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The coward in the trunk

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Posted: Friday December 17, 1999 08:28 AM

This is how we start our days now in Charlotte. The paper lands in the driveway and instead of trotting out to get it, you approach it like a land mine. You nudge it with your foot. Circle it once, sometimes twice. Glance at it sideways, wondering, hmm, what horrible headline involving one of our city's sports personalities am I going to have to endure today while I try to enjoy my Zinger and coffee?

WHYLO OF THE WEEK The best WHYLOs are the ones who need no explanation. Hence, I give you Tom Rumms from West Virginia, who writes (and I use that term loosely) in response to the rebel flag debate that continued in the Dec. 9 mailbag. "From what I have read you are one of them anti persons, you know one that wants to tell someone else what they should believe (sic) or do .If someone wants (sic) to show a flag it's (sic) their (sic) opinion (sic) and that's (sic) their (sic) right in the ole USA isn't it ole boy? You press people want to be able to say anything (sic) you want now don't (sic) you? You say what the 1st amendment (sic) is (verb missing, I'm guessing) , I believe (sic) that's (sic) the one, anyway if everyone would mind their (sic) own business and keep their (sic) opinions (sic) to themself (sic, but too funny to change) and not try to tell others what they want them to do or should do we would all be better off (sic). My two cents worth. No, I'd say that was more like one cent worth." Mr. Rumms, for the first time since we started this award I truly want to know the answer to this question ... WHO HELPED YOU LOG ON? Mailbag Your town is Charlotte. My town isn't like yours because at sporting events people never leave at halftime and they always take off their shirts even in the freezing cold. -- Nick Jendusa, Milwaukee Your hometown is Charlotte. While Charlotte isn't the greatest of places, I feel it still ranks higher than Milwaukee. I come from a place where even though they are building a new stadium, they refuse to keep or sign a franchise player for the Brewers. Where the Bucks think that the answers to their prayers are J.R. Reid and Ervin "Not Magic" Johnson. If that's not bad enough we produced such loveable characters as Jeffrey Dahmer and Lattrell Sprewell as well. Always remember, Flem -- things could be worse. Please keep up the great writing. -- Rob Man, how do I get a job with "SI" which in your case must mean "Seriously Ignorant"? I mean, I know nothing about anything in general and sports in particular... just like you ... I must be qualified? -- Robin I couldn't help but notice your comments regarding the Confederate flag. As a true son of the deep South I must respond. The whole issue is pointless and embarrassing. It strikes me as odd that a culture that prides itself polite and mannerly behavior (whether justified or not) would deliberately flaunt a symbol that is offensive to so many people. While on the subject of embarrassing behavior, I can't believe you put a Civic on a superspeedway. Geez, couldn't you have at least rented a Taurus for the day? -- Mark Reed I may be retarded, but I cannot find an archive with your recent Flem Files. Big fan in Canada. -- Doug Wade Dear Doug: Many times the most recent Flem Files are still on the site somewhere and have yet to be archived. For example, if you want to find Go Speed Racer, Go! it's probably still on the Motor Sports page. And (here's a blatant complaint to CNNSI.com editors weaved into a mailbag response) once they are archived, you better get to them quick because, even though I have written 59 Flem Files, only a tiny fraction of the most recent ones are accessible to my incredibly huge following (14 readers total) in Canada, Des Moines and Poland. A deeper archive or a simple icon people could click on at anytime to get to the latest Flem File would certainly help. Hmmm, maybe if more people wrote in to suggest this we could get it done. Note from the editors: We're working on it, Flem. Technical difficulties prevent us from archiving the Flem File on the same page as the equally popular David Fleming Insider reports. (Who helped US log on?) So, as an interim solution and a service to Flem Filers in Canada, Des Moines and Poland, we have created a special Flem File archive -- which includes links to every back issue you won't find on the automated archive. Enjoy.

RAE CARRUTH CAPTURED.

Carruth, a former first round draft pick of the Carolina Panthers, was found Wednesday night, 500 miles away from Charlotte, curled up like a coward in the trunk of a Toyota Camry located in a hotel parking lot outside of Wildersville, Tenn.

On Tuesday the pregnant woman Carruth is accused of conspiring to kill died from complications stemming from four gunshot wounds she sustained in a drive-by shooting Nov. 16. Once Cherica Adams died, Carruth was supposed to turn himself in. Instead, after becoming the first active NFL player to be charged with murder, not to mention the fact that he now may face the death penalty, Carruth chose to run.

This is not a surprise, is it? We coddle athletes their whole lives. We tell them they're special, pass them through school, treat them like heroes for excelling at a child's game, shower them with more attention and admiration and money and second and third chances than any other section of our society. Then they act like they are above the law and we wonder why.

Charlotte is like any other aspiring small town in this country. Instead of art institutes or libraries or museums or schools, we wanted professional sports franchises to help us build an identity and get us some national attention.

We wanted to play with the big kids, and now we're the class joke. Problem is, no one told us this kind of pub was part of the bargain. No one explained that one day the athletes and the teams we craved would forever label our city as the place where the concept of the thug athlete exponentially escalated from drunk driving, drug use and assault to murder in the first degree.

PLAYER FOUND HIDING IN CAR ... PROSECUTOR COULD SEEK DEATH PENALTY. And further down the page, details of Hornets owner George Shinn's sexual assault civil case.

I can tell you the mood here. It's one of sustained shock. One of embarrassment. One of horror and sorrow and confusion. And one of immense sadness for a little boy, Chancellor Adams, who was born 10 weeks prematurely after his mother was shot. Chancellor will grow up without a mother and, in all likelihood, the man believed to be his father and his assailant.

That's a heckuva way to come into the world. Maybe the next time you begin to worship an athlete who you know is beneath contempt off the field, you should think of Chancellor Adams. On Tuesday a judge granted emergency custody of Chancellor to Saundra Adams, his grandmother. I learned this only because I was brave enough to open the paper. Most days lately I don't have the energy. I continued to turn pages gently, like someone adjusting a ticking time bomb, until I came to the sports section. On the front, another reference to Carruth. Somewhere in here is probably more info on Shinn, or a note on Dolphins running back Cecil Collins, who was arrested again.

Nine pages later, buried on the back of the section and covered in seven short paragraphs, there was a tiny note on Panthers quarterback Steve Beuerlein, who had been named NFC offensive player of the week after guiding Carolina past Green Bay with a 373-yard-passing, three-touchdowns performance.

Somehow the downtrodden Panthers, picked to be one of the worst teams in the NFL before the season began, still have a shot at the playoffs. That's due in large part to Beuerlein, a classy, dignified, smart and tough player with a big heart and a small ego. He is what's right about athletics. He is the guy we should be rallying around and cheering for and pointing out to our kids. Instead, he's a footnote on the back page.

While the coward in the trunk gets a banner headline.

Sports Illustrated staff writer David Fleming explores the sometimes weird and wacky side of sports every Thursday. Click here to send an e-mail to Flem, or address it yourself: flemfile@aol.com.

The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.

 

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