How a real captain should act

I really can't believe no one's posted this yet::


http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/15096581.htm

Miami player shot, then his teammate shoots back at perpetrator
By Nicholas Spangler


MIAMI - Two members of the University of Miami team, including one of the nation's top defensive players, were involved in a shooting early Friday.

One of the players, junior safety Willie Cooper, was shot in the buttocks outside the off-campus house he shares with two other members of the team. His injuries were not life-threatening, although he was taken to South Miami Hospital.

Here is what happened, according to South Miami Police:

"Cooper shares the house with Brandon Meriweather and Ryan Moore," said South Miami Police Major Michael Mills. "Meriweather came home and found a late model blue Audi running in front of the house, with two people sitting inside of it. He mentioned it to Cooper and when they went outside to investigate, one of the suspects in the car shot Cooper. Meriweather returned fire with a semiautomatic pistol."

Meriweather fired three times, but it is not known if he hit the man, who wore a bandanna over his face. The players said they didn't know him or the Audi's driver.

Miami policy forbids guns in dormitories, but says nothing about off-campus housing.

Property records show that Tim Walton, the UM defensive backs coach, bought the house in 2005 for $250,000. The players pay him rent, said UM sports information director Rick Korch.

"As far as we're concerned," Korch said, "Brandon Meriweather was fully within his legal rights. We don't feel any of the players did anything wrong."

Late Friday, the university issued the following statement: "We are cooperating with the ongoing investigation by the South Miami police department. Our medical staff is monitoring Willie's condition. Until the investigation is complete, we will not have any additional comment."

Meriweather, a senior safety, is one of the top defensive players in the country. Moore, a senior wide receiver, was suspended for an undisclosed violation of team rules last season and missed the Peach Bowl.

A man who answered the door Friday afternoon wouldn't give his name, and said the players wouldn't talk.

Next-door-neighbor Chimere Millings said she and her husband heard the morning's shots and thought at first it was a game: "They play paintball with their friends all the time. People will come by in cars, jump out and shoot everything up. Then we saw the police and the ambulance."

UM's football season begins Sept. 4 against Florida State University.

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A lot of people are giving Miami heat about this, that same old Thug U crap they've been recycling since 1995, but I say this really turned out a lot better than it could have (note, not in response to what you said rambo, i started writing that before you posted). Brandon Meriweather, the kid is a hero, I don't want to even hear anything contrary. Bash the fact that he has a gun all you want, fact is that it's legal, and obviously it came in quite handy. That's a real team captain, willing to shoot a guy for a teammate, if it wasn't for him stepping up, they both could have been in much worse shape.

 

Because he obviously didn't need it right? Put the facts up on the board:

1. Star player in a house with at least one other high porofile player (Ryan Moore, though he sucks).

2. Grew up poor, and wasn't exactly raised in the best neighborhood. Knows that sometimes he'll need to protect himself.

3. Less than one year away from being a multi-millionaire.

4. House not in what you'd call a very good area.

Brandon had the gun because he knew he might need it, and it turns out, he did. I'm sorry that every campus can't be in South Bend or Chestnut Hill, sometimes they're a lot closer to the streets where some of these kids grew up than the masses would like to believe. I believe it was two years ago a kid from LA that was going to Oregon was killed near his home. As terrible as it may be, these things happen, and I guarantee you that there are many players out there that are prepared for when they do just like Meriweather was. No one has ever heard anything negative from him other than how good a player and leader he is for the team, I certainly will not ignorantly label him a thug based off of him merely protecting his own life. But I suppose some people would have rather him watch helplessly as his friend was shot, maybe even shot himself.

 

You completely missed the point there, well done.

I didn't say he should have a gun because he's close to being a first round pick, I said he should have the gun because he thought he needed to protect himself, which was obviously a good assertion on his part. The fact that he was going to be a very well paid athlete in under a year contributed to that sure, but was absolutely not the entire reason. And in case you missed it, he had the gun on at the time was because he was put into a potentially very dangerous situation. It's his right to own that gun if he uses it in a responsible manner, and everything he did that day was legal by Florida's standards. By the way, I love how you're just assuming that he carries the gun around 24/7, in fact, that's probably the only reason he starts, threatens Coker before every game.

And the area around campus and the OB in particular might not be the ghetto, but it also isn't a country club, not to mention that it's what, a whole 6 minute car ride from the seediest parts of Miami?

As for fireguy and F Miami, I guess it'd be better then if he didn't have the gun then? Let him and his friend be shot, yep, that'd work. Then everyone would be happy right. I guess you're also assuming that every person that has ever been robbed at gunpoint, or shot, or attacked with a gun in any way deserved it, because they should have figured they were in trouble.

 

So now anyone that owns a gun is doing something illicit that makes them deserving of being attacked? And if this was a robbery attempt, does that mean that he still put himself in a bad situation, by being a high profile athlete?

Guns are legal. Brandon owned a gun. Brandon used it legally, and in a manner SOLELY to save his life and that of his friend. If he were out at a club, or randomly in the streets and got into this situation, then I'd agree, he'd be wrong. However, he was at his home, and in a potentially very dangerous situation.

And I might be losing the thread, but I know how I feel about the situation, and I'll be damned if I condemn Meriweather for protecting himself. And yes, it does have a lot to do with him being a Hurricane, because chances are I wouldn't care enough to learn about the specific situation and would give a very basic judgement on the player, like I feel many of you are now.

And Henry again, you picked out one line from my post and responded, rather than look at the whole thing. It's not just location that makes it OK for him to own the gun, it's a number of issues acting together. Then again, if you wanted to have a gun in your home to protect your family, then I'd say more power to you. It's your legal right.

 

OK, I admit I did go way overboard in that whole good captain aspect. Though, it does draw up some serious questions, such as would Peyton Manning pull a knife to protect Damien Rhodes? Would Jeff Samardzija whip out his AK to save Rhema McKnight?