And the winner is . . .
Kudos to Burgos and Collins for their fine efforts. But, all told, we’re still going to have to go a different direction, fellas. (There’s always next year!) Instead, we are awarding the Phoenix’s Skell of the Year for 2008 to none other than PLAXICO BURRESS of the New York Giants.
Granted, Burress’s crime is, on its face, not as serious as those committed by Collins, Burgos, or any of the many other rapists or murderers on the 2008 list. And it’s not because he plays for the Giants, either (though that doesn’t help). Burress is the winner here because of three factors:
1) By bringing a loaded weapon into a nightclub when he was partying, Burress was frankly lucky he didn’t kill anyone. That he was the only person who got shot was purely happenstance. All of these guys who get in trouble, it always starts with someone bringing a gun to some place where they don’t need one.
2) Burress is an asshole. This year alone, he’s been fined for throwing a ball into the stands and verbally abusing an official during a game against the 49ers. He also has been suspended for violating team rules numerous times, and was a mini-camp contract hold-out (because he felt his $3.25 million salary left him underpaid). Again, all of these guys who get into serious trouble, it always starts out with a sense of entitlement and being above it all. And Burress has those things in excess.
3) Burress got doctors, several teammates, and team officials bogged down in a cover-up for his mistake. Or you could say it another way: Burress got in trouble, but might not have been in trouble had he not been surrounded by enablers every step of the way. The really tragic thing about sports crime is that the system creates these guys. No one ever draws the line for them, so where are they supposed to learn about not crossing it?
The Plax story was the big sports-crime story of the year, and even though it wasn’t nearly as awful as the Vick tale or the Jones business from 2007, it was emblematic of the bigger problem. He is an unrepentant, arrogant, irresponsible creep who spends his weekend nights drinking Cristal with a fucking loaded Glock in his pocket. How many of these guys do we want running around?
When he’s not googling “Plaxi-con” and “Burr-ass,” Matt Taibbi writes for Rolling Stone. He can be reached atm_taibbi@yahoo.com.
