Burress begins sentence in gun case

Former Giants receiver Plaxico Burress carried his son, Elijah, into court on Tuesday, and then told him goodbye.
NEW YORK -- One-time Super Bowl hero Plaxico Burress was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday for violating New York's stringent gun laws and was immediately taken into custody following his hearing.

Burress agreed to a plea deal last month and pleaded guilty to a lesser firearms charge. The charges stemmed from an incident late last fall, in which Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub with a gun that had not been licensed in New York.

He is expected to serve about 20 months with credit for good behavior -- meaning he could be released as early as the spring of 2011 -- followed by two years of probation.

Burress arrived at the courthouse at 9:41 a.m. ET on Tuesday wearing a jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, a stark contrast to the dark blue suit he wore last month when he entered his guilty plea.

He was accompanied by his pregnant wife, Tiffany; his almost 3-year-old son, Elijah, whom he carried; his father and stepmother; and his grandmother.

Before the sentencing began, Burress asked for and was granted permission by Judge Michael Melkonian to say one last goodbye to his wife and family, seated in the fifth row of the courthouse.

The hearing was brief, as the prosecution and defense told the judge they had previously agreed to the guilty plea and two-year sentence.

A soft-spoken Burress then apologized to his family and fans and thanked them for their support. "We will all get through this," he said.

He was then taken into custody.

The Giants, through spokesman Pat Hanlon, said, "This has been a tragic, sad, disappointing situation from the beginning. Our concern has always been for Plax's welfare, and for his family, and that continues to be our overriding feeling."

Michael Strahan, a former Giants teammate who is now an NFL television analyst, used his Twitter account to support Burress: "My Thoughts and Prayers are with my man Plaxico and his family today!!!"

Antonio Pierce, also a former Giants teammate who was with Burress the night of the incident, and former Giants linebacker Kawika Mitchell, now with the Buffalo Bills, re-tweeted the Strahan comment.

Burress was transported to Rikers Island jail in New York, where he arrived at 1:20 p.m. ET, according to Steve Morello, a deputy commissioner with the New York City Department of Corrections.

Burress was moved Wednesday morning to Ulster Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison, in Napanoch, N.Y., on the edge of Catskill State Park. There, he will undergo further processing, including getting state-issue clothing and a strip search.

After the sentencing on Tuesday, his defense attorney, Benjamin Brafman, called the case "terribly sad and very tragic."

"This has been a very emotional experience for him," Brafman said. "He's sad about what he's done to his life, his career, and more importantly to his family. He's a fundamentally good man who has used bad judgment and is going to pay a very, very severe penalty."

The case went to a grand jury after months of negotiations between prosecutors and Burress' defense attorney broke down, apparently because Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau insisted that the former New York Giants wide receiver serve at least two years in prison for violating the city's strict gun laws. Mayor Michael Bloomberg had also publicly called for Burress to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

On July 29, Burress took the rare and risky step of testifying before the grand jury, hoping to convince the panel that the gun was not used in the commission of a crime and that he was the lone victim. But days later, Burress was indicted on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. He faced a minimum sentence of 3½ years if convicted at trial.

On Aug. 20, the day he was to be arraigned, Burress agreed to a plea deal and pleaded guilty to attempted weapons possession in the second degree.

Hours after Burress pleaded guilty, the NFL announced that commissioner Roger Goodell had suspended the receiver and said Burress is ineligible to sign with any team until he completes his prison term. After that, Burress may sign with an NFL team without further review.

Burress, a nine-year veteran with the Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers, became a Super Bowl hero when he caught the winning touchdown pass in the last minute of the Giants' 17-14 upset win over the previously unbeaten New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

Burress and Pierce were at the Latin Quarter nightclub in Manhattan in late November 2008 when a gun that was tucked into Burress' waistband slipped down his leg and fired, shooting him in the right thigh.

The bullet narrowly missed a nightclub security guard who was standing inches away, prosecutors said. It lodged in the floor and was recovered by a bartender.

The gun was not licensed in New York or in New Jersey, where Burress lived. His license to carry a concealed weapon in the state of Florida had expired in May 2008.

Prosecutors said Pierce drove Burress to a hospital, then took the gun to his own home in New Jersey. It was later delivered to Burress' home. Pierce, who also testified before the grand jury, was not charged.

The Giants released Burress in April, but the 32-year-old told ESPN he hopes to resume his NFL career when he completes his sentence.

"When I get out, I'll be 33, not 43," Burress said in an interview broadcast in August. "I'll still be able to run and catch. I'll still have the God-given ability to snag footballs; that's what I love to do. Of course, I want to play again."

Gil Brandt, an analyst on NFL Sirius Radio and the former head of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, said Burress won't be too old for a comeback when he's released from prison.

"First of all, Plaxico is a guy who keeps himself in pretty good shape," Brandt said. "Lots of times guys get heavy in the offseason. He is not a guy who has done that."

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4493887

Semenya withdraws from race amidst reports she's hermaphrodite

Caster Semenya, the 18-year old at the center of one of the biggest gender scandals in sports history, withdrew from a weekend race in South Africa amidst unconfirmed reports that her gender tests have revealed that she has both male and female sexual organs.

She was scheduled to compete in the 4,000 meters at the national cross country championships in Pretoria. Semenya's coach, Michael Seme, says his runner "isn't feeling well".

Yesterday, unsubstantiated reports from Australia and England said that Semenya's tests showed that she has no womb or ovaries and produces testosterone levels three times higher than a normal woman. The IAAF thinly denies the reports. (The organization's spokesman says he hasn't "seen" the results, which doesn't mean he hasn't "heard" the results. Nor has the IAAF come out and said that the reports are false.)

The Today Show aired a report on the Semenya situation this morning:

It's another chapter in an unfortunate story. It's easy to get caught up in the sensationalized aspects of Semenya's tale, but let's not forget that she's still just a teenager who is now the centerpiece of an embarrassing worldwide scandal. No matter how things progressed to this point (and we'll get to that later), Semenya is a victim in this story.

But let's operate under assumption that the tests were accurate and that Semenya is a hermaphrodite. If so, then there are three main questions that will need to be answered soon:

1) Will Semenya be stripped of her gold medal?

Probably. It's hard to imagine that the IAAF would allow Semenya to keep the gold after what these tests reveal. The rules explicitly state that a "gender verification" situation has to be approved and overseen by medical authorities. Semenya didn't do this. Fair or not, a rule is a rule.

2) Will Semenya ever be allowed to run again?

Reading the IAAF rules, it would appear that Semenya would be allowed to run if her condition was treated. Whether or not she would want to is anyone's guess. But there's also a chance she could be banned from running based on the answer to the next question.

3) Who knew about this and when did they know?

We haven't gotten this far down the road yet, but the next logical step in the progression of this sordid affair is whether there was a coverup involved. Regardless of whether the intentions of Semenya and her handlers were nefarious, they had to know of her ambiguous gender. Not having ovaries isn't something that goes unnoticed. If they did, then at what point did this turn from an unfortunate medical situation into outright deception?

If Semenya was an innocent running without knowledge of her condition, then there's not much the IAAF could do other than strip her medal and advise her on how to regain eligibility. But if it can be determined that she knew she was running illegally (which would be tough to prove, but I'm starting to get the feeling that people knew -- how else would other coaches have known to order gender tests?) then there could be heavy sanctions down the road.

These questions will be discussed in the coming weeks and will be the center of attention when the IAAF officially releases its findings in November. If you thought the tale of Caster Semenya was strange before, it's just getting started.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Semenya-withdraws-from-race-amidst-reports-she-s?urn=oly,188930

Coach: Gender tests not explained to Semenya

JOHANNESBURG (AP)—A South African track coach has resigned, saying Monday that he and other officials failed a world champion runner by not telling her she was being subjected to tests to determine her sex.

Wilfred Daniels’ comments contradicted statements from Athletics South Africa officials who have accused the IAAF, track and field’s international governing body, of publicly humiliating world 800-meter champion Caster Semenya while denying any responsibility on their part. The South African officials have said tests were done only abroad, not in South Africa.

Athletics South Africa President Leonard Chuene told The Associated Press on Monday that Daniels’ statements were “wild allegations.” Both he and Daniels said Monday they were still awaiting an IAAF ruling on Semenya’s sex—and future as a runner.
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The Athletics South Africa Web site listed Daniels as a manager for middle distance—Semenya’s specialty—for the team that went to the IAAF World Championships in Berlin in August.

He told the AP he resigned last week from his post, which included supervising Semenya’s personal coach and overseeing South Africa’s performance at international meets. He said he agonized over the decision for weeks before deciding “there’s only one way for me to deal with this, and that was to say sorry and walk away.”

“Maybe it’s time that other people came in and do what I was supposed to do,” he said.

Daniels said he found out shortly before Semenya won the race at the world championships in Germany last month that she had been tested in South Africa in July at the IAAF’s behest. He said she was told she was undergoing only a doping test.

IAAF rules say such cases are to be handled confidentially. Instead, responding to media reports, the IAAF publicly acknowledged hours before the 800-meter final that questions had been raised about Semenya and that sex tests were initiated in response.

The IAAF has said Semenya is not accused of cheating by trying to mask her sex. She may have a biological condition that gives her an advantage over other female runners. That could result in her being banned from the sport.

Daniels said he did not know why Semenya was lied to, but said it could have been to protect her feelings at a time when the issue was confidential, as IAAF rules demand.

But “when there’s legal implications that an athlete could be barred from competing for life, we need to explain to the individual concerned, look, these are the implications,” Daniels said.

He said Semenya would have been better prepared to deal with the media storm had she been told “this is what’s going to happen, this is how gender verification tests are done, these are your rights,” he said. “Those are the kind of issues that we didn’t explain to her.”

Daniels said he explained and apologized to Semenya over the weekend, and she took the news calmly. He said the poise she has shown since the case became public is “a lesson to us grown-ups on how to behave under difficult circumstances.”

Daniels said IAAF rules stipulate the results be kept private, but that he was not sure that would happen.

“The IAAF violated their own procedures and protocols by putting this out in the public domain,” he said.

IAAF President Lamine Diack has publicly acknowledged the affair was handled badly, telling reporters in Berlin last month: “I deeply regret that confidentiality was breached in this case and that the IAAF were forced into a position of having to confirm that gender testing was being carried out on this young athlete.”

Chuene called on Daniels to prove his statements. Until then, Chuene said, “wild allegations will remain wild allegations.”

Chuene said top South African track officials were meeting this weekend to determine their next step in Semenya’s case. He would not say what options they were considering.

Found at: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-southafrica-gendertest&prov=ap&type=lgns

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Embattled track star Caster Semenya gets new coach, new look

It's been a week of change for Caster Semenya, the South African runner at the center of a gender controversy at last month's world track championships.

First, one of her South African coaches quit the team in shame for not telling Semenya that she was being subjected to gender tests. (Semenya had thought she was taking a doping test.) Then, Semenya appeared on the cover of South Africa's You magazine with a complete makeover designed to silence critics who insist she is a man.


For the shoot Semenya sported a less ambiguous hair style, a designer black dress, jewelry, makeup and nail polish. Despite what you think about the whole situation, it's safe to say that this is the first time that Semenya has truly looked like an 18-year old woman.

She says she likes the look too. Semenya told the BBC:

"I'd like to dress up more often and wear dresses but I never get the chance.

I am who I am and I'm proud of myself."

Let's hope this is what she wants though.

Nothing Semenya has done in the past month has suggested that she likes to wear dresses, get manicures and let down her hair. After the controversy broke, she kept her cornrows, wore baggy clothes and pounded her chest in victory like a college football cornerback. When she returned to her hometown, she was dressed the same way. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. That seemed to be Semenya's natural inclination. This feels forced.

Hopefully I'm wrong. But if Semenya was pressured to do this to silence her critics, then this is a sad story rather than one of retribution. The opinions of a few jealous coaches shouldn't have an effect on how an 18-year old carries herself. If Semenya wants to wear dresses then she should. But if she wants to run around in track suits, what's the problem with that?

The coach who resigned wasn't Semenya's personal coach, but a middle distance supervisor on the South African team who was ashamed that Semenya was kept in the dark about the growing controversy. Wilfred Daniels said he was told the issue was supposed to stay private.

Found at: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Embattled-track-star-Caster-Semenya-gets-new-coa?urn=oly,187999