We missed this a few days ago: former
Maryland basketball player Travis Garrison got probation for judgment on an
assault charge and pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree sex offense. He
pleaded guilty to both, but the judge changed the plea and gave him the usual
community service, probation, and an order to speak about bad behavior by
athletes.
You may remember that he kept grabbing a woman's butt at the Cornerstone
Grill and Loft. He also slapped her.
So for Maryland's senior class:
- Chris McCray: flunked out his last semester
- John Gilchrist: became a cancer on the team, left after sophomore year.
- Nic Caner-Medley: was arrested as a junior, drunk and belligerent,
shouting "I'm from Maryland and I can't be beat!" - And Travis Garrison.
As is the case in Durham, Garrison's arrest underscores the serious problems
which can come up at the intersection of athletes and alcohol. There's no
real answer to this at this point. You can't ban alcohol in this society,
and college athletics is a deeply ingrained, if deeply flawed, way of
life.
And of course it's not just athletes. Duke
is going to take a closer look at Krzyzewskiville and the drinking which
occurs there as well.
It would be interesting to see just how many arrests of college athletes didn't
involve alcohol. When you think back on some of the really dumb stuff over
the years - Chris Washburn stealing a stereo and leaving the footprint of a 6-11
man, the FSU player who took a dump in someone's closet, the football player -
was it Kansas? - who ripped out a drivethrough window, the Cincy guy smacking a
horse, Matt Wenstrom fleeing the police on foot in Chapel Hill (another 6-11
genius on the run), to Colin Finnerty's gay-baiting comments in D.C. - how many
of them would have done these stupid things had they not been
drunk?
There's an interesting study for someone to do. But here's a quick scan
of current athletic busts!
- Cal QB Steve Levy - arrested for a bar fight and hitting someone with a
pint glass. - Wisconsin hockey player Jeff Likens, for disorderly conduct and underage
drinking. - Former sprinter Jarrish Outlaw, sentenced to 60 years, after running down
a motorcyclist with whom he was having an argument. Drunk at the time. - Melvin Alaeze, a football recruit at Maryland, lost his scholarship after
marijuana problems. - Eddie Griffin and his bizarre arrest recently.
- J.J. Redick's DWI.