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Best-vote-2010

Sports blotter: Walker wiggle

Call a cab, genius
By MATT TAIBBI  |  January 14, 2009

090116_walker_main
SLAMMER DRUNK: Ex-Celtic Antoine Walker used to drive to the hoop from the top of the key. Now he’ll lose his keys for driving drunk.
The last couple of weeks have sucked for Celtics fans. Now, add to that the fact that old friend Antoine Walker got himself arrested in the early morning hours on January 5. Cops in Miami Beach pulled him over, detected the ever-present “strong odor of alcohol,” and rang him up for driving under the influence.

Walker was known in his playing days for driving into the lane without a plan and then hurling his arms — and the ball — wildly in the air upon contact. Seems like he was doing the same thing here, without the ball. He was caught driving a black Mercedes with a “sleepy look” on his face and no lights on. He refused a breathalyzer test, and was later released on $1000 bond.

Antoine has been looking for a job for a while. He played with the T-Wolves last year, although “played” is putting it a bit strongly. Now it looks like he’s headed to the glue factory. Sorry, ’Toine — and 25 for the DUI.

Hojo’s major no-no
Here’s a semi-major crime involving some college football players that occurred in December, but didn’t come to our attention before the end of the year. It seems a pair of freshmen from the University of Arkansas-Monticello were busted this past month on felony home-invasion charges after incidents in Metarie, Louisiana (near New Orleans), on December 15 and 19.

Defensive lineman Nick Howard and running back Andrel Johnson, both Louisiana natives, were two of three men busted after police pulled over a white Cadillac Escalade belonging to one of the men. Inside, authorities found stolen property that was traced to a December 15 break-in, but, honestly, further details of this first incident are so far hard to come by. Howard and Johnson were charged with home invasion, aggravated burglary (a possible felony), and possession of stolen property.

Judging by details of the December 19 incident, it sounds like a pretty ugly scene all around. When a 52-year-old man inside the house went outside to investigate what he thought was a power outage, some of the robbers snuck inside. The man came back in and was held at gunpoint while a 38-year-old woman in the bedroom was “inappropriately touched” by one of the assailants. The goons then took whatever meager stuff was to be found, jumped in their ride, and got themselves caught.

Both players are on scholarship for the Boll Weevils, but UAM coach Gwaine Matthews hasn’t dismissed the pair from the team yet, saying he doesn’t want to throw any of his players “under a bus” before they get their day in court. This seems like at least a 65-point crime to me — put ’em on the list.

College credit
Yet another athlete has been busted after stealing a credit card and attempting to use it at a store. The culprit this time was Maze Stallworth, a player for the Morehead State basketball team.

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  Topics: Sports , Sports, New Orleans, Crime,  More more >
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ARTICLES BY MATT TAIBBI
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   BENGALS AND BULLDOGS  |  February 03, 2010
    There hasn't been a whole lot to cheer about in New England Patriots country of late, and I'm not sure that this will fit the bill, but let's try it on for size.
  •   NBA SHOOT-AROUND  |  January 27, 2010
    Sometimes, even superstar athletes just wear out their welcome. When Gilbert Arenas came into the league back in 2001, and especially after he moved to the Wizards in '03, "Agent Zero" was poised to be the next big thing in basketball.
  •   SLAP SHOT  |  January 20, 2010
    Bogdan "Rudy" Rudenko, a minor-league hockey player who was most recently with the now-defunct Colorado Springs Gold Kings, has been arrested in connection with the Stallings, North Carolina, shooting of a friend and former teammate of his (some reports describe him as an "associate") named Yuri Kharitonov.  
  •   BLAND THEFT AUTO  |  January 13, 2010
    Man, talk about a meme that won't die!
  •   THROWBACK SHAME  |  January 11, 2010
    Well, another year in sports crime has come and gone.

 See all articles by: MATT TAIBBI

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