I feel the need to speak up here because I think Indiana has some pretty unique laws on this issue.

A few years ago Buck Rampage, over 21 at the time, was driving home from the grocery store (grocery store!) with his girlfriend , 20 at the time, and they were pulled over. He bought a case of beer at the grocery store and it was in a brown bag in the back seat of the car. The cop apparently had seen them walking out of the grocery store and decided to pull them over. She rec'd a minor consumption and he rec'd a contributing to a minor consumption ticket and there wasn't even a bottle/can/whatever opened. He was ticketed for just having beer in the car with an underage passenger.

Even though Claussen was a) at a liquor store, b) driving and c) a college freshman I initially believed that something similar happened in this situation. We were all the driver of an upperclassman in school when they wanted some booze. Maybe I'm right...maybe I'm wrong. If i'm right, then it's certainly not the same thing as pot possession and/or solicitation of a prostitute. If I'm wrong then it should have been covered in the exact same manner as the other stories.

Hey Jack: This post is about the double standards in reporting/"serving up for humilation" of similar offenses by a media giant. I don't want to get into splitting hairs, and miss the larger point.

That being said, I'm sure that the police in Indiana are overzealous in trying to catch college kids (particularly near a campus) committing underage drinking. I'm also sure that you don't want to open up that can of worms.

As a minority who grew up in an inner city/urban environment, I'm trying to say this without coming off as an a-hole: I'm absolutely sure minorities deal with overzealous cops more so than Caucasians in Indiana. And I'm sure that those cops, as unhelpful as they might have been, were probably more respectful towards ya than they are in treating minorities in most cases. Believe me, I've been in both situations, I know.

My point being: OJ Mayo's charges were dropped almost immediately. And, to use a line I've heard quite thrown around a bit the last few days: If Claussen was innocent, he would have fought the charges. He agreed to a pretrial deal, and thus is admitting his guilt....

Sigh. I didn't like my response there. I dislike when other people think that taking a pretrial deal implies that a person might not be railroaded. It's quite possible that Claussen was railroaded by overzealous cops. And I hope that what you take from Buck's experience is that cops can abuse their power even in the most mundane matters, and that it is probably more common then you think. From personal experiences and experiences of people close to me, I've learned to keep an open mind about these kinds of matters; I hope you will, too... in all situations.

As for this case, honestly: I doubt that the editors of Deadspin took into consideration that possibility, and let it effect their decision to run the story. More likely is that they didn't see any potential for humor or interest in this story because it didn't have an easily identifible "villain", like OJ Mayo. At least that's my take....

Actually it was detailed today on CNN/SI that it was a situation similar to Buck's. Claussen was actually charged with 'transporting alcohol as a minor'. that's way different than consuming and it's not even 'possession'. all of these are different things.

Most times it's cheaper to pay the $170 and get it over with than go to court and have to deal with all of those costs. Seriously, it's a pain to even get a parking ticket here. The pretrial deal is a joke because even though you are 'admitting guilt', you do it just to get out of the hassle of continuing to go to court. I've done it numerous times with traffic citations of my own.

I don't think the Claussen citation is a story and that's why it wasn't run. It's certainly not similar to the prostitution solicitation. That would be my point.

Yeah, I hear you Cobra. I generally would prefer that none of these stories be made into big stories; reporting on the incidents if you are covering college football is fine. Serving up college kids... amateur athletes... for humilation is kinda lame, though.

I think in all three cases you can make an argument that it's not a "real" crime - they are misdemeanors, and arguing about whether jaywalking is worse than loitering or whatever is besides the point. They aren't significant crimes, and they aren't significant professional athletes. The blotter mentality of bloggers and sportswriters is kinda over the top nowadays, in my opinion. "Here's another athlete to laugh at it... look he's drunk at a frat party!" I don't care about it too much when it's just for kicks, but sometimes it's hard to tell where people will draw the line... this again is a big reason why OJ Mayo already carries the "thug" label....

Uh-oh. Intra-blog fight.

Deadspin.com has no responsibility whatsoever to cover any story, or any number of stories equally. The reason that Deadspin "reflect[s] the trends/views of sports bloggers" is because they have a fantastic blog. They're not bribing anybody, unless they really ARE buying beers for links, as you've suggested. Which is awfully unlikely. They're not a member of the public trust. They're not to be held to a higher standard just because they get a lot of hits. Just because a lot of people read Deadspin doesn't make it their responsibility to suddenly be... I don't know... sainted, right?

This website covers philanthropic acts by many athletes, although there are tons that never get mentioned (Agassi Foundation, Federer Foundation, Doug Flutie Foundation (just to name a few)). That's OK, because we, like Deadspin, aren't a member of the public trust. It's not a problem. If people don't like that we haven't focused on those charities, they're free to shoot us an email. Or leave us a comment.

But imagine if Deadspin.com did an entire story about how we don't cover Agassi, Federer, or Flutie, and then hinted that maybe we didn't cover them because those players are white. That would be kind of shitty, yeah?

Actually SML, I looked it up and it's just a citation for Claussen while it's a misdemeanor for the other guys. There is a difference, at least in Indiana.

I think Mayo doesn't help get the 'thug' label away from his name when he gets t'd up in his final HS game for throwing a ball into the stands and inciting the crowd.

On the one hand, SML, I think that Deadspin may not have covered the Claussen story because it would make it look like they were piling on Notre Dame. I don't think that was a big deal in this situation.

On the other hand, though, I do wish blogs in general would ease up on the 21-and-under athletes, especially those who aren't in pro leagues. They make lots of mistakes, and it doesn't help if some blog is there to mock them every time. I shudder to think if everything I did 21-and-under was on the Web for all time.

For example, I'm thinking of an U-18 athlete who had sexy pictures up of herself on her Myspace--bad idea if you are an athlete! And yet, if you're not an athlete, no one would notice/care. It's an awkward situation all around, because the athletes are too young to know what media coverage is like until it's too late.

Indeed, good point DJM. I do want to make it clear that I don't think Deadspin is not covering the stories because of race, and left race out of it entirely (except with respect to the AOL Fanhouse comments).

But yes, you are right - they are free to write about whatever they want. And similarly, if I want to write a post b*tching about what they are writing about, I have that right, and Deadspin can write a post b*tching about ESPN, or taking ESPN to task for whatever they are making fun of ESPN for this week, so be it. That's not really my issue here.

I personally think Deadspin should exercise more tact in their coverage of college athletes, particularly those accused of misdemeanors or even more so, those who haven't done anything unusual for a college kid. By writing this post, I'm hoping to bring attention to that, and maybe get them to rethink their policy. That's all.

I voted for Ned. I enjoyed the Ned series of posts. A football player on crutches hobbling into a team fight... was worthy of satire. On the other hand, let me ask you this: Do you think these bloggers/writers would find it fun if I had a blog reporting every misdemeanor or minor offense they committed, for the purposes of laughing at them? I'm not as sensitive when it comes to professional athletes who are paid large sums of money, but college kids? Or high school kids (which as also been tackled on Deadspin in the past)?

I don't know. I don't want any beef with Deadspin (believe me, if their legion finds this post, they'll be coming for me again), but I do think they should rethink their policy. Hey, there are people who don't think Sports By Brooks should have pictures of girls in bathing suits on their site. I don't care either way. But they have a right to write about it, and make their argument, and SxB has a right to defend their policy.

My personal policy is to point out double standards in the media, and Deadspin is a major media site, not just a blog. Perhaps it's an oversight; perhaps they just weren't aware of this incident; perhaps they decided to leave college athletes alone. But it does come off as a double standard, and that's what I was bringing attention to.

But you have an excellent point....

Cobra - not sure I think that should matter, either. I highly doubt anyone would call Claussen a "thug" if, in the fourth quarter of his last high school football game, ran into the end zone for a touchdown, spiked the ball and did a celebration dance, earning a 15-yard penalty and automatic ejection (not the actual rule, but b-ball rules state that throwing a ball into the stands is an automatic ejection).

Point being, people want to call Mayo a thug, and are coming up with any excuse to brand him as such. "Oh, he got kicked out of a game". "Oh, he pushed a referee" (turns out the ref flopped). "Oh, he's smoking weed, I knew it" (nope, charges were dropped). Read those AOL Fanhouse comments if you get a chance. Keep in mind that the charges got dropped. People really want this kid to get nailed....

I believe you, people are idiots at times. I think the kid is a joke for the way he's running his life and trying to use influence to get places. That's an entirely different post though.

I just don't think Deadspin kept this off their page for any reason other than it wasn't that big of news.

I just don't think Deadspin kept this off their page for any reason other than it wasn't that big of news.

Very likely. I just think that Darrell Hand was even less "big news", honestly.

Don't ask me why, because I have no idea, but I also am an OJ Mayo defender. (Look here, http://mcbias.blogspot.com/search/label/OJ%20Mayo , for more on how I feel about the issue.) There's something about a hugely successful young minority athlete that brings out hatred. I don't think that OJ Mayo has done anything worthy of hate, though, if you carefully examine the record.

There's something about a hugely successful young minority athlete that brings out hatred

If you are a quiet, don't say anything political at all type, like LeBron, the media will leave you alone. For a bit. Then they'll bash you for not standing up and signing a petition.

But if you are a defiant, strong personality, then soon enough you'll be labeled "brash", "headstrong" (as opposed to "leader" or "visionary") and not too much later "thug" comes next.

Personally, I don't about LeBron's refusal to sign the petition. Everyone is free to choose their causes to support. The only time I have come down on LeBron is for taking cheap shots the Starbury sneaker movement!

I personally think Deadspin should exercise more tact in their coverage of college athletes, particularly those accused of misdemeanors or even more so, those who haven't done anything unusual for a college kid.

You could make the argument that this is the rule of thumb they used in choosing to run one story, and not the other. Drinking beer is something every college kid does, soliciting a hooker is not.

And what D-1 college football player needs to pay a streetwalker for sex?

That's the real story here.

I think the Hand story was big news for the reason Brian said above.

The most simple explanation is that With Leather had a post on Clausen the morning after the incident (too lazy to dig for the link, but it's there).

As such, Deadspin's editors probably found it a bit redundant to post the same jokes to what is essentially the same audience.

Just a thought...

Let me pipe in here.

People take the pre-trial diversion mainly because you can't beat the charge unless you get a lawyer, go to court, blah blah blah.

Let me clarify my case that Jack mentioned. My girlfriend stayed in the car. I bought a 12 pack of warm beer. I know the "plain clothes" officer saw me show ID. He then pulled me over within half a mile of the store. I don't know why I was pulled over. He knew I had beer, checked ID's and then read us both our rights and gave us tickets. I always thought you only had your rights read to you if you were being taken in. I guess not.

Anyways, back to the pre-trial diversion. I was pissed as hell and thought about fighting it, but when it comes down to it that is the law in Indiana. I broke a law and unless I wanted to make a much bigger deal out of it and miss mult. days of work, I had to take the pre-trial.

It was around $300 and stay out of trouble for a year. No prob.

It's a stupid ass law, but a law nonetheless.

Anyone can bash a person that is famous or somewhat famous. Most times its not hard to find someone to by into the same way they feel. I feel like in any case no matter if the person was black or white, they deserve the right to redeem themselves. No matter what mistake anyone makes people shouldn't try to black ball them. If you don't have something to say about the situation that would better the outcome for any parties involved then try not to say anything at all.