The Long Arm Of The Law

Several weeks ago, Packers’ running back Josh Jacobs was arrested for a domestic violence situation; reports then said there were five counts cited for the arrest including “strangling”.  That is not exactly a “judgement call”; “strangling” is never seen as socially acceptable.  Then there was radio silence on this matter for a couple of weeks; the team said they were aware of the situation and were monitoring it; the league said that this was a police matter and they would stand aside; that is pretty standard behavior in these situations.

Then, earlier this week there were reports that prosecutors are still considering whether to file criminal charges against Jacobs.  Obviously, Josh Jacobs – via his attorney – vehemently denies any and all allegations of wrongdoing on his part in this matter.  That too is pretty standard procedure in these sorts of situations.  But “strangulation” and “suffocation” are  pretty strong accusations for them to still be in the “consideration zone”.  But the local District Attorney says it is still too soon to make a final decision on filing charges there.

Several years ago, the NFL allowed players to put messages on the backs of their helmets.  One of the standard messages is:

• Choose Love

Might I suggest that Josh Jacobs not present that message on his helmet this season…???

Moving on …  There is another NFL player who got crosswise with the authorities recently even though he did not do anything proximally to that interaction.  Let me do a reset here.  Last year, KC Chiefs’ WR, Rashee Rice, plead guilty to multiple charges stemming from a street racing incident and leaving the scene of a crash.  As part of the plea deal, Rice was sentenced to 30 days in jail which was suspended based on five years of probation.  Considering there were about a half-dozen charges to be dispensed with there, that seemed to be a slap on the wrist for a punishment.  The NFL also suspended him for 6 games in 2025 for that incident and those guilty pleadings.

Fast forward to now.  Rashee Rice is in jail serving his 30-day sentence for violating his parole.  No, he was not back on the streets racing his car; what apparently happened is that he checked in with his probation officer as is normal and he tested positive for THC.  Evidently, drug use is not hunky-dory for people on probation in Texas where Rice was involved in the car racing that started this whole thing and that positive test flunked him out of probation and put him in jail in Dallas for a month.

Now, it is possible that Rice’s attorney neglected to advise Rice that marijuana use was off limits as per the probation and that he could be tested randomly in the normal course of his probation.  I would think that would be negligent on the part of the attorney, but it could have happened.  However, the more likely scenario is that Rice did not put two and two together well here.

• If they can test randomly, one way to do that is to test as you meet with your probation officer.
• Ergo if you are going to use cannabis in any form, don’t do it proximal to a meeting with your probation officer.

I have not seen any statement by the NFL if this latest incident might result in another suspension and I bring that up because it seems interesting to me.

• What Rice did a year ago merits a suspension by the league; I doubt anyone would argue with that.
• What Rice did this time is not a crime; testing positive for THC will not get any random Texan a jail sentence.  What he did was to violate the terms of the sentence he received such that he is now serving “Options A” instead of “Option B”.
• So, has he done anything that merits more games off by the league office?

Switching gears …  The Belmont Stakes will run tomorrow.  It will be run at a mile and a quarter this year at Saratoga instead of at a mile and a half at Belmont Park which is in the final stages of a “major renovation”.  Belmont Park is scheduled to re-open in September of this year.  Here is my trifecta box for this race – – building on my complete lack of success in presenting similar wagers for the Derby and the Preakness:

• I like 4 horses to be in the money for this race.  #2 is Powershift; #3 is Chief Wallabee; #4 is Renegade and #9 is Golden Tempo
• So, a $1 trifecta box of 2,3,4,9 will cost $24.

Finally, this definition from the Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Olive Garden:  The only authentic Italian dining establishment where you  pay someone to microwave a frozen dinner for you.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………