Life is good again. The NFL is back, and I get to watch the cream of America's athletic crop violently destroy each other's bodies in a highly regulated ballet of steroid fueled rage. We can watch their long term disabilities develop on our HDTV screens, and tip back a cold one while we complain about their obvious physical inadequacies and lack of heart.
Well in between Matt Stafford exiting after getting blindsided by Julius Peppers, and Kevin Kolb leaving the game after being jammed headfirst into the ground by the Packer's Clay Mathews; ( and an anachronism inserted here); there was an even more unsettling image that came from the battle between Chicago's Bears and Detroit's Lions.
Former Georgia Tech star Calvin Johnson jumped miles in the air over the defense to pull in what seemed certain to be a last minute winning touchdown for a deserving Lions team, but despite his obvious one handed complete control over the football, it was called a non-catch because he did not retain possession after he came to the ground with it.
Well, I tell ya what. Even if us fans don't know the intricacies of the NFL rules, the players should. This play was heart breaking for Lions fans, or sports fans in general, but reminded me of two things. First, how guys who celebrate before getting into the end zone don't score either, and second, how people who go to court without a lawyer get what they deserve when the court decides against them because they don't know the rules of court.
Courts can be very forgiving of the person who defends themself pro se but like the old saying goes, "He who defends himself has a fool for a client." It isn't exactly a courtroom example of this concept, but I keep having this vision of the police interrogation tape where the recently arrested Defendant believably convinces the investigating officer that he did not commit the armed robbery in question by admitting to the 43 other armed robberies he actually did do that month. "Yes Sir, Mr. Officer, I could not have done that crime, because I was robbing someone completely different on the other side of town that day." DOH!
Yes, they will probably not pursue the one crime that they thought they had you for, but you better hope they try to get concurrent sentencing on the 43 felonies you just confessed to. Next time, don't talk to the police, call your West Georgia Attorney. And if you are a pro ball player, know your own rule book.
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