Uhh, help please!?!?!

1) Maybe he should’ve been a Pirate?

23 year old Mike Leake, a starting pitcher for the Cincinnati Red’s and former University of Arizona State player, was caught shoplifting on Monday. Leake was caught “red handed” (had to do it) at a downtown Cincinnati department store stealing 6 shirts. The total price of his booty was a whopping $59.88. If you’re curious as to how much this professional baseball player will make this year, it’s $425,000. Something is not adding up with him???

Just to clarify, Leake, the 8^th pick of the 2009 MLB draft, is a young and talented pitcher for the Red’s; their 5^th starter. Obviously he needs personal help if he’s willing to throw his career away by removing tags off of shirts to save $59.88 and possibly pass up on millions. I hope he can get whatever problem(s) he may have straightened out.

Quick note, Leake is only one of 21 players since 1965 to go straight from MLB’s draft to the pros. That’s saying a lot about his talent!

2) Benefits that UGA didn’t mean to give… this time!

The University of Georgia (at Athens) football locker room bandits have been found. I’m not going to trash these kids in my blog nor name them, as I don’t see any reason to do so. But, come on? Three seniors to be were taking an unofficial visit to UGA earlier this month. All three snagged goodies before leaving, goodies belonging to their potential teammates and current UGA football players. Their loot included iPods, iPhones, etc… The total damage was around $2,000. One of the kids caught is considered a top recruit and listed as part of Georgia’s top 10 high school players for next season.

Just to clarify, I don’t understand why one would throw away a chance to attend a great school, for free, earn a college education, and have your physical talent developed so you can potentially become a millionaire over a $200 iPod or iPhone? I understand this recruit’s family may not have the money to buy him these items, but he may have just cost himself and his family more than he will ever know. For their sake, I hope not.

3) Will Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson show up for this? This time they should!

Back in 2006 race tensions grew across the country over an alleged rape case in Durham, North Carolina. Many of you may remember that stripper Crystal Magnum, now 32, falsely accused 3 men’s Duke Lacrosse players of rape after one of their parties. Her accusations divided the country racially in ways the U.S. had not seen in years since, perhaps, the O.J. Simpson case in the mid ‘90’s.

Just a reminder of the fallout from her accusations: 1) the Duke Lacrosse team immediately cancelled the rest of their season; they had a really good team that year 2) the Duke Lacrosse coach was fired because of lack of control over his players 3) in a disgusting play for national attention Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson rallied around “this poor girl” and promised they would financially support her and her legal fees through this situation against the white Lacrosse players 4) another headline grabber, then District Attorney Mike Nifong (looking to up his political status), rushed to accuse these 3 players before gathering all of the facts; he eventually would be disbarred over his handling of this case 5) the 3 players accused will always have their reputation and status in their respective communities questioned and 5) the most important fallout, the unnecessary racial tension that was placed back into our society. All for not!

Crystal has made another legal appearance, perhaps putting her behind bars for good. She has been arrested on a charge of 1^st degree murder and 2 counts of larceny for stabbing her 46 year old boyfriend and killing him. Just a year ago she made headlines for catching her house on fire, with her 3 kids inside, while burning a different boyfriend’s clothes in a jealous rage. Her rage in that incident included her threatening to stab and kill her boyfriend at that time.

Seems like Crystal’s current situation was inevitable but maybe it could have been stopped somehow? Not only has she ruined her life, but she has ruined the lives of the many people that have crossed her path; I’ve just mentioned the lives I know about. Perhaps Sharpton and Jackson should’ve tried to help her a little bit more; even without all of the headlines they may have received for doing so. Situations like this sicken me when our “leaders” rush to the aid of the “down trodden” but leave as soon as the media crews are gone. This girl needed help. What will become of her three children now that she’s in jail?

Just to clarify, I understand that each of the mentioned individuals in the above stories made mistakes, mistakes on different levels of severities. These mistakes will unfortunately shape the rest of their lives. What help will they receive?