Greeson: Saturday stars include police, school board, Baylor student and, of course, Dads

father and little son silhouettes play at sunset
father and little son silhouettes play at sunset
photo Jay Greeson

An Ellijay, Ga., man claims he fell into a 12-day coma after being tackled by a police officer.

Terry Christopher Campbell says his memory has been weak after Officer Trevor McClure took him to the ground when he tried to run away.

He has sued the officer and Ellijay police chief Edwards Lacey.

Forget the part about Campbell trying to escape the cops. Forget the part that regardless of how McClure tried to apprehend the suspect, a lawsuit was likely coming.

Man, cops have a tough gig.

That said, these 12-day comas that leave people groggy and with weak memories are pretty commonplace this time of year. For most of us, though, that's simply called Riverbend.

Order on the court?

The NCAA has the decision-making consistency of a lovestruck teenager.

Yes, that NCAA, the governing body of college sports, which has become a multibillion-dollar-a-year operation.

And the governing body just gave Rick Pitino, the University of Louisville head basketball coach, a five-game conference suspension for a recruiting scandal that included strippers, prostitutes and prospective student-athletes.

Five games. Yes, his assistant who was directly responsible for the misdeeds from every moral, legal and ethical view got a 10-year penalty, which means it will be 10 years before he can coach basketball at an NCAA-member institution.

But Pitino, a micromanaging multimillionaire who was hit with an obvious charge of lack of control of his program, got a five-game suspension for something that makes even the casual fan of college sports need a shower.

For perspective, when Bruce Pearl was the basketball coach at Tennessee, he lost his job and got a three-year show-cause penalty for lying about a barbecue and trying to cover it up.

Hookers = five games; lying about a cookout = three years.

Yep, only by NCAA math.

Two teams, all on the same side

If there is a potential silver lining from the madman who picked up a rifle and shot up the baseball practice in D.C. this week, it could be the eye-opening realization that the venom in our discourse is more than counter-productive.

It is downright wrong.

And as long as it is around, anyone's chance to contribute and help and lead is greatly diminished.

It's amazing that a baseball game between political parties - more than likely the groups and the sport that are most prone to arguments - could be the springboard that brings us together.

Check, please

If you think eye-popping excess resides only in America, well, check this out.

A Nigerian billionaire's son recently was married. (Side note: If you get an email from a wealthy Nigerian trying to share his fortune with you if you share your Social Security number and bank info, well, it's probably a good idea to delete that one. Deal? Deal.)

As for the billionaire's son - who is the heir to his mother's oil fortune - he got married earlier this month.

They spent wait for it $6.4 million on the wedding.

Read that again.

There were 1 million white roses with matching hanging orchids.

A hand-crafted marble floor with the couple's initials was made for the reception, which included a five-course meal for the guests, many of whom were flown to the English castle from Nigeria or Iran.

The 12-foot cake cost almost $13,000.

Wonder if they had ice cream?

Saturday stars

There are a lot of them.

We could go with the Hamilton County Board of Education - again. After all, the much-debated decision on a new superintendent is now behind it, and the majority of us are happy to have a new direction.

We could go with Baylor student Carmen Ross, who was awarded the Congressional Award Gold Medal today in Washington, D.C,. because she is a superstar.

But on this weekend, we'll go with the good dads out there.

Because, truth be told, there is no more important job for a man, and the difference between a good dad and a bad one may be the biggest gap out there.

As someone who had a great dad and tries to be more like him every day, let me say to all the dads trying their best out there, thank you.

Enjoy the weekend.

Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6343.

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