Jamar Hornsby and You, Friend

"Everything that keeps me together is falling apart / I've got this
thing that I consider my only art (of fucking people over)."

Modest Mouse, 3rd Planet

Oh boy. You guys heard about this. We know you did because we read the boards and the blogs and the papers and we saw that everybody got their digs in on Jamar Hornsby after he got arrested in Starkville recently for suspected involvement in a brawl and petit larceny.

We wanna start by saying that we were against signing this guy in the first place. That thing he did back in Florida with the credit card and the dead friend and whatnot still kinda stinks. And we thought it was buttarded that Ole Miss people wanted to believe that the credit card thing was just a misunderstanding back then, and we hope they feel silly now.

And we want you to know that we aren't above having a laugh at others' expense, either. We laughed just as out-loudily as anybody when the Hogvillians melted down after Ryan Mallett got his Public Intox. We even tested out our internet skillz to mixed results - that we never thought we'd show you.

'Cause of the self-righteous sneer, right? Get it?

But let's get one thing straight, gang: Jamar Hornsby's situation is flat out sad. Here is a human being who just pissed away one of the brightest futures anybody on the planet could hope to have because someone rear ended his car. I'm Ok with everyone getting their laughs in, because this guy really deserves it. He fucked up royally, and assaulted another human in the process. So laugh away, but understand that this kid's once promising future is forever tainted.

Let's not beat around the bush: Jamar Hornsby does not need to be on the Ole Miss football team next year. He was extended a second chance at wealth and prominence and influence, which is two more than most get, and he got in his own way, and now we don't owe him anything. I don't care how good he is. He should not be on our team next year.

But to those of you who are rooting for the DA here, who are hoping he rots away in a Florida penitentiary somewhere (which is highly likely), please understand that Hornsby obviously has a schewed sense of right and wrong. We're talking about a kid who sold all of his family and friend tickets to strangers at marked up prices while at Florida, a clear violation of NCAA rules for which Florida was penalized. But what does that say that he had no one in his life who gave a damn enough to come watch him play football in front of 90,000 fans for the eventual National Champion? Our mothers were there for every second of winter league 1A Parochial High School soccer, standing often in the freezing rain to watch a 0-0 tie in a sport they knew little to nothing about. Christ, we have a sister who erupts in applause every time her newborn makes a poopy.

And the use of a dead friend's credit card, no matter the details, shows a blatant irreverence for life and disconnect from what it is to be a human. This latest transgression in a parking lot in Starkville is only further proof that Hornsby has some serious issues. And the sad part is that if he doesn't know right from wrong by now, he likely never will. What's even more depressing is that probably doesn't even bother him.

So get your giggles in at the Fulmer Cup and all that, gang, but don't fool yourself into believing that this is just some evil asshole who deserves the worst. Evil's a mighty heavy adjective, and it's also rarely accurate. And if you think that you weren't born to trouble as the sparks fly up; Weren't saved by fortune and circumstance and grace, well then, you're just as delusional as Hornsby, brother.

Sin Fanaticos: Third in a Three Part Series

Surely you guys have seen this video. If not, google Micah Ginn. Or put "Are You Ready" into the little box on Youtube, and watch this guy's videos he's put together. I'm fairly certain he was the guy behind the season recap high-light reel that was played before the Egg Bowl. He obviously wins at life.

Anyhow, we mention the video now not as a flame to the RSC guys. Those guys knew they would quintuple (?) our normal Monday traffic with their post about us, and we obviously appreciate that. And we sort of get why some people are turned off by David Huertas. But the mindset bugs us a little, and we're gonna try one last time to flesh that out.

The first time we met David Huertas was at a pre-season photo shoot in November 2006. We had gone in early to get some lighting figured out for a shoot with Todd Abernethy, Bam Doyne and Clay Sanders. When we got in the Tad Pad, the only other soul in the building was Huertas. Doing just what he's doing in that video. Free throws. Three pointers. 18-footers. From the time we got there, until the time we had taken a memory card full of pictures and left. He was doing the same thing every time we went in the Tad Pad (literally) that season, excluding games, obviously. From everything we've heard, he still stays late after practice to work on his shots.

The point is, that video's dialogue probably isn't all that far off from Huertas' work ethic.

But we don't want to get hyperbolic, as our friends tell us we have a tendency to do. We don't want to harp on his work ethic, or the long odds of a kid coming from Puerto Rico to the United States to make it by playing basketball. No, we're not going to cast him in that underdog role. We ask that you refrain from doing the same.

Likewise, refrain from seeing him as the bad teammate. The kid who disrespects his coach. And, rightly or wrongly, yells at his teammates. Disregard the overly dramatic, sometimes borderline queer dives he takes when trying to draw a charge. Forget that he is likely just a Saint of Circumstance, with inflated stats because everyone around him is either terrible or hurt.

At the end of the day, after all, talk is talk and facts are facts.

All we want you to do is to ask yourself, as an Ole Miss fan, why you wouldn't be all for the guy who leads the team in points and assists.

We realize that the Spirit message board mindset is a rose-colored-glasses fantasy land that is easily made fun of. "All our kids are choir boys, all their kids are thugs." We're not asking you to adopt that 'blindly love all things Ole Miss' attitude.

But we do ask you to question why its all of a sudden popular to hate on the best player on your favorite team. Sometimes people fall into these cycles of having to adopt a contrarian point of view to like, prove their fanhood or something similar to that. To prove to people that they're paying close attention, because dammit, they are a serious fan.

Well, not to get too Lietchesque or anything, but sometimes it should just be enough that a player is excellent at his sport and also he plays for your team. Ergo, you are his fan. Its simpler that way. Its more natural. Its not dumb or Spirit boardish. Its just being a fan who enjoys seeing his or her team do well.

We agree with Juco All-American over at the Cup that by this time next year, no one will remember all the David hate, because at that point :knock on wood: we should be heading for the home stretch of one of, if not the best seasons in Ole Miss basketball history. We hope that everyone is on the same page by that point, and in the mean time, we accept this mea culpa* we received via email from everyone's favorite bloggers.

*we kid because we love