I’m a little frustrated right now. I was sitting here planning to do this whole piece on blasting UM running back Kevin Grady for his obscene DUI arrest last week and then Eugene (seriously who still names their kid Eugene?) Clifford goes off and gets arrested for assault.  Then I have to go and read Stewart Mandel be all logical about the increased attention give to arrests.

I did a blog for the Columbus Dispatch site BuckeyeXtra.com last season after Antonio Henton’s arrest asking people to have patience and to remind everyone that these are just kids; and who can’t remember making mistakes between the ages of 17-23? I tend to still agree with that original assessment. However …..

Clifford is likely gone from the team and I believe this to be true regardless of the outcome of his case. This is arrest number 2 since he signed his LOI and is his fourth disciplinary issue all together. Not a good track record and especially more so considering you were already residing in the coach’s doghouse. Have fun playing 1-AA ball.

What to do with Grady is a little bit more difficult to ascertain. First of all, he’s never been in trouble before. BUT! blowing a .281 isn’t like saying ‘oh, I’ll have one more and leave’ and you just blow over the legal limit. In case you’re unaware .281 is more than 3.5 times the state legal limit.

Grady weighs in at a bit more that 220 pounds so according to this chart (and there is no indication on how long Grady was drinking) the quickest Grady could have achieved this blood alcohol level is within 3 hours at about 6 drinks an hour - or about 18 drinks. Wow! How does one get behind the wheel thinking that is safe? How does anyone let anyone else get behind the wheel after consuming that many drinks. Think about this … he could have been drinking longer meaning he had even more drinks.

Here is the real kicker … some sites suggest that death is possible any point about .25.

There is, however, one last issue with Grady’s arrest running through my head and that is Hot Rod Richy Rodriguez (who by the way decided he has some integrity today - more to come later). Perhaps if that was not the guy who brought to us the names Chris Henry and Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones I could be a little less skeptical about Rodriguez’ history of disciplinary actions.  Oh and I know, I know … Maurice Clarett and the whole those who live in glass houses things … do me a favor and shove save it.

I understand that a coach cannot be completely responsible for his players at all times and that some kids come with baggage but by and large I have been pretty pleased with how Tressel has handled incidents with his teams. You might make some mistakes when picking guys but how you handle them once they’re yours speaks volumes about you.

I personally feel that Rodriguez needs to step up and make an example of young Mr. Grady. First because this is his first disciplinary issue since his arrival. Second, because of the perception that he is a weakling when it comes to disciplinary measures. I saw you hand this kid over to Barwis and a several week suspension is in order.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 2:29 pm and is filed under Big Ten, Michigan, Ohio State. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.