Coach's Corner

Monday's sports page is overflowing with good stuff. The Pacers won a game -- one more than I thought they would. The Stars lost their Stanley Cup title in a hard-fought, competitive series, though I -- alone it seems -- find the endless overtimes a bit tedious. The John Rocker story goes on and on; will this pathetic adventure ever end? The entertaining Gustavo Kuerten took his second French Open title, and next weekend in Pebble Beach the U.S. Open begins. All nice, feel-good sports stories. You can read about them somewhere else. I'm stuck on the appalling reactions to the ugliest story of the year: the squalid saga of Baltimore Raven linebacker Ray Lewis, who pleaded out of a double murder charge last week in return for becoming the state's star witness against his two running buddies.

My skin began to crawl when a defiant, unrepentant Lewis stepped before the cameras moments after his plea and started a venomous little speech. He lambasted any and all who ever doubted him and his "innocence," and gave thanks to the Lord, who helped him through this unfair and trying time. Is he kidding? Are we to believe that this fellow, deeply involved in a grisly murder/stabbing in the early hours of a cold Atlanta dawn, is a pious man? A modern day St. Thomas of Aquinas? If this guy is on God's good side, the rest of us are in big trouble.

So anyway, Lewis is one angry middle linebacker. He's mad at the Atlanta police, who had the gall to arrest him. He's mad at the Atlanta DA for having the audacity to hold him responsible for his horrid actions. He's hopping mad at the media for convicting him in public, and he's mad at the public for pre-judging him. Like I said, he's one pissed-off middle linebacker. As far as Ray's concerned, he never did anything. Innocent and pure as the freshly driven snow.

The media, who are quick to judge, are at times just as quick to feel a collective guilt. That same day, Fred Hickman reported the story on CNN with an embarrassed twinkle in his eye, like he always knew Ray was innocent. In the days that followed, the guilt-plagued media played right along with the wronged linebacker. Yes, we're bad, bad media scum. See, old Ray was right all along.

As for the Ravens and the NFL, they want to spin this thing as if nothing ever happened. Hey, the view is, the charges were dropped. What's the big deal? One Harold Henderson, an official NFL flack interviewed on ESPN's Outside the Lines -- a program titled "Ray Lewis and the NFL: The Lesson Learned" (not Ray's lesson, it turns out, but ours) -- sat there with a straight face and said Ray has "done nothing wrong." The league sees no reason to punish the poor fella any more. No suspensions, no loss of income. He's suffered enough was the official NFL line as blubbered forth by Mr. Henderson.

I was even more shocked when ESPN's hard-bitten journalists on The Sports Reporters bought into Ray's sad tale hook, line, and sinker. Even host Mike Lupica was contrite. Lupica's never contrite about anything ... no matter how wrong he is. Yet now he's sadly musing on the media's excesses.

What am I missing here? Didn't Mr. Lewis plead guilty to obstruction of justice in a double homicide? Wasn't that the same Mr. Lewis whose blood-soaked clothes just happened to disappear before the police found him the next morning? Wasn't that the same lamb who whisked away his two blood-drenched buddies, who (by the way) just happened to have stabbed two guys to death? Wasn't that the same innocent Mr. Lewis who told police he didn't know anything about it, no matter about his blood-stained limo? He didn't know anything about anybody. Ray's first story, which changed daily, was he wasn't there at all.

To me, sportsfans, this is indeed a big deal. Lewis spent months in jail because he refused to tell anything resembling the truth in a murder investigation. It was clear early on that the Atlanta DA's office was overcharging Lewis to get him to talk. Had he told the police what happened, as any normal citizen would, he probably wouldn't have spent an hour in jail. This story would be long forgotten. Ray's no innocent here. Guilty of murder, no. But innocent, I don't think so.

The NFL, by taking no action, is making a complete mockery of its own personal conduct policy. Latrell Sprewell was suspended for a season for going after his coach, costing him his reputation and millions of dollars. Jumbo Elliot was suspended -- without pay -- for getting into a fight in a bar. But Lewis, who knowingly covered up a grisly crime, isn't even getting a slap on the wrist.

Christine Brennen, a sports columnist for USA Today (with whom I rarely agree) is the only media person I've come across who sees this for what it is: a common criminal plea bargain. She thinks Lewis ought to be suspended for a year. Me too. If you close your eyes and listen to a belligerent Lewis rant and rage, what you hear is John Rocker: "I didn't do anything. Everybody's out to get me. You're all scum. See ya later ... asshole!"