Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is this the smile of a shoplifter?
First, the caveats: Yes, every team has stuff like this happen every now and again. Sometimes in spectacular fashion, a la Jimmy Johns repeatedly selling blow to undercover cops outside the football complex, sometimes in a mere yeoman's effort, such as Anthony Dixon getting arrested this past summer for a DUI. Casting stones, glass houses, etc. etc.
But, what really separates this story (UT player Nyshier Oliver arrested for shoplifting a shirt from Dillard's) from the garden variety shoplifting, domestic violence, assault, DUI and generally raisin' a ruckus type-offenses that players from every team get cited for every year is timing.
As the saying goes, timing is everything. This news breaks on the heels of the arrest of 3 Vol players last week for armed (with a pellet gun) robbery. And, oh yeah, there's this dang quote from Coach Kiffin again:
"We've had zero arrests in 11 months here," Kiffin boasted on Wednesday, Nov. 11, which was not only one day before pellet-gun-gate, but actually four days after Oliver was arrested. That's right, Oliver was arrested Sat. Nov. 7, just hours before the UT-Memphis game.
That means either Kiffins did not know one of his players had been arrested when he made his boast, or decided to make a boast that he already knew was false. Either way, not good for a Coach who's already earned a reputation for letting his mouth write checks his ass can't cash.
I once saw Clark W. Griswold hold a security guard hostage with a pellet gun (I believe it was a Magnum P.I.) and force him to ride roller coasters with Clark and his family. No charges were filed on Mr. Griswold, so I would expect the three UT players might get off too. Did I mention the security guard looked a lot like John Candy?
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