Texas tradition continues

I can't believe it (shaking of downward-tilting head). Another Longhorn football player busted by the cops.

OK, I lied, I believe it. Cedric Benson, Chicago Bear running back and Texas alum, got pulled over on his boat for steering the thing while intoxicated. At least it was alcohol and not a different favorite substance of his idol, Ricky Williams. It even happened on Lake Travis, near Austin, Texas. He should be next to a god down there, therefore I don't believe him for one second when he tells the Chicago Sun-Times he wasn't drunk. The more-than-likely orange-blooded officers had to pepper spray him twice!

This takes me back to a story I heard about Benson back when he was playing for Midland Lee H.S. A friend of mine, who attended the school with Benson, told me Benson would be at a loud party, the police would show up all wriled up and ready to bust heads so to speak. Then they would see Benson sitting and smoking a doobie. They would tell him he probably should put that out while they were there, quiet the place down, and then leave. Freaking privledged athletes!

In all fairness, though, I've lived out in Midland, Texas. There's oil and football, just like Friday Night Lights portrays. The heros of West Texas are the star high school football players. It's just how it is. That's how Benson was brought up. That's how it acted at Texas. That's why I always knew Oklahoma would beat Texas during Benson's tenure. I swear I even once watched Benson tear OU down the field on a succession of plays, then boldly and accurately called the exact moment when he would cough up the football. I have witnesses to back me up, too.

More relevantly, that's why I cringed when the Bears drafted Benson with the fourth overall pick and knew they were in for a rough 2007 when they let Thomas Jones go. So now Benson is documented as operating a boat while drunk, resisting arrest, being pepper sprayed, crying for his mother, and then denying it all...in the safety of the Austin area no less. He's really carrying on the rich tradition of Texas thuggery well. At least the Bears drafted a running back in the second round (Matt Forte out of Tulane).