Plaxico Burress: Mole Hill, Meet Mountain

I didn't want to write about this.

I enjoy discussing the play on the field, and how personalities translate to performance on the field as it pertains to interactions with teammates.

I don't like legal conjecture, mostly because, I feel it doesn't have any part of what I mentioned above.

And this isn't legal conjecture. More of a sociological conjecture.

My feelings on the Plaxico Burress shooting?

Completely and utterly overblown.

Completely and utterly overblown by the media, the New York lawmakers, and everybody else except one: the New York Giants.

For doing nothing except suffering the consequences of his own stupidity, Plaxico could face a mandatory three-and-a-half-years in the poke.

Why?

Michael Vick: Coldly and cruelly killed animals for entertainment, and gambled on them across state lines, 23 months.

Pacman Jones: Directly caused a man to be paralyzed, 200 hours of community service.

Leonard Little: Killed a woman while driving with an .19 BAC, 90 days in jail. Arrested five years later for DUI, convicted of speeding.

When an accidental shooting takes place, and someone innocent is killed, what question as always asked: "Why couldn't that idiot just shoot himself?"

Well, Plax did.

And because of New York's ridiculous law, Plax could serve more time than the three previous criminals above combined.

If you ask me, I think Plaxico has suffered plenty for his stupidity.

He got shot in the leg. That can't feel great. He's done for the season and could miss a shot at another ring.

He might be lining up across from Ashley Lelie next season, something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

Sure, we've all seen the sob-story articles. About how the murder of Sean Taylor and the robbery of Steve Smith might have put fear into him. About Plax just being another black athlete persecuted by the system.

About how Plax was on top of the world a mere 10 months ago, now look at him. About how Plax grew up in Virginia beach, slinging drugs because he didn't grow up without a father.

Wouldn't it be ironic, if after all the things Plax has gotten away with, that this would be the thing that got him locked up?

Plax doesn't deserve sympathy. He doesn't necessarily deserve a paycheck next year.

But he doesn't deserve prison time.

So why is he being made an example of? Because of his supposed "locker room cancer?"

If Plax was so detrimental to his team's well-being, then how do they keep winning, with or without him.

To paraphrase Matthew McConaughey in Dazed and Confused, "You got Plaxico playing today? Well, it would be a lot cooler if you did."

It's nice to have Plax on the field. He draws double teams, which has allowed Toomer, Smith and Boss to have great seasons. He's also a constant big play threat. But Hixon has done well in his place, so it's not devastating.

Is he being made an example because it's easy?

There's a lot of bad stuff going on in the world, and in New York City.

But to solve those problems, it requires difficult solutions, solutions that require long, complex solutions that come as a result of many people and institutions working together.

But an idiot athlete shoots himself? Let's bring the fire and brimstone down.

You would think that the Mayor of one of the biggest cities in the world has better things to do than make sure a celebrity who didn't hurt anyone but himself gets prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

I don't really have any answers, but I know how I feel about the matter.

And I know I'll be pretty mad if Plax gets the book thrown at him, when so many other things don't seem to warrant the same punishment or attention.