Let’s start with the facts, shall we?
University of South Carolina wide receiver and team captain Moe Brown – then a rising senior – was stopped by a Columbia, S.C. police officer at 10:28 p.m. on night of June 1, 2009 and ticketed for speeding, driving without insurance and unlawful carrying of a firearm.
The incident was not reported by the local press or announced by the University’s athletics department.
About a month later, the gun charge against Brown was dismissed at a public hearing. Again, there were no media reports and the University did not disclose the incident – or its resolution.
Now – six months later – the story breaks in The (Columbia, S.C.) Free Times and all of a sudden it’s huge friggin’ news?
Honestly, what gives? Why have over a dozen South Carolina news outlets now picked up this non-story and run with it?
We don’t get it …
After all, Brown legally owned the firearm. It was registered in his name. He was even allowed to have it in the car with him, although placing it under the seat was technically a violation of the law.
He wasn’t drinking and driving, he didn’t shoot or brandish the weapon … in fact, he told the arresting officer about it voluntarily.
Also, the charges against him were (rightfully, we think) dismissed months prior to the start of the football season.
So why is everybody in the Palmetto State covering this thing like they found the friggin’ Oswald rifle in Moe Brown’s Ford?
Obviously, Gamecock fans are furious after Brown and his teammates closed out the 2009 season with an embarrassing loss to an inferior opponent in a second tier bowl game, part of their third straight end-of-season collapse. They’re looking for someone to blame – or at the very least someone to be mad at.
But is that why the press is all over it?
We don’t think so.
We think this has turned into such a big story for one reason (and one reason only) – the failure of the University’s athletics department to disclose what happened (when it happened).
Sure, it can be argued that USC officials were under no obligation to release any of this information, but that’s laughable. At a (cough) major Division I-A football program, an athlete getting arrested is big news.
To sweep something like that under the rug is to court disaster down the road.
Of course sweeping things under the rug seems to be the modus operandi for USC athletics director Eric Hyman. Well, that and rewarding mediocrity, something there is frankly way too much of in this passive aggressive, itching inferiority complex of a state.
Look guys … being a government PR flack really isn’t all that complicated.
You gather the facts as best you can and you relay them as quickly as you can to the reporters you work with.
The fact that USC didn’t do that in this case – which obviously wasn’t that big of a deal – is what makes this a much bigger story than it really is, or ever should have been.
Seriously, upon learning the relatively mundane specifics involved, we can’t think of any reporter in the state who would have devoted more than a couple of paragraphs to this “incident,” which (if you’re counting) has now cleared the 500 word mark here as well as over at the “paper of record.”
As we’ve said on many occasions in the past, it’s not the crime but “the lie that gets you …”
By Joe Schmoe January 6, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Could this coming to light NOW be payback by the Spurriers for Moe taking a swing at Junior in the locker room after the bowl game? Otherwise, the timing is extremely odd.
By Commonman January 6, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Well said.
By Dave January 6, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Read 4 Tennessee basketball players, 3 Tennessee football players, 1 NBA player…comprende?
By Recovering Lobbyist January 6, 2010 at 9:33 pm
The press has become a caricature. We can snicker about that except that their actions drive our political system. Even the big hitters like Fox News are a joke. The only solution is for the consumers of the news to stop subscribing. I have.
By alex January 6, 2010 at 10:28 pm
The story is interesting sure, but thanks for the great Today’s Tuneage: Frank Black and Placebo. Top of the line.
By madcock January 6, 2010 at 10:54 pm
He ended up with a speeding ticket. That’s it.
USC needs to announce everytime an athlete gets a speeding ticket?
LMTFAO!
By CNSYD January 7, 2010 at 1:42 am
There seems to be two underlying things in the story run by The State. SOS allegedly stated, “when coaches asked Brown about the gun, he said he needed it because he lived in an off-campus apartment in “a rough part of town.” What does that tell the mothers of recruits? Does it mean that you need a gun when you are off campus in the Columbia metro area because it is dangerous?
Secondly it brings up a problem concerning the gun whenever Mr. Brown was on campus. After the Cook incident, The State alleges that SOS said no guns on campus was understood by his players. So what happened when Mr. Brown would leave his appartment and drive to any on campus locale? Where was the gun?
By Great Caesar's Ghost January 7, 2010 at 9:44 am
Two words: Gilbert Arenas.
By CL January 7, 2010 at 10:01 am
CNSYD
The arrest was in June, as in during the summer break. He does not live in his car, and there is no suggestion that he had ever taken the gun on campus. You might as well bring up the problem of Moe bringing the gun to elementary schools when he volunteers to read to little kids.
As for recruiting, would you really want to compare gun ownership rates between Pickens County and Richland County? And I am sure recruits would be shocked that a city the size of Columbia would have rough areas. Good grief. Even the glorified cow pastures that pass for cities in Pickens have rough areas. All that tells me is that Moe was not getting paid like Kenneth Page and could not afford to live in a nicer area (as is true of many college students).
By darth January 7, 2010 at 10:15 am
Despite the existence of the Second Amendment, the press has little f’ing idea what exactly the right to keep and bear arms means, much less what the concealed firearms carry permit requries of its holder, whether or not the permit holder is carrying.
Overzealous Columbia City cop of the kind that only finds a quarterback in an off campus party holding a beer can has a hinky trail.
BTW Sic, last time I looked, RINO Jakie hadn’t managed to force firearms registration on us. What exactly do you mean that “After all, Brown legally owned the firearm. It was registered in his name…” Is this the nihiliscent press that doesn’t like icky, nasty guns (lest fellating their lover’s) confusing a concealed carry permit with ownership in a situation that falls under “peaceable travel”?
Slow news days do seem to bring forth the seamier, smarmier side of “J-skule” imbiciles.
By sid January 7, 2010 at 10:23 am
“It was registered in his name.”
Does SC have a registration law for gun ownership? Or is Brown from another state that has such a requirement?
By fitsnews January 7, 2010 at 10:26 am
Darth-
We love guns. And crossbows. We think everyone should be able to carry them whenever and however they want, concealed or otherwise.
We’re not sure how anything in our article implied otherwise, but the point was to say that Brown did nothing wrong but USC screwed the pooch for him by not reporting the incident as the non-story it was.
Operative word “was.”
-FITS
By beavis January 7, 2010 at 12:09 pm
“After all, Brown legally owned the firearm. It was registered in his name. He was even allowed to have it in the car with him, although placing it under the seat was technically a violation of the law.”
Technically I believe you are wrong. The relevant code is here:
//START CITATION
SC CODE SECTION 16-23-20. Unlawful carrying of handgun; exceptions.
It is unlawful for anyone to carry about the person any handgun, whether concealed or not, except as follows, unless otherwise specifically prohibited by law:
…
(9) a person in a vehicle if the handgun is:
(a) secured in a closed glove compartment, closed console, closed trunk, or in a closed container secured by an integral fastener and transported in the luggage compartment of the vehicle; however, this item is not violated if the glove compartment, console, or trunk is opened in the presence of a law enforcement officer for the sole purpose of retrieving a driver’s license, registration, or proof of insurance; or
(b) concealed on or about his person, and he has a valid concealed weapons permit pursuant to the provisions of Article 4, Chapter 31, Title 23;
…
///END CITATION
If he had a permit and the gun was under his seat, it seems hard to believe that the weapon was not “concealed on or about his person”. That’s the point of a CWP, to give properly licensed individuals more leeway regarding the carrying of concealed weapons. A non licensed individual cannot place it under the seat, but a licensed individual can.
By State journalist January 7, 2010 at 12:14 pm
I posted this on Joe Person’s blog about “More Moe.”
I’m a career newspaperman, generally regarded as being pretty good at my job.
No, Joe, this was not Breaking News, nor was it news.
You found out about a gun charge and ran with it. You then dug in and found out the full story. Illegal search, charge dropped.
If you had tried to get the whole story instead of the seeming headline, this story doesn’t run.
If you were on my staff, you’d have a serious reprimand in your file, a warning to DO YOUR JOB, and that’s get all the facts before running with a story.
And I’d fire your ass if you tried to do it again.
The fact that WIS ran it too?
That’s crap. In today’s media atmosphere, you bring out a tidbit, they are going to jump on it for the SOLE reason that you have it. Or some other media outlet has it.
If they had gotten a tidbit first, you would have reported that, then gone after more.
it’s the way things are now, but it is NOT the way things should be in journalism. it is irresponsible and dangerous. it damages uncessarily the reputation of a kid who is a fine example to others.
There’s a reason your circulation numbers are dropping so poorly, across McClatchy in South Carolina as well.
You had a fact. You didn’t have a story.
A story happens when all the facts are put together.
You were wrong. Admit it. Promise to do better.
And apologize to Moe Brown for running a hatchet job on him.
How did you get tipped to this story, BTW?
I’m wondering if it was by someone with an axe to grind against USC or Moe. Because I don’t think it’s your job to routinely check out six month old police files, is it?
Fess up.
And Darth, I’m sure some in the “press” don’t like guns or the Second Amendment. But you are wrong to say all do. Dead wrong. Stop painting with an idiotic wide brush.
By CNSYD January 7, 2010 at 1:14 pm
CL, did Mr. Brown or did he not EVER drive his car onto USC property with his handgun in his car legally or illegally? The point was that SOS said NO guns on campus. Even if it was legal (in glove box, etc.) it is NOT what SOS said his policy was. IRT to Pickens county I don’t believe number of firearms was the question. I believe it was Mr. Brown apparently telling the SOS staff he needed it because of where he lived. Since crime is based on rates, you need to compare the rate for Pickens Co. vs. Richland/Lexington Co. I have no idea what either one is. However Mr. Brown felt his safety was threatened in the Columbia metro area. That was his statement (or that os SOS’s coaches) not mine.
By Weighing In January 7, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Beavis,
I see nothing in here that allows the gun to be under the seat. It defines specifically where it can be:
(a) secured in a closed glove compartment, closed console, closed trunk, or in a closed container secured by an integral fastener and transported in the luggage compartment of the vehicle; however, this item is not violated if the glove compartment, console, or trunk is opened in the presence of a law enforcement officer for the sole purpose of retrieving a driver’s license, registration, or proof of insurance; or
(b) concealed on or about his person, and he has a valid concealed weapons permit pursuant to the provisions of Article 4, Chapter 31, Title 23;
By CNSYD January 7, 2010 at 2:11 pm
CL, IRT Mr.page. There is no such person by that name on Clemson’s roster. IF (a huge IF) Mr. Page had been paid I would assume you have PROOF (you know what that is don’t you?) of this as well as the results of the NCAA investigation that confirmed it. I am waiting.
By sclawyerIII January 7, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Ron Aiken broke it actually.
The real journalists, however, ought to have done their homework before reporting it.
It is one thing to report an arrest when it happens.
Quite another to report the arrest six months later when there has been a disposition. Pretty lazy.
By sid January 7, 2010 at 2:48 pm
I believe courts have ruled that under the seat would constitute “on or about his person.” Not “on,” of course, but “about.” Thus, if he had a cary permit, it would seem under the seat is OK. If not, not so much.
By CL January 7, 2010 at 5:21 pm
CNSYD
Did CJ Spiller or did he not EVER attempt to assassinate the president? Isn’t this game fun. Pick a random, unsupported allegation and shift the burden to the other side to disprove it. Your question is pointless, idiotic speculation, as there is no suggestion he ever took a gun on campus.
If you want proof regarding Page, try google image search for Kenneth Page. Or you could develop a sense of humor and realize that was a joke.
PS – Just as a matter of logic, I fail to see how the fact that Page has already washed out of the program is proof that everything was on the up and up with his recruiting unless you mean that if Page had taken money, Dabo would have blackmailed him into staying like he did with Spiller. I kid, I kid.
By CNSYD January 7, 2010 at 7:14 pm
CL, I was not picking a random, unsupported allegation irt Mr. Brown and his POSSIBLE (legal or otherwise) possession of a handgun on USC property. In fact based on his registration of the handgun and the fact it was in his vehicle is OK by me. My question was really about the sweeping statement by SOS that his players know not to have guns on campus. To me he left himself no wiggle room. Personally I think Mr. Brown is more credible than SOS.
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