The Bad, the Unfortunate, and the Confusing by Justin Dreyfuss

What is going on in the world of sports right now? It seems everyone has lost their minds. Ok, maybe not everyone, but it's not a small percentage of important people in the sports world that have been making ridiculous decisions lately. A majority of the news dominating the headlines recently has been for things outside of actual games. Each week we seem to be moving further and further from what we should be caring about, but it's hard to focus on who's winning and losing when there are such idiots out there.

I've broken a few of the news stories down into different categories since each story has been ridiculous, but each one tugs at a different part of your what-the-hell-were-they-thinking brain lobe. I think that's somewhere near the temporal lobe.

The Bad: Gilbert Arenas

We'll start right off with the people we knew right away were in for a world of trouble. We could do nothing but shake our heads as we read the breaking news scroll on the ESPN bottom line that says "Gilbert Arenas is contacted by federal authorities after pulling guns on teammate." Really? Come on Gilbert. Play poker at half time, yell "hibachi" when you make a routine basket, carry on a blog where you aren't afraid to rip on anyone and challenge DeShawn Stevensen to a three point contest while you use one hand. We're fine with all of that. Your antics are who you are and as long as your name isn't Skip Bayless no one should have a problem with this because professional sports are entertainment and none of this is hurting anyone. Sports are not, and never will be, life or death…. unless you pull something like this. Pun intended.

Playing around with guns is something completely different. A couple things about this really bother me. Some people are blaming the media for supporting Arenas' playful antics and believe it's that unofficial support that caused him to keep pushing his boundaries. That is ridiculous. He isn't a 7 year old pushing his limits, he's a grown man with kids and shouldn't have to be told the difference between right and wrong. He was suspended because of how he has dealt with the aftermath of the initial story, not because of the guns themselves and I don't blame Stern one bit. And this is coming from a huge fan of Arenas. Guns are not something to joke about…which brings me to my next point.

Why exactly does he have so many guns and why, if he did indeed bring them to the Verizon Center to get them away from his kids, did he keep them at all? Is there something I am missing about professional athletes? Is there a secret society assigned to carry out hits on famous sports stars? What is it that causes so many athletes to bring guns everywhere? Never ONCE have I seen a headline about an athlete who saved his or anyone else's life by using a gun in self-defense. I'm so glad these athletes feel the desperate need to protect themselves and their undeserved mountain of wealth but how is having a gun stuffed in their pants doing any good?

It's unfathomable to me that someone in such a lucky position could treat his life with such disrespect and that someone who is apparently mature enough to have multiple children would let a gambling debt rise to the level of gun play. Since this was over the course of days, it's even more amazing that at no point in this argument did Arenas have the brains to be the bigger man than his teammate, considering he is much wealthier, a much better basketball player and has a much better overall life than his teammate Crittenton. Apparently being the unquestionable starter on a playoff hopeful, a multi-millionaire and loved by millions of people around the world was not enough for Gilbert to suck this one up before anyone even thought about guns.

Gives a whole new meaning to the basketball term "shoot-around" doesn't it?

The Unfortunate – Mark McGwire

It's unfortunate that it took Big Mac this long to come clean about steroids. It's been pretty obvious for a while now but apparently he needed to see others like Pettite and A-Rod go before him before making up his mind that this was his best choice.

I do believe that Big Mac is very sincere about using drugs and I do believe he took them to get over his injuries. Steroids were hailed as a miracle drug in the early 90's for injuries and Big Mac had to deal with all sorts of pressure after putting up amazing numbers the first few years he was in the league. I'm not excusing him, but I believe it was an honest mistake.

What is unfortunate about this timing is it clearly is not because he just couldn't live with it anymore. In fact, it has everything to do with watching another hall of fame induction come and go and his name still being on the back burner. It has everything to do with being hired by the Cardinals as a hitting coach and most likely them telling him to do this to improve his image now that he is back in the public spotlight. Especially if he in fact might play in the playoffs like La Russa has said. Tell me you wouldn't be glued to your TV if he were up to bat in 2010. I'd buy a portable satellite TV just to make sure I watched him break an unsuspecting building window over the parking lot. Alright maybe not, but the man is still more intimidating than a STD test for Paris Hilton.

The Confusing – The World of Lane Kiffin

I really do not care about Kiffin leaving Tennessee. USC is better than Tennessee in almost every way possible. Why would he not? Does he have some intense connection to Tennessee I don't know about? People seem so upset about him leaving after only a year after all the headlines he made at Tennessee and the promises of greatness. The students even rioted this week, calling him a liar, angry that he left. I only have one question.

Why?

Why does anyone care that he left Tennessee if you are a fan of Tennessee? Why does anyone keep hiring him? Why does USC, the best college football program this decade along with Florida, want him?

He has done NOTHING. He was the coach of the Raiders and was terrible. He left in a huge fight with Al Davis who took very personal shots at his integrity. Granted, it's not hard to get in a fight with Davis, but this was pretty serious. Then we went to Tennessee where he did nothing but sling mud at everyone else in the conference. While he was busy calling out Urban Meyer for fake recruiting violations, Meyer was busy winning a National Championship and beating Tennessee.

I guess with that great resume it's obvious why USC wants him. Just not to me. Do they really think it's a coincidence that everywhere he has gone losing has followed him? Do they think it's a coincidence he leaves his employers on very bad terms after pissing everyone off that is connected to him? It is not. He clearly has a volatile personality. He's one of those guys with an unwarranted sense of accomplishment even though he has done nothing. His instinct is to talk trash and play the bad boy attitude but he's too stupid to say anything intelligent or constructive and has no idea when to stop. Saying you are going to beat Florida and saying people have broken NCAA violations is not very creative or intelligent. It only makes you look like an idiot, Kiffin. Win something, then talk. Until then, shut up.

Now USC is going to be paying a coach millions of dollars that has shown nothing good on record. The underlying issue of all this is that he's a coach! A COACH! Sports have shown us one thing about coaches ever since sports have been around - only the top few percent actually matter. If your name is not Jerry Sloan, Phil Jackson, Vince Lombardi, Bill Cowher, Joe Torre, Jim Leyland or a few others then really it doesn't matter too much. It's just a matter of finding someone to manage your players, not get into trouble and finding a good fit for your organization. I always find it funny when losing coaches at several places always get picked up for millions of dollars by yet another team. What do they think is going to happen to change everything all of a sudden?

Lane Kiffin is a perfect example of this. So far he has shown nothing. Yes, he will probably win at USC but only because it's USC. You could literally put anyone at USC and they would at least have a winning percentage. Kiffin will do nothing but stir things up negatively, and as far as I can tell, turn them into a mediocre program.

People already know USC is a great program so there is no need to hire a "big name" coach to lure recruits. You just need someone that has shown they can do it elsewhere by connecting with kids and being able to handle themselves with professionalism. Kiffin has done neither. I also cringe at labeling him a "big name" coach. I like to keep that for coaches that have actually done something impressive and not just for forcing yourself into the media with news off the field.

The angry mobs at Tennessee are there because of the lack of respect Kiffin has shown Tennessee and that he clearly thinks he's a much better coach than he is. That being said, I blame the students for caring, the universities for hiring him and for anyone caring about what Kiffin does. He is the product of the problem, not the problem itself. The lesson here, as always, big time schools are run with money, notoriety and non-sports people making sports decisions. I don't care if used to coach at USC, there are plenty of other coaches out there far more qualified than Lane Kiffin. Give those who have paid their dues the rewards. Not someone like Kiffin who represents everything that is wrong with coaches and sports.

-Justin Dreyfuss used to write for The Connection Newspaper in Northern VA. He also freelances for the Chicago Tribune, and loves chess. He will now be contributing his insights to Docksquad Sports...