I guess there’s a huge “Memorial Day celebration” in Miami Beach every year, also called Urban Beach Weekend. And it sounds like the Miami Police were putting in some overtime… they made 856 arrests in Miami Beach over the weekend, most of them for misdemeanor things like disobeying a cop, public alcohol consumption, etc.
Anyway, Gilbert Arenas and Wizards teammate Awvee Storey were among those who felt the handcuffs on some trifling “disobeying the police” charges. At the time the following quote was attributed to Gilbert:
“You can’t arrest me. I’m a basketball player. I play for the Washington Wizards and I’m not going to leave my teammate.”
Yeah, I have my doubts that he said that. Of course, I don’t know what happened… but that just doesn’t sound like something that Gilbert Arenas would say. That doesn’t sound like something that anyone would say. Gilbert’s just never struck me as that kind of guy.
But for a police officer, the beauty of it is, anytime you arrest an athlete, they can say that they went with the “Do you know who I am?” routine, and people will believe it, because it fits the stereotype of professional athletes. And again, I don’t know what happened… perhaps Arenas and Storey both deserved to be arrested, or perhaps the cops were just arresting anyone for damn near anything this weekend. I do believe, however, that a cop or someone along the line completely made up that quote that was attributed to Arenas.
telly Says:
May 31st, 2006 at 11:53 am
yo… weren’t you giving my man Santonio shit for this same crap over at Deadspin?
ahem, from the same article:
” A total of 557 people, including Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes, were arrested between Thursday morning and Saturday night on Miami Beach during an annual event that attracts several thousand people. This year, police beefed up their presence during the event.”
mc Says:
May 31st, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Arenas said he never made such a statement.
“All I did was get out of the car to ask where they were taking Awvee so I could come get him out, and some officer comes up from behind and cuffs me,” Arenas said in a telephone interview with the Washington Post.
“Everyone knows me. They know I don’t have a cocky personality. I don’t use my name to get in trouble and I don’t use my name to get out of trouble. That would never come out of my mouth.”
Santonio Holmes was also at the party.
Bouj Says:
May 31st, 2006 at 12:07 pm
I’m not saying Arenas said it or not, but why is it so hard for everyone to believe that a pro basketball player went to the “I’m a pro basketball player, and I am above the law, so I can ignore a cop’s instructions” card? Like it’s never been done before.
Even if it does sound like a case of prick cops being pricks, I don’t think we should be so dismissive of the idea of Arenas going with that to get out of trouble.
the mighty mjd Says:
May 31st, 2006 at 1:16 pm
What exactly did I say about your man Santonio Holmes that would qualify as “giving him shit?”
Bouj Says:
May 31st, 2006 at 2:55 pm
If stating he was arrested means “giving him shit”, then a whole lot of athletes seem to be getting shit regularly from everyone.
Maybe they should stop getting arrested. Again, the cop might have been a prick, but if you mouth off to a cop, you’re going to get arrested, especially in places like Miami & NOLA (where they are notorious for going after the tourists).
As much as I might want to take up for Arenas and Holmes, if a cop tells you something and he’s just lokking for a reason to arrest people, then just do it and move on. You’re not above the law. We’ve had to deal with the cops being extra-prickly here in Houston because of the refugee influx, so I’ve seen this in action. It’s better to just do it and save yourself the hassle.
telly Says:
May 31st, 2006 at 4:44 pm
sounds to me like the piggies were randomly rounding brothers up just for being out in the streets.
in any case, in response to your questioning my question, allow me to clarify.
my question was this: did you, or did you not give Santonio shit over at Deadspin? It’s a yes or no question. Perhaps I’m incorrect in assuming that, by comparing Santonio to Plaxico, you were, in fact, giving him shit. See, ’cause now I see Gilbert and some other random ‘zard get taken down, ostensibly for the exact same hassle, and, for some reason, I’m not seeing any comparison to a certain wide receiver now playing for the NY Giants.
Sean Says:
May 31st, 2006 at 5:40 pm
pump the NWA
the mighty mjd Says:
May 31st, 2006 at 5:49 pm
If comparing him to Plax qualifies as “giving him shit,” fine… guilty as charged. But in the same post, I did also quote his side of the story, and I did question whether or not he was actually guilty of anything.
So yeah, I really fucking railed on the guy. Just hammered him. It’s easy to see how someone could interpret my words as also meaning “Santonio Holmes is the next O.J. Simpson.” Man, Steeler fans are the most sensitive people on earth.
In addition, this was before the news of Arenas’s arrest, and before I knew that there were so many arrests made on this particular weekend on Miami Beach.
As for why I didn’t compare Gilbert Arenas to Plaxico Burress… well, they play different sports. Different positions. On different teams. In different cities. I trust that you could see why Santonio Holmes commpares a little closer to Plaxico Burress than would Gilbert Arenas?
jerloma Says:
June 1st, 2006 at 11:37 am
I’ve seen Arenas interviewed a few times and I totally agree, he just doesn’t seem like the the type of cat to throw out the “don’t you know who I am” card?
As for Santonio, I got the impression that telly was an OSU fan…not a Steeler fan. If I’m wrong, doesn’t he at least have to sign a contract, show up at training camp, maybe catch a TD pass or two before becoming your boy? Was Troy Edwards your boy after he got drafted too?
Anyway, from what I’ve seen Holmes seems like a decent guy too but I’d rather any comparisons to Plax remain with minor character issues than any uncanny ability to come up small in big games.
telly Says:
June 1st, 2006 at 1:57 pm
No, I’m a Steelers/Penn State fan… I really can’t stand OSU… other than those special occasions when OSU is playing teams I hate more (see Miami, Notre Dame.)
Basically I was just trying to create drama on my favorite sports blog. Please forgive me. Seriously, I could give a shit about Santonio Holmes other than I hope he keeps his life together enough to catch enough passes to lead my team to another Superbowl. That being said, I think Santonio has a chance to be a really good NFL wide receiver; he certainly has the skill set for it, and thus, I was happy the Steelers traded up and got him.
jerloma Says:
June 1st, 2006 at 2:45 pm
Wait a sec…you call yourself a Steeler fan but you could give a shit about Santonio Holmes? wtf?
(I keed)