He gets paid for this?

I am a sports fan. A HUGE sports fan. I love watching sports and I love reading about sports. Most sports columnists are just blowhards who try to be controversial or go against the grain. You understand it and you acccept it as you read most things. But occasionally, one of these guys will write something that is just hilarious. Especially when they are proven to be flat out wrong just a day later. One of the Miami Herald's writers had that experience this week. Greg Cote wrote a column saying that the dolphins should give Daunte Culpepper and Ricky Williams a second chance. Ricky Williams, of course, is the guy that quit on the Dolphins a couple of years ago right before training camp and then decided to "unretire." Since then, he has been suspended by the NFL for testing positive for marijuana use. In his column, Cote had this to say:

These are two proven, productive weapons when healthy and unsuspended, which both seem close to finally being.

and this:

In Williams' last uninterrupted season (2003), he rushed for 1,372 yards, caught 50 passes and had 10 touchdowns. Draftee Lorenzo Booker is an NFL maybe. Williams is proven.

Williams' last uninterrupted season was 2003? The last three seasons have been "interrupted" not by injurie, but by quitting and by drug suspensions. And Cote says Williams is proven? Of course he bases this on Williams saying that he has been "sober" (or whatever you call it when you have a drug problem) for a ridiculous amount of time.

So of course, after writing this, what comes out? Ricky Williams has failed his fifth drug test.

I just find it funny. Ths guy has the ability to be one of best running backs of all time. But he can't stay on the field. Some people are being apologists for Ricky and blaming his drug use on "Social Anxiety Disorder." Apparently a "disease" that disables people when they get around a large group of people. Ricky has to "blaze" (as people called it on the radio last night) just to be comfortable. To me, it's just plain selfishness. He has a contract with the Dolphins. He has made commitments to teammates. All Ricky has "proven" is that he is untrustworthy and does not deserve any more chances from the Dolphins or the NFL!

So anyway, I find it ironic for Cote. Of course in his blog, he says he included a caveat about Ricky giving up pot. Nice backtracking there. He bought Ricky Williams song and dance, wrote a column about it, and now he looks foolish. I wonder what the going rate is at the Herald for blowhard sports columnist. Might be time for a career change.