Really? He shot himself? First off, what was he doing with a gun in a club? Didn’t he learn anything from Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs? If you’re not sure who “he” is, I’m referring to Plaxico Burress. The New York Giant, who has a $25 million contract, accidentally shot himself at The Latin Quarter Club in New York City this past weekend. I’m not sure why he needed a gun at the club anyway, but this is just another incident by an overpaid athlete that just doesn’t make any sense at all.

It amazes me how much money goes into the professional sports industry to begin with. $25 million and he can’t figure out how to work the safety on a gun or he doesn’t have body guards who can protect him? What is he doing with $25 million dollars anyway? Can you imagine what $25 million could do for our education system? We build stadiums worth millions of dollars, yet we can’t even repair our inadequate school buildings. It just doesn’t make any sense to me.

It also doesn’t make any sense that Burress is carrying around an unlicensed weapon. Now, he is facing jail time because he was too lazy to register his gun. I guess he was too busy bathing in his money to figure that one out. Some people are upset that he might be imprisoned because he was carrying a gun. I must admit it does suck that he may possibly miss out on some crucial years of his son’s childhood, but he is a big dummy.

This incident reminds me of the time when Latrell Sprewell turned down a $21 million contract extension by declaring, “I have a family to feed.” What? What are you feeding your family… lobster every night? Does he send his kids to school with caviar sandwiches and Perrier on tap? I’m not sure what I would do with $21 million, but I definitely would not make any asinine comments like that. I think that professional sports have gone way beyond what they should be. Now, I don’t think that we should revert to the professional baseball of the 1940s, when baseball players worked two jobs, but these salaries are getting a little bit ridiculous.

These athletes need to realize that they are constantly under the scrutiny of the public. I remember my grandmother reminiscing about her first date with my grandfather to Ebbets Field. That’s not even possible today. Today, a box of cracker jacks and a hot dog cost an arm and a leg.

I also remember growing up, looking up to people like Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing. It seems as if children don’t have too many athletes to look up to these days. There is no reason to be carrying around a loaded handgun and bringing it into a packed nightclub or to host illegal dog fighting in your backyard. The professional sports arena has become a proverbial circus, and some of these athletes need to get their act together or they’ll be making license plates with Michael Vick in jail.