Yet another MU football player has been arrested. RS freshman offensive lineman Austin Wuebbels was arrested on Sunday morning on suspicion of possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, possession of alcohol by a minor and false identification.
After senior wide receiver Greg Bracey was kicked off the team shortly before the Cotton Bowl for a very similar arrest you would have to assume that this is the end of Wuebbels' career. And if his arrest alone didn't do it then the fact that Gary Pinkel and the rest of the MU coaching staff didn't find out about it until the media asked a question about Wuebbels' status following Tuesday's practice (a practice Wuebbels participated in) probably did.
I'm sure that Tigerboard is currently littered with posters questioning the discipline within Pinkel's program after the John Stull and Marquis Booker incidents earlier this offseason. But unfortunately this stuff happens at every program in the country. Nebraska has had a several players run into problems with the police over the past few months and KU's Aquib Talib's smoking habits are well documented. I'm not excusing it and I'm not saying that Pinkel shouldn't be concerned (I'm sure this irks him more than anyone) but a lot of college kids make a lot of stupid decisions and that's going to be the case no matter how clean of a program you run.
You feel bad for Wuebbels because he likely just flushed his college football career down the toilet (but when you go two days without mentioning this to your coaches then it's hard to be too sympathetic) and it sucks because this hurts our OL depth but I don't think this should be used as an indictment of the overall discipline of our program.
In other news...
- Stefhon Hannah pleaded guilty this morning to a reduced charge of peace disturbance by fighting. Lets hope this is the last we hear of Athenagate.
- Things got a little chippy during Tuesday's practice as fights broke out between Castine Bridges and Jon Gissinger, Jeremy Maclin and Carl Gettis and Tommy Saunders and Justin Garret. Saunders always seems to get involved in these practice scuffles. I remember reading about a particular memorable fight between him and Darnell Terrell during a practice last August. Matter goes on to say that Maclin and Gettis were joking about their fight after practice but that apparently wasn't enough to change Pinkel's attitude toward the scuffles: "It’s bush league, he said. "It doesn’t happen very often around here. ... I had a few words of wisdom for them after practice."
- I heard from an inside source that Graham Watson booted a 35-yard punt after practice on Tuesday. All spring I've been reading in her blog that punting is going to be a major weakness for Mizzou next season and then she shows up at practice showing off her leg. Is she trying to convince Pinkel to give her a scholarship?
- Finally some good news, Jaron Baston says he has learned a lot over the years from guys like Brian Smith and Lorenzo Williams and is now ready to step into a starting role.
- And a shocker to leave you with, Jacob Priday was named Big 12 Player of the Week and the National Hitter of the Week.
