Yasmin Shiraz

In a press release that I just read from the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, 28 year old, Washington Wizards guard, Gilbert Arenas pleads guilty to felony charge of carrying a pistol without a license. According to the press release Arenas will be sentenced on March 6, 2010:

He will face up to five years of imprisonment. Pursuant to the plea agreement between Arenas and the government, the government agreed that it will limit its allocution at the low-end of the applicable guidelines, which is estimated to be between 6 and 24 months, with probation, a split-sentence, or incarceration permissible.

The press release goes on but basically Gilbert is looking at prison time for bringing firearms into the Verizon center, displaying them to a teammate and then mutual threats being exchanged between Arenas and a fellow teammate.

What can I say? I liked Gilbert. This stupidity is beneath him, in fact, its so sub-zero…. Leave your comments.

In case you missed it: Only Dave could poke fun at such a serious situaiton and… well, make you laugh. 

Copyright 2010 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

After this picture appeared on the front page of the Sports Section in the Washington Post as well as the front page of ESPN.com, Gilbert Arenas was suspended indefinitely by the NBA. The photo of Gilbert shows him appearing to shoot at his teammates though he IS ironically under investigation for brandishing a firearm at a teammate… (SMH, SMH, SMH)

I would get on my soapbox right about now and say how STUPID it was for Gilbert to show such a blatant disregard for the seriousness of his current situation, but I won’t. I won’t say how disappointed Wizard’s fans have been in his performance (or lack thereof) for the past couple of  years and this latest drama is sure to get him a one way ticket out of Washington. I won’t say how he’s living up to the sum of his number “0,” because it would be too trite to say that he’s acting like a total zero right now. I won’t say those things.

But I will say:

Mercy is rarely ever shown to the African American athlete who does something stupid. Gilbert, welcome to that club. You’re bout to see the world in an entirely different light.

Got comments? Leave ‘em.

I believe Gilbert is on Twitter as gilbertarenas. Since he’ll be at home for a while, send him a text message and tell him how stupid and costly his errors in judgment have been. You never know, it might make a difference. He needs help!

In the middle of doing a list of some of the “stupidest” stories of 2009, I found out that Washington Wizards point guard, Gilbert Arenas, was storing firearms in his locker at the Verizon Center. The Verizon Center is where the Wizards play and I can’t think of one good reason that Arenas would be storing firearms there. I mean, why?

Arenas reportedly told the Washington Times that he didn’t want the firearms kept at his house anymore after his new daughter was born… SMH. Have athletes not learned anything from the Plaxico Burress case?Remember Plaxico? He’s the New York Giant football player and Superbowl Star who HAD to carry a gun into a NEW YORK CITY night club even after friends told him not to. He carries the gun in, it ACCIDENTALLY goes off. It shoots no one but HIM and he’s now in PRISON.

Yeah, Prison. No NFL contract. No red carpets. No hoochies on every corner. No Versace.

Every time I think of that story, I can hardly believe its true. Plaxico is in prison, not playing professional football because he concealed a gun, carried it into a nightclub and shot himself in the leg… REALLY.

Athletes: LEAVE THEM GUNS ALONE! Athletes who want to carry or own firearms should hire round-the-clock armed security because it costs entirely too much to own a gun, conceal it and not know the gun laws in the city that you’re in. If you’re in prison and not working, it cost you too much.

As I understand it, the District of Columbia has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. Even though the firearms were in a locker and not on Arenas’s person, I can’t see him getting off without any form of punishment.

I met Gilbert a few years back when I interviewed him for a book. I found him to be one of the nicest guys ever. So, I really don’t understand why he would feel the need to own guns in the first place.

There’s some saying that goes if you have a gun, you should plan on using it because that’s sorta what happens. Arenas turned the guns over to the Verizon Center and informed them to turn them into police. Apparently the case is still under investigation, but turning those guns in was the best thing that Gil could have done.Well, not having them in the first place would have been even better.

Gil, leave those guns and chickenheads alone! You’re so much better than that.

Any thoughts on why our professional athletes feel the need to carry heat instead of hiring security? Talk to me!

In the spirit of the end of the year, I’ve decided to do a series 0f 2009 9 lists. The first being this one: The 9 Most Pathetic News Stories of 2009. I read a lot of blogs, new sites, newspapers, magazines and the like. So, I feel that I have a good grasp of what has been out there during 2009. If you think I’ve missed a pathetic news story, let me know. Let’s add it to the list.  I’m putting these stories in no specific order. Let’s agree that they’re all mutually pathetic.

1. Balloon Boy & his parents! This story was really pathetic. No one should be in search of the kind of publicity which sends out the message that your own child is in danger. I don’t care how bad you want to get your own reality show.
2. Congressman Wilson yelling out while Obama is addressing congress. Since when has yelling at the president been acceptable? Not since I’ve been an American. Congressman Wilson=pathetic.
3. The Salahi’s crashing Obama’s first state dinner. Some people will do anything to embarrass the president and therefore they’re pathetic.
4. Tiger Woods having 10+ mistresses but not telling his wife before the National Enquirer did so. Come on, if you want to have a bunch of mistresses, let your wife know. Who needs the public embarrassment and humiliation? Tiger’s marital infidelities & lack of honesty=pathetic.
5. Shaquille O’neal banging Gilbert Arenas’s fiance’ and sending naughty text messages as proof. Of all the women in the world to choose as a side piece, try not to select another NBA player’s fiance cause if you do its PATHETIC! I won’t even discuss the nature of the text messages. I’ll leave that to my girl Natasha at www.theybf.com But I will say that Shaq was still married to the beautiful Shaunie who is pictured on the right while all of this was going down in 2009!
6. The 39 year old Female Boy Scout Leader who had sex with a 15 year old member of her group. Lady, you are the leader, act like it. Having sex with a 15 year old and you’re 39 is definitely pathetic.
7. Jon Gosselin’s pre-divorce girlfriends and dating habits. Frankly, I wasn’t into Jon and Kate plus 8 so I definitely wasn’t hearing Jon – Kate plus the other chickenheads. Flaunting girlfriends prior to a divorce when your marriage made you popular is PATHETIC.
8. Because I love hip hop, I must say Beanie Sigel dissing Jay-Z now that he’s signed to G-Unit is pathetic in a major way.
9. Bad Butt pad stories! Why am I constantly seeing reports of female celebrities wearing butt pads? And worse, the butt pads look like butt pads, they don’t even look real. So here’s some advice: Either get some butt injections or sit down somewhere. I’m am so tired of bad butt pad stories!

Which pathetic 2009 story did I miss? Leave a comment and let me know!