Friday's Odds and Ends

A five-year-old boy shot a four-year-old boy at a playground in Hillcrest Heights, Md., about 10 miles southeast of Washington, D.C.. Police wondert how a five-year-old had access to a gun.

Good question. Do you suppose it could be the fault of some irresponsible parent?

The judge in the Casey Anthony murder trial called a recess Friday just as prosecutors prepared to rebut testimony by Anthony's mother who claimed she -- not her daughter -- made suspicious Internet searches in the months before her 2-year-old granddaughter disappeared.


I understand a mother's urge to protect her daughter, but is this really believable? This whole story since the case first broke has read like a poorly plotted novel.


The NBA is in lockout, with the teams and the players unable to compromise on terms of new contracts. Owners want to reduce the players' guarantee of 57 percent of basketball revenue and weren't moved by the players' offer to drop it to 54.3 percent -- though players said that would have cut their salaries by $500 million over five years.


This seems to be a trend in professional sports, and I wonder when it became all about the money and not about the games. And, of course, as salaries and other expenses rise, so do ticket prices. So who pays in the end? The sports' fans.
 
Four months after Trent Schmidt was killed in a car accident, thieves broke into the Triumph Church in Greenwood, IN and stole musical instruments - including the bass guitar that Trent played. Trent was an associate pastor with his father, Stephen,  and his parents were devastated when the guitar was stolen. They made a public plea to the thieves to return the guitar, and apparently that worked. This past Wednesday morning Stephen and his wife were driving in the alley behind the church, and saw something that made them stop. The five-string bass guitar that Trent played at services at the church before joining the Army was left on the ground next to the air conditioner.

Someone to look up to

Young people can look up to Caron Butler for a lot of reasons. He is 6-feet-7, so one would have to look up to see his face. He is a star basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks. He has been on Oprah's show and the cover of Sports Illustrated.

He is a true celebrity.

But what Caron wants young people to know about him isn't related to his celebrity status. He wants young people to know that he once was in prison. He was arrested numerous times before he was 15. His life was spiraling downward until Jameel Ghauri, executive director of the George Bray Neighborhood Center in Racine Wisconsin stepped into Caron's life.

Ghauri stood by the young boy as he served various sentences and then helped him get out of the criminal element altogether. He also introduced the boy to serious basketball, and soon recognized a special talent.

Now Caron is at the peak of success professionally and personally. He is married and is determined to be an active participant in his children's lives, unlike his own father who abandoned the family.

Caron speaks to young people about his past and encourages them to take a different road in their lives. He is also a volunteer with Habitat For Humanity. He conducts Youth Clinics and bicycle, coat, and school supply drives.

In a recent interview in the Dallas Morning News Caron had this to say, "I get paid millions of dollars doing something that I love. Whenever I get the opportunity to share my story and influence others, be a pillar in the community, I embrace it."

I would like to embrace Caron for becoming a man of such character and integrity. That is something that the young people can really look up to him for.