Frequent contributor Magicdog nominated Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa for allowing boxer Floyd "Money" Mayweather, Jr. to postpone his jail sentence for domestic violence until June, all so he could train for a fight in May that would bring beaucoup bucks to businesses in Vegas.
In reviewing the case, I find that Judge Saragosa isn't worthy of weasel ears, but Mayweather is. Mayweather is putting his career ahead of taking responsibility for his actions, another case of a celebrity being allowed to pick & choose when to serve out his punishment. Would we have this discussion if Mayweather had taken things too far, and committed murder? No, I don't think so. Judge Saragosa admitted to being convinced by Mayweather's lawyer that the financial rewards for the fight outweigh the consequences of Mayweather's actions. No, they don't. If anything, Saragosa is more worthy of a dunce cap for allowing this to happen.
Closer to home, we also hand out weasel ears to a high school hoopster named Daquan Johnson, who transferred from Albany (NY) High to a private academy in Louisiana. It seems that at Albany, Johnson was in a program that wouldn't have allowed him to advance to college, and to do so, he'd have required a General Equivalency Diploma (GED). His mother filed dismissal papers on Monday, but by then, Johnson had already played three games for his new school, according to an account in today's Albany Times-Union. Aren't there rules in place to prevent that sort of thing? If the mother, Theresa Dean, is only just filing dismissal papers after her son has played for his new team before taking a class, aren't there eligibility rules being violated in Louisiana? It's one thing to worry about your child's education if it isn't adequate enough to suit, but when he's a couple thousand miles away and already playing, doesn't it make it that much more obvious that the education is secondary to the prospect of an NBA career? Someone's priorities are way out of kilter here. I'm not taking anything away from the young man's talent, I've never seen him play, and I'm not questioning his mother's decision to pull him out of school, but why all the way out in Louisiana?
At the end of the day, Daquan is just another kid seduced by the lure of big bucks, and he & his mom are listening, perhaps, to some bad career advice. Granted, the Times-Union and other local papers may not have all the facts right now, but I'd not be surprised if there are other parties involved, aside from relatives in Louisiana. Stay tuned.
2 comments:
Thanks for picking up the story Hobbyfan.
Here's the kicker: Pacquiao's camp sent a press release stating that he wasn't planning on fighting Mayweather or anyone else any sooner than the end of May at the earliest. He claimed by then a new 45,000 seat venue will have been built and it would be suitable for future boxing bouts. Except no one in our news staff had ever heard of a venue being constructed for the purpose!
TPTB have been trying to build a huge stadium for years for both a professional sports team (which currently doesn't exist) and for the Running Rebels basketball team (out of UNLV) but nothing has been finalized.
This could also mean that Mayeather's lawyers lied since no fight was sceduled to occur during the time they wanted Saragosa to keep Mayweather out of jail.
Las Vegas has had professional sports, albeit minor league baseball and the short-lived XFL, so I can't see why they can't again. I can see why the major leagues are balking, due to the gambling issue.
No wonder Mayweather fit right in at Wrestlemania a few years back.
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