Laremy Tunsil and his stepfather/accuser, Lindsey Miller, squared off in Lafayette County Justice Court Friday afternoon. It was hilarious, sad, pathetic and so much more. Who needs reality TV? My thoughts on that story, SEC Football Media Days, DeAndre Jordan, Enes Kanter, Major League Baseball midpoint awards and more follow here thanks to Oxford-based RE/MAX real estate agent Harry Alexander.
1. I wrote a pretty straight news story on Friday afternoon, as I was one of just two media members (The Oxford Citizen Journal’s John Davis was the other) in attendance. If you’re looking for details, read that story.
https://olemiss.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1781999
In summary, the order of protection filed by Miller against Tunsil late last month was dismissed after an hour of testimony from both parties. Tunsil was represented by Steve Farese. Miller represented himself. It was a legal mismatch. Think the New England Patriots, with an angry Tom Brady, going against UT-Martin. Now, put burlap sacks over UT-Martin’s helmets and you have an idea for just how massive a mismatch it was.
Miller hung himself in court. He had no composure. He ranted. He raved. He raised his voice, forcing judge Mikey Avent to reprimand him on at least two occasions. He was angry. He seemed bitter. He was ill-prepared for the occasion. I dare say Miller hasn’t had much time in law school. Friday’s proceedings, on the other hand, did not represent Farese’s first appearance in a courtroom.
Tunsil, Ole Miss’ All-American offensive tackle, smiled at his attorney on a couple of occasions. He stifled a laugh at least once. He shook his head in derision at least one time as well. Miller’s cross-examination of Tunsil didn’t go well for Miller. His cross-examination of his wife, Tunsil’s mother Desiree Tunsil, went worse.
Miller and Tunsil are due back in court on Aug. 3 for an arraignment on the domestic violence they filed against one another. Miller would be wise to find an attorney between now and then. Otherwise, his case against Tunsil is in dire straights.
2. Even if Miller finds an attorney, he has a myriad of problems. Let us count them:
A. Miller insisted at the time of the incident and in subsequent interviews with the (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger (more on that in a bit) that he was upset with Tunsil hanging around with agents. He said he had told Desiree Tunsil her son was doing something “illegal” by riding around with agents (not the plurality). He said Tunsil was riding around in a yellow convertible driven by agents. Tunsil had an explanation for the yellow car on Friday.
B. Miller continues to say Tunsil hit him 6-8 times. On Friday, he called it a “brutal beating,” describing the punches as “fatal blows.” He said he was “almost blacking out,” and “nearly unconscious,” adding he was left with a “severe head injury.” Despite that, Miller refused medical treatment and did not take an offered ambulance ride to the hospital. He went to a family doctor in Pontotoc later, and he said he was diagnosed with a concussion. Paramedics on the scene said there was no blood and no signs of trauma. Photos of Miller bore that out.
C. Speaking of photos, Miller admitted in court that he was offered $3,000 for the photos from the aftermath of his fight with Tunsil. Of course, Miller said he did not accept the money. THIS WAS SAID UNDER OATH.
D. Give me a minute. I’ll laughing.
E. Still laughing.
F. Catching my breath. I’ll be right with you.
G. OK, if we’re to believe Miller and take into account the words of Clarion-Ledger staffers on talk radio and podcasts and such, Miller offered the photos to the Clarion-Ledger, who declined to use them. Then he offered them to TMZ, who offered $3,000 for them but ran them on their website when Miller refused to accept said offer. Makes sense.
H. The Dodgers offered Clayton Kershaw to the Cubs in exchange for reserve catcher Taylor Teagarden and pitcher Edwin Jackson. The Cubs said no. Theo Epstein said he wanted to turn this thing around the right way.
I. Miller wore a knee brace in court Friday. He has also been using a cane recently. Desiree Tunsil said she saw Miller the day after the incident walking in his front yard without a brace or a cane. He went inside to get the cane. She also said her husband, up until fairly recently, would go on walks of up to five miles. He also climbed stadium stairs at football games without a brace or a cane. It’s another credibility issue he will have to overcome in court, if it comes to that.
J. Miller has a history of conflicts in relationships. Domestic violence charges were dropped in 2002. He has custody of two boys from a previous marriage. He admitted in court to an argument that eventually involved Tunsil in January 2013 at the U.S. Army All-American Game in San Antonio. Desiree Tunsil said in court Miller almost instigated an incident with Ole Miss wide receiver Alex Weber’s father (Weber is Tunsil’s son from another relationship) at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta last December.
K. Repeatedly in court, Miller brought up Tunsil’s status as a football star. He came across as paranoid, saying there had been a “cover-up since Day One,” and saying Tunsil had left the incident to go to Ole Miss for a “press conference.” There was no press conference, in case you were wondering.
3. Tunsil was calm in court Friday. His version of events was quite different from Miller’s. However, it appears there are going to be more witnesses on Tunsil’s side (Desiree Tunsil, Weber, Tunsil’s girlfriend, the friend from South Carolina driving the rental car and the still unnamed agent) than Miller will have. Miller called his 12-year-old son to the stand on Friday and questioned him. After he was finished, Farese conducted a very brief cross-examination. On re-direct, Miller asked his son what he was thinking when he saw Tunsil on top of him. The boy responded he thought his father would die. He then left the courtroom in tears, leaving his 7-year-old brother all alone on a courtroom bench. The scene was pathetic and sad. For the sake of those two kids, I hope we don’t have to see a repeat of that episode.
4. Unless Miller was sitting on a smoking gun of sorts _ and judging from his temperament on Friday and what I’m guessing is a lack of legal acumen _ this case is going nowhere. Further, unless Miller was a completely different person when he met with NCAA official Chris Howard in Memphis on July 3, there’s no way any accusations he makes regarding recruiting improprieties can be taken seriously. In other words, and this is just my opinion, Miller better have photos or videos of representatives of Ole Miss’ athletics interests dropping off backpacks full of cash or keys to a new sports car for his accusations to result in any punishment. On Friday, he simply didn’t come across as credible.
5. Speaking of, I can’t help but wonder what the Clarion-Ledger was thinking in so aggressively reporting Miller’s version of events. The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department, I’m told, protected the incident report due to the presence of the two aforementioned minors at the scene. The Clarion-Ledger got the incident report somehow (that’s to their credit, mind you) and was the first (and only) news outlet to speak to Miller (again, credit goes to the C-L there; that’s strong work).
However, I do question the newspaper’s decision to grant so much validity to Miller’s accusations. He’s clearly angry. He’s clearly agitated. He feels wronged. The price tag attached to photos should have raised a red flag. It’s my opinion, and perhaps I’m wrong, but I believe Miller offered those photos to the C-L but demanded compensation. If that’s the case, the C-L obviously did the right thing by not running the photos, but again, that should have raised questions.
The man I saw in court Friday wasn’t credible. His story wasn’t believable. To this date, he can’t identify the agent in question. The only reason, according to court testimony, that he knew the man was an agent was Desiree Tunsil told him Laremy Tunsil wanted her to meet an agent at dinner on the evening of the incident.
The C-L would likely argue that they attributed the accusations made by Miller to Miller and they gave Ole Miss multiple opportunities to respond. Other journalists would likely agree with the C-L’s decision to run the stories.
I don’t, and I’ve made that clear. That’s my prerogative. I’ve expressed that opinion here, on the Oxford Exxon podcast and on Twitter. I’ve made some enemies and lost some friends in the process. That’s cool; I honestly don’t care. I’ve been accused of being a sellout. I’m not sure what that means. I’ve been accused of being a fanboy, which I find laughable, as my life would be so much easier if I actually were a fan. I’ve had the “you run a fan site,” line thrown at me a few times as well. Again, that’s fine. I know how I run this site and I know my own background in the field. As much as some want to shoehorn me into a particular role, I know what stories and beats I’ve covered and I’ve been in newsrooms during the decision-making process. Simply put, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable giving Miller such a prominent voice.
The Clarion-Ledger did. I don’t think the C-L has an agenda. I have some more complicated thoughts on that matter, but I’ll leave those to myself. In the end, though, I think it wanted clicks, though I find it a bit bewildering that the media outlet that pushed and advanced the story didn’t cover Friday’s court proceedings. Instead of covering it, the paper put out a short story quoting Lafayette County officials and Farese. Again, that’s their prerogative.
But enough of that…
6. SEC Football Media Days begin Monday in Hoover, Ala. New commissioner Greg Sankey will address the media Monday morning to kick things off. There aren’t all that many compelling story lines. Most coaches will be asked about their quarterback races, as there aren’t many returning starters in the league this season.
Ole Miss is one of three teams featured on Thursday. Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze will be asked plenty about Tunsil, though Friday’s court circus will soften some of the questions, I suspect. He’ll be asked about his quarterback race, expectations, last year’s struggles at the finish of the season, the Rebels’ difficult schedule and the absence of NFL first-round draft choices Tunsil, Robert Nkemdiche, Laquon Treadwell and Antonio Conner.
Those are all fair questions, by the way. I still can’t believe, by the way, Ole Miss isn’t bringing any of those stars to Hoover. I’ve heard all sorts of justifications, but I’m not sure I understand.
It really doesn’t matter. After Media Days, there are two full weeks until fall camp begins and another month after that until the season opener. If Ole Miss takes care of business, the attention will come to Oxford. If the Rebels don’t, there will be no way for the program _ not its coach or its stars _ to escape the criticism.
7. The Major League Baseball All-Star Game is Tuesday night in Cincinnati. As promised, here are my mid-season awards:
NL MVP: Bryce Harper, Washington
AL MVP: Josh Donaldson, Toronto
NL Cy Young: Max Scherzer, Washington
AL Cy Young: Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox
NL Rookie of the Year: Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs
AL Rookie of the Year: Carlos Correa, Houston
NL Manager of the Year: Mike Matheny, St. Louis
AL Manager of the Year: A.J. Hinch, Houston
8. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was still smarting over the weekend following the change of heart by DeAndre Jordan, who verbally committed to the Mavericks on July 3, causing a chain reaction of events around the NBA. The Mavericks, who likely would have gone into tank mode had Jordan said no in the first place, successfully pursued Portland guard Wesley Matthews and let Tyson Chandler sign with Phoenix.
Then Jordan changed his mind and elected to return to the Los Angeles Clippers. The emoji war that took place around the league via Twitter was fun to watch, but make no mistake, Jordan’s decision screwed Cuban and the Mavericks.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/q-a--mavs-owner-mark-cuban-on-deandre-jordan---who---213713428.html
I doubt anything changes as it pertains to the free agent moratorium. However, I can’t imagine a player’s reaction if an owner committed to sign a player to a deal and then backed out during the next few days before deals could be signed.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma City was forced into a difficult spot over the weekend when Portland signed restricted free agent center Enes Kanter to a four-year, $70 million offer sheet with a player option and a 15 percent trade kicker.
As expected, the Thunder matched the offer to keep the 23-year-old Turk in Oklahoma City. The Thunder’s move ignited immediate criticism of the front office with some wondering how the same management team that traded James Harden in 2012 could award a maximum contract to Kanter three years later.
That criticism is ridiculous, as the game’s finances have changed and _ this is the part that never gets mentioned _ Harden desperately wanted to leave a team where he was destined to be the third option behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
Anyway, Kanter is a borderline elite offensive center who is just a shade better than God awful on the defensive end. If Billy Donovan and his staff can help Kanter improve to a slightly below average defender, Kanter’s offensive prowess could make the $70 million a solid deal. The Thunder are deep on the frontcourt, featuring Kanter, Steven Adams, Serge Ibaka, Nick Collison and Mitch McGary. Billy Donovan has a versatile team and Durant and Westbrook have been shown the Thunder is willing to go into the luxury tax to field a contender.
9. Roger Federer, 33, was great on Sunday morning in the Wimbledon championship. Novak Djokovic, 28, was simply better.
Djokovic is now the world’s best player, especially with Rafa Nadal struggling with his health and with Federer not getting any younger. He’ll head to New York later this summer as the favorite to win his 10th grand slam title and further add on to his legacy.
http://espn.go.com/tennis/wimbledon15/story/_/id/13243825/wimbledon-stop-taking-djokovic-granted
10. I’ve picked Kansas City and Indianapolis to win their respective divisions in previous weeks, and this Sunday, I’m forecasting the AFC North. It’s a three-team race, with Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Baltimore all in contention. Cleveland’s lack of a quarterback (Sorry, Jeffrey Wright) has the Browns staring a ceiling of six or seven wins (and likely actually winning less than that).
The Ravens are in transition, though I think running back Justin Forsett is ready to carry the Baltimore running game. Veteran quarterback Joe Flacco doesn’t get the credit he deserves either, and he’s proven he can lead his team to big wins in tight games against division foes.
Pittsburgh is in transition, too, now that the Troy Polamalu era is over. The Steelers will lean on veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, and like Flacco, he’s more than proven his ability to make up for his team’s weaknesses.
However, I’m going with the Bengals, even though Andy Dalton is the weakest and least dependable of the trio of established starters in the division. Cincinnati is loaded at wide receiver and the duo of Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard at running back should take some pressure off Dalton, at least until the playoffs. Stop me if you’ve heard this record before, but I look for Cincinnati to win the division and then _ you guessed it _ stumble in the early rounds of the playoffs.
Some links of interest to me (and hopefully to you):
Baseball is hoping some stars emerge this week in Cincinnati as the sport seeks to fill the vacuum left by Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter.
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/...ll-star-game-showcase-071215?vid=482880579960
With the game in Cincinnati, Pete Rose _ and his gambling past _ are back in the spotlight.
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/2015/07/11/pete-rose-taft/30038431/
The Cubs and Cardinals split a four-game set at Wrigley Field last week, and Jason Heyward was terrific for St. Louis. Might he switch dugouts next season? I doubt it, but both the Cardinals and Cubs have difficult decisions to make, and Heyward could be at the center of talks for both teams.
http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/jason-heyward-will-be-x-factor-cubs-cardinals-rivalry
The Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship in a season defined by injuries. Paul George, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose and other stars missed significant time with injuries. The NBA, obviously, would like to avoid a repeat.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13221323/nba-forms-committee-promote-research-player-health
There’s some serious cost-cutting going on at ESPN, and it’s making a lot of people in the sports industry nervous. Those who aren’t nervous, well, they probably should be.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/there...796.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory&soc_trk=tw
Who knew ice cream sundaes came about as a way to get around rules forbidding the serving of soda on Sundays?
http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/20...ce-cream-sundae?xid=soc_socialflow_twitter_fw
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