Next up is an article by Wright Thompson from espn.com that has gotten a ton of links around the various boards I post on. I've seen it linked at least 3 times on The Wolverine, and it's showed up on The Packer Wire, PackerChatters, the RCMB, and one of my friends just posted a link on Facebook to it. I think the general reaction has been nothing but shock and disgust over the way this kid has been treated.
Long story short--and you really should read it if you haven't already--a kid from Georgia got charged with child molestation for receiving head from a girl when he was 17 and she was 15. If they would've had sex it would've been a misdemeanor, but for some reason it was a felony that they had oral sex--which she initiated--and he's currently serving a 10 year prison sentence with no hope of parole.
I credit ESPN for bringing this story to light. I have to imagine a good chunk of the people that have read that article were as disgusted as I was and hopefully something will be done about this. The kid put himself in a bad spot, no doubt. There were drugs and alcohol on the film, and if they wanted to punish him for that, I could totally see it. Even if they wanted to punish him for having sexual content with someone under the age of consent, I can see that. They make a lot of high school kids into "criminals", but age of consent laws are there for a reason, even if in some situations it probably doesn't make sense to enforce them. But ten years for a beej when normal sex would've been a misdemeanor? They changed the law because of this case but they won't retroactively apply it? And the State of Georgia doesn't see anything wrong with this? It's just horrible.
Despite a rumored proposal that would have moved the Atlanta Thrashers to the Western Conference and the Columbus Blue Jackets to the East, the Detroit Red Wings say that if anyone is moving to the East--either in realignment or if/when the Penguins move--it had better be them.
Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly isn't so sure.
"Detroit would clearly have a strong case," Daly said, "but by the same token, there are other teams in the Western Conference that kind of depend on Detroit being in the Western Conference, so ... there's always balancing involved that would involve a lot of debate, I'm sure, with respect to what you do with the realignment. But hopefully we never get there. At least at this point."
I'm sure the Red Wings really care. It would cut their travel at least in half to move to the Eastern Conference--which I have to believe would make a difference come playoff time. They'd get to play against more than one team in their own time zone. Their fans--like myself--wouldn't have to suffer through playoff games lasting until 1:00 in the morning (without overtime).
He says that some of the teams in the West depend on the Red Wings (I assume he's referring to a team like Phoenix who only really sells out when the Wings come to town). That's all the more reason to get rid of this stupid unbalanced schedule and let all the teams play each other at least twice a year.
Bob Miller mentioned that there will be a couple of recruits on hand for the games this weekend. Both from Toronto (one is a Buzzer), and both were born in the 90s. I'm old. Hensick was dinged up in Alaska, but both he and Kampfer--who didn't make the trip--should be available for the games against Ferris. The rumors are swirling pretty much anywhere you look that the Wings are interested in picking up Peter Forsberg. I think I just threw up in my mouth. Great player when he's healthy. He'd be a huge addition. But some guys just shouldn't be Red Wings. Then again, I now own a Chris Chelios jersey. It's amazing what a new colored jersey can do to your opinion of someone. I friggin hate that guy though.
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