Friday, October 13, 2006

Larry Bird: Clean Up Your Pacer Team

A week after four of his team members were involved in a brawl outside a sleazy strip club, a man driving an SUV belonging to Pacer Jermaine O'Neal was pulled over because the window tinting was too dark and guess what, the guy had marijuana on him. WTHR reports:

Indianapolis - Police impounded a sport utility vehicle that belongs to Pacers star Jermaine O'Neal Friday night.

Investigators say the SUV was pulled over because the window tinting was too dark. When an officer approached the vehicle, he detected a marijuana odor.

Police arrested the driver Mike Williams, who says he borrowed the vehicle from someone who O'Neal loaned it to.

The SUV is registered to Jermaine O'Neal with Oregon plates. O'Neal was traded to the Pacers from Portland.

Eyewitness News' Rich Nye spoke to O'Neal by telephone Friday night. O'Neal says this has nothing to do with him and that he will "take the SUV back and give it to someone who really needs it."

Williams was also operating the vehicle on a suspended license.

The Indiana Pacers have become the disgrace of the NBA. Blame it on the actions of others all you want, but when you surround yourselves with a bunch of drug-using, low-life friends, we can draw our own conclusions of the type of people you are. We expect more from a team Larry Bird runs. Larry, would you please get rid of these thugs on your team and hire some players we can feel proud to support?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Taking the side of Carl Brizzi in his anti-Pacer crusade? Well, it's a popular stance, anyway; even if he is using it to score political points.
Statistics show that at least 5% of Hoosiers use marijuana, and no doubt more than that favor legalization or at least decriminalization of the weed.
If it were a crime to know a user of this stuff, we would all be turning our friends in to the authorities. Everybody has friends that smoke pot--at least occasionally--and especially those who come from less fortunate backgrounds.
Get off of Brizzi's expanding prosecutorial bandwagon and concentrate on laying the blame for this incident where it belongs; on an unstable Steven Jackson full of alcohol.

http://manfredeye.com

Anonymous said...

While I would love to see Reggie "class act" Miller come back, there is no way he would want to associate with that bunch of thugs. Come on Larry - this isn't the ethics you lived and played by.

Anonymous said...

The times and the game/business have changed. If Larry Bird hasany self-respect left he should resign from the team and go on a national public campaign to expose the NBA for what it has become - less about basketball and more about reflecting the sorry state of what is now deemed acceptable lifestyles. I gave up on basketball as a sport years ago but kept the Pacers as a last bastion of what it was and still could be. No more. While JON was not directly involved in this latest incident he has the poor judgement to associate with these idiots.

Anonymous said...

Slow your ride, AI...Jermaine has said he gives away several cars to people who need them. This is one of those cases. The car recipient is a low-life, probably...and some of Jermaine's friends are, well, likely low-lifes, too. I'm personally aware of multiple--make that a dozen or so--local kids he helps out by proviging athletic shoes for basketball teams, uniforms, travel money, etc. He'e trying the best way he knows how.

Manfred--the pot argument doesn't fly. It's illegal. Knowing a bunch of people who use it does not change that fact. It's a freaking gateway drug, and you're impared when you use it. Possession of certain amounts constitutes felonies. Get over it.

I'm a Dem, but Carl Brizzi did what the investigating officers at the scene couldn't quite muster the courage to do. Either that, or their superiors intervened, as has been suggested over at Indyundercover. I almost never find something to praise about Carl. He's a smarmy, self-righteous, pompous ass. But he got this one right. And thanks to some good investigative work, he got it right in about four or five days. Not exactly breakneck speed, but these charges will stick.

The Pacers need an image overhaul. The NBA Players contract does not allow dismissal until charges reach a certain point. It's s due process thing.

I believe if the Michigan judge revokes SJ's probation, and orders him up there to potentially serve some jail time, the Pacers can cut him loose and use his salary against the cap to find other player(s).

And they'd damn well better do it.

And could this be the time for someone, ANYONE, to please explain to me what the value of Jamaael T. EVER was? Run, shoot, don't play D, whine, hurt your ankle, sit.

Damn.

Anonymous said...

How many SUVs with super dark tinted windows and Oregon plates are crusing around Indianapolis? I'm betting not many. That's why I'm comfortable saying that this particular SUV and its driver live in my apartment complex on the far northwest side of Indy. The SUV has not been here since Friday so that supports my theory as well. The driver of the vehicle is a jerk who drives like a maniac, parks like an asshole and thumps bass out of said SUV at insane levels all hours of the day and night.

With the SUV being impounded that frees up at least 2 parking spaces in the lot, makes walking safer for pedestrians and reduces the noise level considerably. Can we pay the cops to keep the car forever? Sadly if Anon 8:54 is right O'Neal will probably just give him another one.

Anonymous said...

How many SUVs with super dark tinted windows and Oregon plates are crusing around Indianapolis? I'm betting not many. That's why I'm comfortable saying that this particular SUV and its driver live in my apartment complex on the far northwest side of Indy. The SUV has not been here since Friday so that supports my theory as well. The driver of the vehicle is a jerk who drives like a maniac, parks like an asshole and thumps bass out of said SUV at insane levels all hours of the day and night.

With the SUV being impounded that frees up at least 2 parking spaces in the lot, makes walking safer for pedestrians and reduces the noise level considerably. Can we pay the cops to keep the car forever? Sadly if Anon 8:54 is right O'Neal will probably just give him another one.