I see where Joey Porter is being charged for punching Cincinnati Bengals lineman Levi Jones at a Las Vegas casino. (Insert heavy sigh here.)

Porter is the star linebacker the Steelers traded to Miami in the off season. Pittsburgh probably couldn’t afford his legal fees. Apparently, Porter and Jones allowed a trash talking contest to become physical. I guess that sticks and stones deal wasn’t working.

Porter is a big man but Jones checks in at 300 pounds and stands 6 feet 5 inches. The size and weight of their brains was not subject to investigation. Besides, the news account I read sounded more like scouting report than a piece of the police blotter.

Porter, the aggressor and chief idiot in charge (and being charged), is the new (or flavor of the week) poster child for the reason I cringe when my kid tunes into professional sports. The entertainment and economic part of the formula has become so skewed that we now draft based on 40 yard dash times and rap sheets. None of this is new, but Porter’s outburst reminds us of the TO-is-our-role-model slow creep that threatens to turn sport into an opening act for a three-ring circus of attitude and felonies.

******
From the stupid question, smart response department come a couple of jewels: The first thing we asked Kevin Durant after his Texas Longhorns were drilled by USC in March Madness was if he was going to turn pro. Durant, a freshman in college, demurred, saying the question was inappropriate at the time. Yes, it was. Could you wait a minute? A scoop this time of year? Well, my money is not on ya, Buddy.

I did wonder about Durant’s admission later in the news conference about not playing hard in the USC game.

Item dos: At a Little Rock chat up, Nebraska Basketball Coach Doc Sadler answered a few questions about the coaching job at Arkansas. Why is this interesting? Well, if he left UNL now, it would be serious news, redefining a cup of coffee and sending Big Red hoops fans into apoplexy.

Not going to happen. What is of interest to me is what kind of player is Sadler recruiting? What next year is going to hold in the Big 12? What’s his shoe size? Stuff like that. We spend a lot of time theorizing — chat rooming if you will — on coaches moving. A far better story is what do they do when they get there.