I should start by saying that the entire situation that has arisen between Lions rookie Caleb Campbell and his call to serve the Army is sticky and poorly timed. I understand that there was a policy in place that allowed Campbell, an Army grad, to play football and serve at a local recruiting station in place of the years of service he is required to serve. The timing on the change of policy, forcing Campbell to serve instead of play football, is a bit poor. It actually sucks. That said…
Campbell has a duty to his country, and he acknowledged that by entering the Army and most recently in his call to duty. It’s unreasonable that Campbell would be allowed to sit behind a desk for a few hours a day and then go play football while the guys he sat next to in the academy are being shipped off to Afghanistan or Iraq. Isn’t it a little bit out of line that, because Campbell can read a HB Cut and hit people, he’s exempt from having to serve the years he committed to when joining the Army. Not only is that somewhat unfair, I’m not sure Campbell could, in his good conscience, live with that. Heres how we make light out of the situation…
Anyone remember that San Antonio Spurs center nicknamed “The Admiral?” David Robinson, who attended the Naval Academy, served two years prior to entering the NBA. The reflection on the NBA was purely positive, having an athlete who served his country and then lived his dream of playing in the NBA. Can’t this same thing happen for Campbell? How incredible would the story be if Campbell, after serving his two years in the Army, came back to the NFL and became a star. The situation sucks, and the timing was awful, but this could turn out to be a great thing for both the Army and the NFL.
by kevin on July 23, 2008
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the WNBA, it did. It got a lot worse, as two of the “marquee” franchises of the leagues got into a bit of a tussle last night, resulting in the ejections of multiple players and a coach, as well as questions about what the hell is happening in the league.
The only known most well known player in the WNBA, Candace Parker was at the center of the debacle last night, and surely that will tarnish her reputation as well as significantly hurt her rookie campaign as a serious suspension is pending, assuming the WNBA League Office has any balls common sense. The fracas also included a legend of the WNBA, Lisa Leslie, a player who one would assume would have the maturity and resolve to stay out of the conflict, but alas she found herself in the middle of it. And quite simply the whole brawl was started for no reason. There was a bit of a hard foul on a rebound effort and instead of just leaving it at that, someone decided that instead of boxing out on the free throw they would throw a Scott Stevens-esque hip check and the melee followed.
Apparently Milton Bradley was also on the court, or his female version was, as Cheryl Ford sprained her knee trying to restrain a teammate. A freak injury that may or may not be a serious blow to the Detroit Shock, I can’t say for sure.  And then there was the issue of Rick Mahorn allegedly pushing Lisa Leslie to the ground before getting a nice jab to his back from DeLisha Milton-Jones. I think it is such an issue because Mahorn is a male and can be summed up from one of his comments following the altercation when he said “The WNBA is very special to me … I would never push a woman.” The fact is it shouldn’t matter who he is coaching, he should never push a player of an opposing team.
If I actually cared about the WNBA I would be sad that this is the only reason that the league is newsworthy, but that isn’t the case. I’m fine with the brawl being the highlight of the year for the league. I feel like this is a huge black eye on a league that is already struggling mightly and really, this won’t help the league at all. They are going to have to suspend their best player and they are going to have to deal with the fact that a male assistant coach supposedly pushed down a player, it’s just a bad situation for everyone involved.
