"Wanna Get High? I Think You Do, Mon"

From ESPN's website today:

Joakim Noah had more than one run-in with the law at the University of Florida on Memorial Day weekend.

On the same day the Bulls center was arrested for possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana and having an open container of alcohol, he also was issued two traffic citations.

Noah, 23, was issued citations for driving with a suspended license and for not wearing a seat belt by the University of Florida Police Department on Sunday.

Yeah that's a pretty bad day for Joakim, a day I am sure he isn't looking to relive even if Andie MacDowell was cast at his love interest. But I have to join Joakim's dad, tennis star Yannick Noah, in saying WHAT IS THE BIG FREAKING DEAL?

A 23-year-old is walking around a college campus carrying a beer and having some of the wacky weed in his pocket. Just because this particular 23-year-old is a sports celebrity, it now becomes a national tragedy. If this were Joakim O'Brien instead of Joakim Noah, it wouldn't even make the police blotter in the campus paper at Florida. In fact I don't think the paper even has a police blotter because who is going to be interested in ten pages of public intoxication and marijuana possession arrests? Maybe the fringe population that believes our law enforcement officers should be spending more time arresting people for holding a pinjoint than bringing down violent offenders who are a threat to our collective person and property.

I wonder how many people were arrested over Memorial Day weekend at colleges across the country for similar acts. This is just shooting fish in a barrel, if you will. You wouldn't need to hire Jim Rockford to investigate this situation - I mean with gas prices the way they are who can afford to pay $200 plus expenses to bust some co-eds playing beer pong on the lawn of their house?

I am not going to defend Joakim's actions. He did break the law and he should be treated as such. However I don't think anything is gained, except more embarrassment, by story upon story about this. He will pay his penalty and hopefully be a more mature individual as a result of this situation. But this is coming off as some deranged Reefer Madness type story where they want us to believe we're going to end up like Joakim if we indulge: a millionaire athlete in need of a good hair stylist.

The bottom line is that this story is not a story at all. Joakim isn't the first victim of fame but he is one of the latest. What's next? A story about famed internet blogger Fat Man After Dark walking down 12th Place NW doing shots of mescal with an unidentified Greek man? Nobody wants to hear about that. NOBODY.

And to end this story, a gratuitous photo of Joakim's mom, Miss Sweden 1978: