On April 23^rd I wrote a post about F$Us’ Preston Parker and his arrest of a felony charge for carrying a concealed firearm and a misdemeanor for marijuana possession.

Here’s a direct quote from that post:

“Florida State’s disciplinary policy calls for suspension of any athlete facing criminal charges and prohibits any student-athlete charged with a felony, from competing until the charge is resolved. Which knowing the weight Bowden still carries should be rather soon.”

Well, I didn’t know how much weight Bobby Bowden carried then now I do. Steve God Spurrier and the rest of the SEC coaches bow down to Bobby Bowden. He’s duped the States Attorney into reducing the charges so Parker can play football. After all that’s all that matters isn’t it?

“That probably is what we are looking at most strongly,” Assistant State Attorney Alan Johnson said. “We will have an offer out there. A perfectly appropriate resolution to this case would be a reduction in charges.”

Amazing…simply amazing…and of course Parkers’ attorney is creaming his BVDs of this one.

“That’s going to be an important part of any resolution to Preston … to be able to continue his playing career at FSU,” said his attorney, Jason Weiss of West Palm Beach. I’m confident they will treat him fairly and look at his case as any person in his situation who has no prior record.”

But that’s where he is incorrect. Parker was arrested in 2006 in Tallahassee for petty theft. Those charges were dropped two weeks ago after Parker paid $170 in fees necessary to complete a pre-trial diversion program. So he isn’t exactly a “first time” offender.

“A young first offender on a non-violent crime, generally we try to see if they have got something going for them so we can give them some sort of a break,” Johnson said. We are treating this like any other case. The key is he’s not a football player, but he’s a 21-year-old kid who has a minimal prior record. Our office has bent over backwards to try to make them successful.”

According to FSU athletic department policy, the head coach determines the disciplinary action following a misdemeanor charge, which also is reviewed by the athletic director.

Coach Bobby Bowden said at his annual tour stop in Polk County last month that Parker probably would be suspended for “a few games” this season.

Weiss said Parker has expressed remorse for the arrest.

“He’s extremely sorry for the embarrassment this arrest has caused his family and the university,” Weiss said. “I know he’s committed to making the necessary changes in his life to become a positive role model and influence in the community. Part of that is eliminating the negative influences in his life.”

So if a guy gets caught with a concealed weapon and with drugs, he only has to set out (likely) the powder-puff non-conference schedule? Stay classy, Florida State.

The University of Memphis officials have been in serious talks with the Big East about joining the conference which would make the Big East the absolute weakest conference in the history of college football. (No offense Memphis fans)

Obviously this would move would benefit the Tiger Football program more than any other. What would it mean though for Memphis basketball? John Calipari has proven that he can prosper as the Big Fish in a small pond (3 straight 30 plus win seasons), would he enjoy knocking heads in the rugged and basketball tradition rich Big East Conference?

I think he would.

However as for as football is concerned the Big Least already has a plethora of bad teams and I’m not sure if this would help matters, but I’ll play devils advocate.

Memphis could be extremely tough in football if they would ever get a legitimate conference. Right now they are being raided by Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, and Kentucky. That could change if Memphis was in the Big East. In addition, the other Big East teams would love to infiltrate the rich football recruits of the South.

Then again I think I made myself look retarded with that statement because the SEC rules damn it!

There’s also another school that wants to help the Big East suck even more at football and that is East Carolina.

ECU is believed to be open to guaranteeing the purchase of 2,500 tickets to Big East away games.

Think about that. At $40 a pop, that’s another $100,000 for the home school in gate money. Notre Dame is the only school in the nation that would even attempt a guarantee like that.

And here is East Carolina, ready to go with that plus a whole lot more, all on a trial basis.

ECU insiders and supporters are convinced that it is not afraid to take risks.

Then again playing football in the Big Least isn’t exactly a risk.