Emails in on Chaisson, Kellert & LittleJim

Posted by berrytramel
on May 9, 2009M at 8:23 am
The new emails are in, and the topics center on Justin Chaisson, the Las Vegas football player whose OU career is in jeopardy after pleading guilty to several charges dropped from felonies to misdemeanors but relating to kidnapping and threatening an ex-girlfriend; Clint LittleJim, the former college baseball pitcher who pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter but found redemption as a high school coach; and Frank Kellert, the Brooklyn Dodger who stood at home plate as Jackie Robinson stole home in the 1955 World Series.
Jason: “I would say no to Chaisson. His temper may have never reached this point in public before, but there has to be severe punishment for threatening someone’s life like he did. That girl had to be terrified beyond belief that she was going to die, be raped or severely injured. I wouldn’t want to be in Stoops’ shoes either, but it seems clear to me that he should not set foot on campus.”

This does seem to be something past poor judgment, which is what you could stick Josh Jarboe with a year ago. This seems like, at best for Chaisson, a serious anger issue. Which should make everyone take pause.

 

Shlomo: “There are knuckleheads out there. There are pitchers with million-dollar arms and half-million dollar brains. Some athletes don’t know when to come home at night. Some drink, or do drugs, or take juice. Some are brawlers. But this guy is the second coming of Christian Peter and he has no business wearing a Sooner uniform. Then, again, Dr. Tom (Osborne) ran a squeaky clean program at Nebraska and still took Peter. Guess the smell of victory was greater than the smell of Peter; kind of like a Right Guard shower. Anyway, I do hope that Bobby Big Game keeps his head on straight and padlocks the doors to the stadium.”

If you made me guess, I’d say Chaisson is headed to OU. That’s what it sounded like in the court proceedings.

 

Lindsay: “If this was you or I, we would be in jail facing a 20-25 year sentence. But because he is a star athlete, his hand gets slapped. How can OU let a person like this play under scholarship? What message are they sending? As usual, it is all about wins and trophies and the dollar.”

Actually, I don’t think Chaisson got a break because he was an athlete. I’m told he comes from some money, so he likely had a big-time lawyer. And plea agreements like this are made all over the country, all the time. I’d say the drop to misdemeanors settled more on an over-taxed court system.

 

Orlie wants to talk OU women’s basketball: “My wife and I are committed fans and we have several questions regarding this past year and next season. 1. Was there a valid attempt to keep Jenny Vining on the team ? This question is based on Coach Coale’s solid support of Vining last year and this past season. Vining began to show her 3-point shooting ability as well as her defensive skill while playing in Whitney Hand’s absences. 2. Why wasn’t more pressure put on Courtney Paris to lose weight, to attempt getting off her feet and moving faster. We have the impression the coaches thought her as good as she could be. 3. Have you ever witnessed Coach Coale showing anger with her team when it was obvious they were dogging it? We have watched a lot of women’s ball and have seen some of the country’s best coaches (Goestenkors, Mulkey, Summit, Hatchell, Van Derveer, Frese, Stringer) come down hard on their teams when the team did not play at their best or capability? 4. What about post players for next year? Coach Coale has some of the best role players in the country, but if she does not find some talented post players who can contribute immediately, it will be a long ‘09-10 season.”

1. I have no idea. I assume so. 2. I think OU handled Courtney with kid gloves, since she’s such a pleasant person. 3. I don’t think it’s much Sherri’s personality to lose her cool. You have to be yourself. 4. I actually think Abi Olajuwon will be decent. She’ll have to be rested routinely, but the Sooners will go small quite a bit.

 

Jim wrote about the OU-BYU ticket prices: “Thank you for at least looking at the middle class sports person, who cannot afford those choice seats. I am amazed at the 50,000 fans paying the price. I wonder how many seats are being bought up by scalpers?”

I am always amazed at the stamina of the American sports fan.

 

Another Jim: “OU sent my renewal for season football parking in the fieldhouse lot, just north of the stadium. My new cost is $180, up from $120 last year. A 33 percent increase. With the economy stinking, when will these team officials realize a plasma TV is a lot cheaper and more comfortable way to view an event. Amongst my friends, that is a decision that just gets easier to make.”

Officials will realize it when the parking spaces and stadiums seats go unsold. For OU football, that day has not arrived.

 

Let’s talk about Frank Kellert. Dee: “I was a die-hard Yankee fan as a child, although this was a few years before my family ever thought about owning a TV. I could never imagine a man even as fast as Robinson was beating a throw from Whitey Ford to Yogi Berra, as good a catcher as ever knelt behind the plate. But I don’t think I ever read about Kellert’s comment.”

This whole thing started with Jacoby Ellsbury’s steal of home for the Red Sox the other night, which I wrote about. A colleague of mine, Bryan Painter, was driving back from the Texas Panhandle that night and was listening to the Red Sox-Yankees. As exciting as was the play on television, can you imagine how exciting it must have been on radio?

 

Tom: “Thanks for the accurate portrayal of Frank Kellert. Knew him well. His father was the plant manager at Wilson’s and I played for the Packers. He and his father were class people.”

You write about a guy who’s been dead 33 years and you just hope you get it close to right. But so many people responded about Kellert, I’ve gone from hopeful to quite confident.

 

Faye: “I knew Frank during the mid 1940s as a student at Oklahoma A&M. We lived in the same house and I spent a good many hours with him. He was everything you said about him and more. I saw the play you mentioned on TV and followed his career all the way back to OKC. He was an outstanding pitcher to begin with but was such a good hitter Toby Greene moved him to first base where he played most of his career. He threw a forkball that I couldn’t even catch, much less hit! He was a great human being!”

Does anybody throw a forkball anymore?

 

Jason: “Good article on the NBA vs. NHL. Some good points, but do you agree that debating which game is better is subjective? The NHL does have the better ultimate prize. Who knows the name of the NBA trophy? And OKC would probably have two Stanley Cups had the move happened (the Avs winning it had little to do with their move and more to do with it just being the franchise’s time — Quebec had the league’s best record the year before the move). And I’d argue that the NHL has the better athletes too. In the NBA you can be huge but far less talented than your peers, but in the NHL, if you’re big and you can’t skate, you’re demoted to the Central League, if you ever get to play for pay at all.”

Well, yes, all debates are subjective, else they’re not debates. But Jason’s side of this debate seems to settle on hockey having a cool name for a trophy and better athletes. The first point is true but hardly a reason to take one sport over the other. The second point is laughable.

 

Walt wrote about my column on Russell Westbrook: “I was glad to see your article. It is amazing to me to hear the opinion of our local radio and TV experts, explaining how Russell is not a point guard.’ Their perception of the position counts more than actual performance. It is the sort of stupidity that if prevalent at certain points in sports history would have prevented fans from seeing the likes of, say, Barry Sanders. The daily critical commentary by these fools is the very thing over which Jeff Capel became so irritated. ‘Why dwell on what we can’t do? Why is that your only focus?’ Hang in there, you are on the right side of this discussion.”

The main criticism of Westbrook is his high turnover rate as a rookie, 3.3 per game. In their rookie years, Magic Johnson averaged 4.0, Allen Iverson 4.4, Isiah Thomas 4.2, Tim Hardaway 3.3 and Dwyane Wade 3.2 turnovers a game.

 

Joe wrote about Jim Plunkett: “If you are one of the Hall of Fame voters, I would like to lobby for you to vote Jim Plunkett on next year’s ballot. He has more than enough credentials and stats to qualify. No. 1 draft pick, Heisman winner, two-time Super Bowl winner and MVP, as well as many other awards. He is an outstanding example for young folks and the only two-time winning Super Bowl QB that is not in the Hall of Fame. Oakland has been snubbed enough.

I’ve always liked Jim Plunkett. But I don’t see it. Plunkett had more career interceptions than touchdown passes (198-164), though that wasn’t a capital crime in his day (1971-86). But Plunkett also had a losing record as an NFL starter (72-77), and even if you throw out his days quarterbacking the hapless Patriots, Plunkett still was just 49-34, which is good but not great. And Plunkett won only one Super Bowl MVP award.

 

Now, on to Clint LittleJim. Brian: “I thought your piece on Clint LittleJim was a great piece of storytelling. It’s easy with topics like that to get maudlin or too sugary or too heavy with the message. You did a terrific job of striking a balance – didn’t gloss over what the guy did, didn’t make the victim’s husband too much of a hero, but portrayed him as a regular guy who drew on his own experiences to do what he thought was right.”

I hope that’s how people took it. You know, I didn’t get into much religion. I just tried to let LittleJim and J.J. Kearnes tell the story in their own words.

 

Todd: “The story on LittleJim was more touching than any story following Sam Bradford’s or Blake Griffin’s escapades on the gridiron or basketball court. Keep up the good work and don’t hesitate to provide another human interest story if it presents itself.”

Will do, but stories like LittleJim don’t come along very often.

 

Kala: “I was touched by how you wrote this article. At the age of 19, I lost my oldest sister to a wreckless driver. The loss has changed my family forever. However, I did not feel as free to forgive as the husband in your article did. It will be 17 years in August since my sister was taken. Though I have changed my attitude towards her killer, I would love for him just to simply tell my family he was sorry. On the other hand, how grateful I am that not only God, but Mr. Kearnes, gave LittleJim a second chance.”

The two most powerful forces on Earth are moving water and forgiveness.

 

Bill: “This article touched me. You have an understanding of the heart of what is obviously a good man in Clint LittleJim. You also were able to capture the feelings of someone who has had their life turned upside down by their own use of alcohol. I am an alcoholic. I understand the fear, self-loathing, guilt, insecurity and absence of self confidence that one can only understand if they have been there, or been with someone who was there. By the grace of God and for no other reason, I just marked 21 years without a drink or non-prescribed drug of any kind. Like Clint, I can say that the only reason God laid on my heart the ability to stay sober was that God had more in mind for me. It is truly inspiring for me to read of someone who has been faced with rock bottom and slowly but surely begun a path of spiritual growth that allows them to make their life meaningful. Thank you!”

You know, sometimes, not very often but sometimes, I’m reminded why my job can be important.

 

Richard: “I would much rather read that than even a story on OU football. Great story.”

Well, now we’re getting serious.

 

Jo: “Just wanted to let you know I really enjoyed the article on Clint LittleJim. I refuse to read most of the newspaper and don’t watch the news because everything is negative. Thank you for a positive story about someone who has made a difference. There are more of those to be told if anyone is interested in reading them.”

Actually, the majority of stories on the sports page are positive. It’s just that people are so fixated on the negative, they don’t always remember the positive.

 

Dave: “Your story about LittleJim is crap. Maybe you should do a story about the countless lives that are lost to drunk drivers. Wow, you really opened a horrible nightmare.”

Stuff like this reminds you of how many hurting people are out there.

 

Lindell: “I just wanted to tell you your article about Clint LittleJim was the best article I have read in a long time. Although you would never expect someone to not serve time in jail for this crime, maybe it proves that putting people in jail is not always the right thing.”

I didn’t really express an opinion in the column, but let me be clear. I think anyone who drives drunk belongs in jail. But with the clarity of hindsight, I’m glad Clint LittleJim was spared.

 

Jim: “God bless you for pointing out again that we should never judge a person by only a low point in their life.”

I wonder if the same holds true for the high point?

 

John: “No church service on May 3rd could top your story. An excellent piece that makes us be thankful that there are the Kearnes’ and the Littlejims’ of the world.”

Maybe some church services are what caused the story.
 
 
 

 


Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.


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