Loaded

In person and via text, a few have asked for an opinion on the Plaxico Burress saga because of the Giants beat for the New York Beacon. With all due respect, I don't feel that it's appropriate for me to add any cents to this piggy bank of opinion.

For starters, despite my gig, what more can I add that hasn't been said?

While I am one of the 200+ members of the home media corps, just a few of us have the access and credibility (which with some organizations is questionable) to even go beyond the sidelines in search of non-football matters. They are not only paid to be investigative reporters in the sports world, but they have a wherewithal in this business that in all honesty, I don't have yet.

Beyond that, there's an expectation that when someone joins the media, that it is in the job description to seek out the juicy, outlandish, seedy, shady, negative and absurd in the subject (s)he covers. Considering the paper that I write for - a small weekly paper which is available to just about 100,000 readers; 1.25% of the NYC population - the priority with our sports division is less about salaciousness and more about using a forward-looking lens into the upcoming action of the coming days.

However, this is where Scribe would come in, right? Not exactly.

To quote MJD of the occasionally-referenced Yahoo! Sports blog, Shutdown Corner:

But we're now a couple of days removed from the breaking of the news, everyone's had their fun, and the initial gut reactions and pointing and laughing are out of the way. What I'm left with is a feeling that someone who isn't a bad guy could be going to jail for a long, long time.

And that's the truth, really. For those who have been dying to know, from the few interactions I've had with him, Burress really isn't a bad guy even if his personal travails cause the public to believe that he is. Internally, I've been wondering why hundreds in the sports media who have never been in the Giants' lockerroom suddenly have a strong opinion about Burress, the organization or the NFL's gun culture, even if they make valid points. In private, obviously, there have been very active discussions in the Clinkscales household about this matter. At work, it's been a point of conversation without a doubt. Yet, these discussions come about because this incident, as many involving professional athletes, actually unearths more layers about our society than we care to admit.

While questioning what has been going through the minds of Burress and his teammates, Antonio Pierce and Ahmad Bradshaw, we have also been asking about the law itself, which has made a dent in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's campaign for gun law reform.

We've been chatting about how Mayor Mike, whose controversial decision to repeal the term limits law through City Council instead of popular vote, may have cinched his third four-year stint if his calls to put Burress' feet to the fire are answered.

We've been talking about the 'average Joe/Jaquon/Javier/Jin' who got caught with an unlicensed burner back in 2006 is probably hoping that the mandatory 3 1/2 year sentence that Burress could face isn't negotiable because of his fame and finances.

We've wondered why hasn't there been an equal amount of scrutiny for a law that ideally prohibits a crime that usually puts more people in danger than what Burress committed; DUI.

We've been wondering why once again, society will close its mouth about the people next door doing far worse, but scream to the high heavens about another athlete's mishap.

Far more will be said, asked and turned into snarky fodder from people who salivate for something to use new material on. Just not here.

Instead, look here and here.