I know that all programs don't follow the same plan when it comes to conditioning programs. Saw an article which discussed a player in the bama program, then saw his name in the blotter. Bad timing having both of these hit the paper on the same day: http://www.al.com/sports/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/sports/1148203367219600.xml&coll=1 Juwan Simpson, a senior Alabama linebacker from Austin High School in Decatur, has been an off-season stalwart for most of his college days. It has translated into a successful and decorated career on the field. There can't be one, he says, without the other. "Everything about Saturday is the fun part," Simpson said. "That's all fine and dandy, but there's a lot of tough work that goes into it. It's summertime, and people want to relax and have fun, but this is why you are here. You can relax and have fun when this is all over." http://www.al.com/alabama/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/1148202911219580.xml&coll=2 More From The Birmingham News | Subscribe To The Birmingham News if (_pdata) { addpdata("ptype", "story"); addpdata("stuid", "1148202911219580"); addpdata("sttitle", "Tide linebacker Simpson arrested "); addpdata("stcat", "salafb"); addpdata("stsource", "Birmingham"); addpdata("stdate", "05/21/06"); addpdata("stpnum", "1"); addpdata("stnpgs", "1"); } <H1 class=red>Tide linebacker Simpson arrested </H1> Sunday, May 21, 2006 STEVE KIRK News staff writer University of Alabama starting linebacker Juwan Simpson was arrested Saturday by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and charged with receiving stolen property, possession of marijuana and carrying a pistol without a license.
Okay now, where's our dope expert, again. We really need some inside analysis. To the casual observer, marijuana and a pistol sounds like a little dealing was going on. But, then again, maybe he was after better grade, straight from the source. Must leave this commentary to an expert.
What is clear is that a serious lack of good judgment was going on. If the gun was his, it is very bad. If the gun belonged to someone else, being around the gun, dope, and the other party was a horrendous decision. I was no saint in college (not that bad either), and it took a very close call to make me grow up. If you want to pretend you are a gangsta, at some point in time, you will discover that others aren't playing around. As a quote I saw the other day put it, "This isn't a game for little boys wearing short pants."
David, Juwan is one of those guys I have to hold the benefit of the doubt out for. In his Sr. year this year, already graduated and is working on his Master's right now. Last year, All-Academic SEC. The *smarts* are there, the common sense? I would have posted more the other day but it was one of those timing issues. Right now, this is being handled in the very same fashion Ray Hudson was last year. For one, the discipline will not be something you will find released (media-wise). It will be handled in-house. Give this a couple of more days and I should be able to make a pretty good guess on where it'll fall. Like Hudson, Juwan had a drug test right after it happened. The gun charge was a felony charge but they've dropped it to a misdemeanor. No matter, a 500 gun with pot compared to a 400 dollar gun with pot is still a gun with pot. I'm not going to step into the gun situation because I understand both sides of it. I will say, the area he was arrested in, is an area you'll find a lot of people that will say, "...and don't go in there without a gun." Sadly, a lot of the kids we root for on Saturday's come from these areas...at least, with what the game has turned out to be on some regards, it still saves a lot of lives.
I see one guy in Decatur is breaking these bits this morning. The drug test issue...he passed one a couple of days before the stop. I'm sure he's taken one that University issued by now. Hudson did very soon afterwards. He also has claimed legal ownership of the gun and said when he bought it one policeman in Decatur told him it wasn't stolen. We'll see how the rest of this breaks down...
I should have said "Graduate Studies" in my last post instead of Masters. To be honest, I don't know exactly what he's trying to do with his studies right now in Criminal Justice. His undergrad/major was in Financial Planning. You bringing this up is just another one of the reasons I have to believe what JS is saying right now. This kind of thing, in Criminal Justice? Nope. Career killer.
