Fool Me Once: Stop Going To Nightclubs, Fool Me Twice?

Lets, for a brief moment, relive the painful memory that is November 2008, when Plaxico Burress accidently shot himself in the leg.

In avoiding the obvious questions I had as an avid, my-dad-raised-me-as-a-boy-when-it-comes-to-football fan, abridged into the following overly long question: “Um, why was Plaxico Burress packing in the first place… in a bar… the night before a big game against Washington…with other Giants players…with the gun stored in a position that could shoot himself or others…without a safety on?”

I digress.

I actually want to think about the public consequences that came of his poor decision, such as:

• Plaxico’s recuperation process after physically shooting himself in the leg
• being convicted of a felony, and forced to serve time
• Never being able to play football as well as he did pre-shooting self in leg
• The financial burden in paying legal fees and not having the security net of a professional football play salary
• Letting down an entire football team, and its corresponding fans
• His forever tainted public image as the “idiot who actually shot himself in the foot.”
• Crushing a certain 21 year old fan, who was relying on him to pull through as her favorite Giant when Michael Strahan retired. Ahem.

Not to mention the toll it took on me, I mean Giants Nation…as if it isn’t hard enough being Giants fans already. If I had a dollar for each moment of second-hand Plaxico embarrassment I felt, I would most likely be writing this from my private yacht somewhere in the middle of the Mediterranean. Ah, a girl can dream. Its fine though, I mean really who doesn’t like having to defend the reasoning behind their team’s wide receiver shooting themselves in the foot in the middle of the season?

Giants Nation Moral Lesson: no more packing whilst in Manhattan nightclubs.

Fine. Easy. We move on…

…or at least we had moved on until Monday night, when four members of the Giants starting line-up were caught in a fatal Manhattan night club shooting. [read the embarressing story here, thanks espn]

Déjà vu, anyone?

Luckily, no one from my beloved NYG franchise was hurt, but it sparks 3 immediate alarming thoughts for me:

1. Did we not learn our lesson the first time? (see above)
2. Can we not find better establishments to hang out at whilst enjoying ourselves? Perhaps places where people aren’t packing might suffice.
3. Is it necessary to start running a nightly program where players need to check in weaponless, and can’t leave until the morning?

Also, Victor Cruz, who was rapidly climbing my “Favorite Giant Player” ladder has been forced to the bottom, as I don’t think I can come to avidly supporting someone who might accidently shoot himself in the leg…again.