Steve Scholfield

North County Times

Flying solo with my opinions:

* Rae Carruth is a lucky man today. He faces a 20-year jail sentence for the fatal shooting of his pregnant girlfriend. Instead of the death penalty, he is eligible for parole in eight years.

Chalk up another one to the pampered athlete.

* They must have flown in the O.J. Simpson jurors to take the Carruth case.

* And pro owners wonder why fans are turned off to professional athletes.

* Jeff Jacobs, a columnist for The Hartford Courant, said it best about pampered athletes: "If Jack Ruby had played

quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, he would have gotten off with aggravated assault."

* If Carruth isn't enough, we give you standout citizen Jason Kidd of Phoenix, who was arrested for slapping his wife the other day.

* Or how about New York Knicks center Marcus Camby who was fined $25,000 and suspended for five games, who tried to punch out an opposing player only to bump heads his coach, Jeff Van Gundy? Van Gundy needed 12 stitches to close the wound over his eye.

Here's the kicker. The team backed the player, saying the punishment was excessive.

* We often talk about the importance of role models in our professional athletes. But high school coaches must be role models, too.

In a horrible display of sportsmanship Cedric Hensley, a junior from Heritage Christian Academy near Houston, scored 101 points in a basketball game. Hours earlier Camden (N.J.) High senior Dajuan Wagner scored 100.

Where were their coaches? How could the adults running these teams throw sportsmanship out the window by allowing these obviously fine players to rub it in?

Wagner's coach, Glenn Jackson, gave this explanation: "I can't apologize for him being a good player, and why should we limit his ability?"

Jackson is a misguided man guiding children.

If any coach in this area allows one of his athletes to do what Hensley and Wagner did, I will be the first in line asking that coach for his resignation.

* And we wonder why pampered pro players don't understand right from wrong.

* Chargers new general manager John Butler on free agency: "I believe free agency fills some spots, but the draft is primary. I always worry about some day looking up and see that we are an old football team. Most free agents have some years on them when you get them so the chances of creating an older team through free agency is greater."

That sound exactly like that Chargers, one of the older teams in the league that has tried to piece this thing together with free agents like John Jackson, DeRon Jenkins, and Aaron Taylor, Erik Kramer, Jeff Graham and Fred McCrary. None fulfilled the promise of being a fix for several years.

* Butler does not believe in reach picks, either. "That would destroy the integrity of the scouting system; there has to be a solid reason for every pick. If you don't have faith in your board and all the people working it, why do all the work, especially if you are going to pass up guys that are graded better? If you make a reach pick you are telling your scouts, 'the hell with those grades.' "

* Super Bowl games are won by teams who have a superior quarterback. If that is the case, go with the New York Giants' Kerry Collins over Baltimore's Trent Dilfer.

* Bobby Beathard called to tell me I left out one other San Diego connection among the Super Bowl teams -- New York's head strength coach John Dunn. He was with the Chargers from 1990-'96, before leaving for upstate New York to take care of his mother. He has been with the Giants for four seasons.

* The U.S. Supreme Court should rule for Casey Martin against the PGA.

Martin has a congenital circulatory ailment in his right leg that forces him to walk with a pronounced limp.

He has asked the PGA to allow him to use a cart when he plays. The PGA has fought him at every level, claiming that walking is an integral part of the game.

If that is the case why were some golfers at the Mercedes Championships in Hawaii allowed to use carts on a couple of the par-3 holes that had elevated tees?

The answer, I am told, is TV wanted to get them to play a little faster so more golf could be shown during a certain period of time. I guess it is OK to break long-standing rules if it helps put on a good television show.

* Congratulations to hard-working XTRA radio voice John Kentera. He recently received the "Braven 'Bud' Dyer Jr. Award" from the Southern California Interscholastic Football Coaches Association. The award goes to a member of the media who presents high school football in a positive image. He is most deserving.

Steve Scholfield is senior sports columnist for the North County Times. He can be reached at (760) 901-4090 or sports@nctimes.com.

1/21/01