo looks to be shaking off the hideous slump he’s been in the last couple games as he scored 22 on 6 of 12 shooting to lead the Magic to the 89-80 win.

Dwight Howard chipped in his usual double double with 15/16 and the good offensive numbers pretty much end there. Lewis and Nelson had 26 combined on 9 of 29 combined shooting, though they hit 4 of 10 from down town. It looks like they may be headed toward a little slump themselves but I actually would like to see that. I personally would like to see the slumps go up and down until the end of the season and have everyone get hot for the playoff run, but maybe I’m being too optimistic. My favorite thing about tonight’s game was that Courtney Lee got the start. I’m developing an Evan Longoria like man-crush on this guy and really want to see him getting more action. He’s lightning quick and very aggressive on both ends of the floor. He really plays the type of ball that need more of here and he could definitely be the guy to compliment Turk in driving the lane and drawing some fouls while Nelson and Lewis drop bombs from the outside.

This was a nice warmup game for the Magic as they head to Atlanta to take on the Hawks, who are only 4 games behind the Magic and hold the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta seems to be the team everyone forgets about when they’re talking about the Eastern Conference, but these guys are tough and they always give us a tough game, so the Magic better be ready.

Technorati Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Caron Butler, Courtney Lee, Dwight Howard, Evan Longoria, Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis, Washington Wizards

   The Magic have played four games since my last post and had put on a good showing in all but last night’s big one against the Celtics. Now I’m not going to pick on them for losing an away game, in Boston, while down three major contributors in Mickael Pietrus, Keith Bogans and Jameer Nelson. Pietrus hurt himself in the Philly game and is going to miss at least three weeks with a torn ligament in his right thumb. The Magic have been getting hit hard with injuries and Pietrus is just the latest victim to be sidelined. Orlando had two very good showings on national TV last week against Philly and Washington on the road. The Philly game was the tough one as Rashard Lewis stepped up and hit a big three in the final 5 seconds to give the Magic the win. Lewis has definitely stepped up big lately and may finally be developing into the offensive force the Magic hoped they were getting when they first acquired him. I get on Lewis a lot and it’s playing like he has been that’s going to shut all of us up that pick on him. We all know he’s talented enough to play this way and have been waiting for him to show it consistently. In the other national game the Magic beat up on the hapless Wizards 105-90 who still look awful without Gilbert Arenas. Pietrus scored 17 points in the Washington game while trying to play through his injury, but in the end it was too much. Howard has been consistent and is doing a better job of staying out of foul trouble. Turk is still driving the lane and doing a good job of drawing fouls, though his shots aren’t falling the way we expect. The Indiana game was an awesome display of what this team is capable of. Howard dominated inside with 32/21 and Lewis and Turk dropped bombs from the three point line going 8 of 15 combined. It was a beautiful thing to watch but the Boston game showed once again that the Magic need more to compete with the elite in the Eastern Conference. If the Magic are going to get by Boston they are going to need a complete lineup that includes Pietrus, Nelson and Bogans. This holds true for Detroit as well and we may get to see most of tat lineup by the time the Magic get to Detroit at the end of the month. The Magic big three of Howard, Turk and Lewis should be enough to carry them to that point, but they are going to need more to break the Piston’s hold over them. The Detroit team they will face is not as good without Billups and Iverson seems to be doing more harm than good since his arrival, but it’s more a mental thing with that match up and the Magic need to break through that before they head into the playoffs. I’m calling the Celtics game a wash and looking forward to getting a healthy Magic team on the floor before I pass judgement on them. They should be able to handle the T-Wolves tomorrow night and I’d personally llike to see a lot of Courtney Lee and JJ Reddick in that one. It would be nice to see them take advantage of the injuries and get these guys more time on the floor as it would improve the bench dramatically when the team is healthy.

Technorati Tags: Allen Iverson, Boston Celtics, Chauncey Billups, Courtney Lee, Detroit Pistons, Dwight Howard, Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu, Indiana Pacers, Jameer Nelson, JJ Reddick, Keith Bogans, Mickael Pietrus, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Rashard Lewis, Washington Wizards

Technorati Tags: Courtney Lee, Dwight Howard, Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu, JJ Reddick, Keith Bogans, Mickael Pietrus, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis, Washington Wizards