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Discipline problems are common to sports heroes and sportscasters alike

by Tony Basilio

The reactions are always predictable whenever transgressions occur with a high-profile college athlete off the field. The righteous indignation seems to flow as if from a script—unison cries of “What was he thinking!?” Of course, there are times when those questions are appropriate. Meet Brandon Johnson. What was he thinking? No, I’m not going to use this entire column to hammer on the soon-to-be-former UT football player, although maybe I should. Nor will I capitulate to the culture of winning that has overtaken major college sports at the expense of decency. You know the people I’m talking about—the ones who are constantly telling us how “Boys will be boys!”

Alright, maybe I will take a shot or two at a couple of guys after all. But not before full disclosure.

If you honestly assess your youth, chances are you had more than your share of “What were you thinking?” moments. I remember the time, for instance, when a young would-be sports-talk host decided along with his friend Brian Jones (sorry, Brian) that it would be fun to shoot a Titan 2 model rocket into the girls’ wing of Hess Hall. That the rocket came from my window—which was the only one on eight floors missing a screen—only adds to the stupidity of the moment. But I was just a college student, blowing off some steam.

The head resident didn’t feel that way. I’ll never forget the shameful moment when I told him, “It couldn’t have been me sir. You see, I was in Bible study at the time the rocket was fired.”

I’ll never forget his classic reply: “Well, maybe you need to go back to Bible study and pray that your memory will come back to you.”

For some strange reason, he let me go. Brandon Johnson will not be so lucky, nor should he be.

In case you missed it, Johnson was watching the Astros and Cardinals play baseball a little past midnight on Monday, Oct. 18 along with several other teammates at Cedric Houston’s Fort Sanders apartment. During the game, expatriate Vol Chris Heath showed Johnson the gun he was packing. These two rocket scientists (sorry again, Brian) went outside at approximately 12:15 in the morning, where Johnson proceeded to point the gun skyward and fire away.

A couple of minutes later, a UT police officer showed up and found these two geniuses, still standing in the parking lot, hanging out. Heath denied having the gun at first, and then was frisked. That he had the lack of sense to still have the recently discharged weapon on his person is quite revealing, about as telling as Johnson’s explanation to the off-duty officer that he just wanted to feel “what it was like to shoot a gun.” At 12:15 on a Monday morning in a heavily populated area like Fort Sanders, no less. Where did Johnson think his bullet was going to go?

Although Johnson’s stupidity is now legendary, he does have company in the annals of Vol history. Former All-American Will Overstreet, a no-nonsense, class act himself, was on my radio show last week and was asked to recall his favorite “boys will be boys” story from his time at UT. He came up with a winner. In the second semester of 2002, Eric Locke of Murfreesboro decided he needed money for spring break. Did he go out and get a part-time job? Did he call home and ask for money? Did he borrow from a friend?

Of course not. Instead, he stole his good friend Jason Witten’s ATM card and went to the UT money wall, where he withdrew $2,500.

More than two thousand dollars! From a teammate no less! With a camera staring at him that caught his every move.

“I just couldn’t believe that this guy had the guts to steal from a teammate. On that team, when we heard about it, it was like get this guy out of here. There was no way we were ever going to put up with that,” Overstreet said.

The silver lining in that cloud, at least from Locke’s standpoint, is that at least he did get to go on that spring break trip, as his transgression wasn’t detected until he returned to Knoxville. Hope he had a good time.

Now freshman Chris Brown may have just secured his own spot on the UT Wall of Shame. Brown allegedly helped himself to a jersey at the Sports Seasons in West Town Mall the night before UT’s tussle with Alabama. The punch line? Brown was out with the entire UT football team on a mandatory trip to the movies when he allegedly sought his five-finger discount. Brown managed to get cited for misdemeanor shoplifting while on a UT sanctioned activity.

It will be tough for Brown to claim Bible study for an alibi. How will he get out of this one? I’m out of answers. Boys will be boys!

Listen up! Tune in and talk sports with Tony Basilio weekdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on ESPN Radio WVLZ 1180 AM.

October 28, 2004 • Vol 14, No. 44 © 2004 Metro Pulse