Finally, back online. Not that anyone really cares, but school starts on Monday for my kid and apparently (according to the wife) we didn’t have absolutely everything we should for her first day of kindergarten (a flask of bourbon for me apparently wasn’t on the list. So, it took ’til this point to have some quiet time and a chance for me to get away.

Joe Clermond deals — somewhat with his arrest and subsequent dismissal of marijuana possession charges.

Pitt junior quarterback Bill Stull said Clermond had the unwavering support of his teammates all along.

“We know Joe Joe,” Stull said. “He’s not that type of person.”

That’s what mattered most to Clermond.

“That really felt good, that they had faith in me,” he said, “that they believed I was innocent even before I was proven innocent.”

Vindication came nine days later, after Clermond showed proof that he wasn’t the owner of the SUV in question. The charges were withdrawn before a scheduled hearing in Pittsburgh Municipal Court.

It was a valuable lesson for Clermond, who is being held as a different example to Panthers players: Beware not only of what you do but the company you keep.

“They already know what type of person I am, and they know it could happen to them,” Clermond said. “They know they better watch out. Just being a ballplayer, it could be with other ballplayers, with friends or family. You’ve just got to try to put yourself in the right situation.”

What impressed Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt was Clermond’s character in reacting to the arrest. He showed up at Wannstedt’s office at 6:30 a.m. that Monday and volunteered to do whatever it took to clear his good name.

“Joe dealt with an unfortunate situation the way we would hope that any of our players would deal with,” Wannstedt said. “You’re not doing anything wrong, not committing any crime. You get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people, and you handle yourself the right way. That’s what he did.

“During that whole episode, he handled everything the way we would have wanted him to. It didn’t affect anything he was doing as far as the football goes.”

I’m very glad the charges were dropped. And the rumors of how Clermond did anything he could to clear even the perception to the coaches that he was  smoking is great.

I’m also glad that he gets that the bigger lesson, may be to beware of with whom you hang and what they are doing. It happens far too often — and not just with the Michael Vicks and those extremes. It happens with hanger-ons even with potential 3d or 4th round draft picks.

I’m still a little troubled by the whole thing. I don’t know what team punishments were given — if any.  Maybe there shouldn’t be any. I don’t know. I’m really undecided at this point.
Clermond, though, is a 23-year old redshirt senior. A presumed team leader and captain. I can’t shake the feeling that there should be some consequences.

Kevin Gorman at the Trib is reporting that Joe Clermond had marijuana possession charges against him withdrawn. Police found the a small amount of the drug in a car Clermond was riding in on the way home from a concert at Mellon Arena. Apparently there was enough reason to believe Clermond had nothing to do with it. Clermond’s release from the charges will help him avoid what could have been a possible suspension.

Not really much else to say on the topic — hopefully, for Clermond’s sake as a young man, people can simply forget about this as though it never happened. He was cleared quickly enough that we can easily move forward from the whole situation.

The arrest of Joe Clermond for possession of marijuana is frustrating and mainly stupid. The fact is, I think Clermond will have to be suspended for at least two games. Mainly because his behavior was incredibly stupid, selfish and irresponsible.

On a personal/political level, I stand with former Pitt great Mark Stepnoski on legalization of marijuana. I find this offense  at the level of underage drinking or violating an open container law on my personal scale of where it ranks in offenses by college athletes. I’m not a big fan of the drug war and that’s the extent I’ll editorialize on the issue.

The fact is, though, that Clermond was arrested and charged with possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana. A minor misdemeanor punishable by up to  30 days and a $500 fine. The “good news” for Clermond is that the charges don’t include anything about paraphernalia — which is actually a more serious misdemeanor. He broke the law and was caught.

He’s also a scholarship player at Pitt representing the school and the football team. He was one of the players to go to Big East Media Days. An expected team captain and leader on the defense. He has dinged his own future — with a character flag.  In other words, he has to carry and behave as more than simply a college kid.

It might seem unfair to Clermond to be held to a higher standard, but it’s not like he was unaware of the way things are.

There’s a good chance the charges could be dropped if someone else takes the blame for the stuff. That doesn’t matter. Clermond was there with it present. He bears responsibility to the team, and I don’t see how Coach Wannstedt doesn’t suspend him for at least one game or two.

Joe Clermond is one of the shining parts of a defense that lost three NFL Draft picks. He’s the poster boy of the 2007 defense and is on the schedule wallpaper/poster this year. He’s also on the Watch List for the 2007 Bronko Nagurski Trophy given to the top defensive player in college football, as well as on Watch Lists for the Chuck Bednarik and Ted Hendricks awards.

Now, he’s in trouble with the law for marijuana possession. Riding home with a few other people, the car he was in was pulled over with a small amount of marijuana found. He was released but will be in court for a preliminary hearing set for July 30.

“We are aware of the situation that occurred over the weekend involving Joe Clermond,” Pitt spokesman E.J. Borghetti said. “At this juncture we will decline comment and let the judicial process run its course.”

I’m sure we’ll hear more about this over the next few days and weeks.

Edit: For what it’s worth…

Sources tell PSI that Clermond is insisting that he wasn’t smoking the marijuana and was just in the car.

I know many are getting antsy to see more football posts, but I’m just not there yet. This despite a steady perusal of “Phil Steele’s 2007 College Football Preview.” Hopefully the Big East Media Days next week will generate something amusing and kick me in that direction.

In the meantime, I highly recommend the 2-part series “Enter the Octonion” (Part 1 and Part 2) from Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician. It had me at “God dammit I need to stop doing whippets.”

Meanwhile, for the more nostalgic, there is a nice piece on former Pitt QB Fred Mazurek who led the 1963 9-1 Pitt team to no bowl appearance that year.

On a less proud alumni note, Bill Maas is done as a broadcaster for Fox Sports after his arrest for felony drug and weapons. Way to nail that daily double.

On the positive side, a nice puffer on Jason Pinkston looking to have a big year somewhere on the O-line.

“We’ve basically just been running and lifting and training hard with Buddy,” Pinkston said. “So, we’re just trying to get ready for camp and the season, and I think we’re all working hard to get there. I played in the spring at about 315 pounds, and I lost around 15 pounds and put a lot of muscle on since then. So, I’m about 300 even right now. And I feel real good.

“This is a very important offseason for us. We just started with Buddy a short time ago, and he expects a lot from us. So, we’re working hard to get back to the type of Pitt team that we were in the past. The guys you mentioned, I think it was good for all of us to kind of get a taste for it last year. And now we’re ready to play even more this season.”

Pinkston’s improvement has given hope to an offensive line that has been maligned in recent years for inconsistent play and depth problems due to injuries and attrition. He certainly appears to be capable of handling a starting assignment, should McGlynn move to center or anywhere else for that matter. And while nothing is set, Pitt’s coaching staff has more options on the line than it has in a while. And that can’t hurt.

The Center position is going to be the issue. If Vangas or Bachman can get their play to a level that lets them start, Pinkston helps supply depth on the O-line. If he starts, that means McGlynn is at Center and on every play, O-Line Coach Paul Dunn will be praying that no one gets hurt.

Put this under waste of talent.

One time Pitt recruit and former USF receiver, Johnny Peyton, was arrested and charged with possession of crack cocaine.

Coming out of HS for the 2004 recruiting class, Peyton was an solid receiver with tons of potential. He was supposed to be a good recruit for Pitt, and on signing day was considered a big score for USF. He set receiving and TD marks at USF as a freshman. His sophomore year wasn’t as good and shortly afterwards he either left the team or was kicked off of it — depending on who you ask.

I joked about a curse on 2004 recruits who reneged on verbals to Pitt. This, though, is Peyton’s own doing and own bad decisions.

I look forward to this story in the next alumni e-mail.

A former defensive lineman for the Los Angeles Raiders and the Cleveland Browns pleaded guilty yesterday to helping his live-in girlfriend run a high-end prostitution ring out of his parents’ Monroeville home.

Three other defendants face charges this month in connection with the prostitution and drug ring investigators say was run by the ball player’s girlfriend, Amy Schifano.

After kissing his mother and hustling his parents out of the courtroom, a subdued John Robert “Buck” Buczkowski, 43, stepped forward and pleaded to two counts of promoting prostitution, six counts of possessing and dealing cocaine, and one count each of participating in a corrupt organization, conspiracy, dealing in the proceeds of an illegal activity and illegal use of a cell phone.

He faced a sentence of 43¹/₂ to 87 years had he gone to trial. Instead, he agreed to testify against his co-defendants if they proceed to trial.

After a short-lived career in the NFL, the former Gateway and University of Pittsburgh football star bought the Gold Rush restaurant and bar in Monroeville and ran it with his parents.

The girlfriend seems to have been a real go-getter. She seemed to be the brains and facing the most charges. Buck apparently was the muscle.

I didn’t believe it then, or now. No, not the charges, the claim that this was a high-end prostitution ring. Out of Monroeville? For around $200/appointment? Talk about the affordable prices in Pittsburgh.

Not sure how I missed this the first time I scanned through, but this is a nice little gem.

Strong allegedly broke Sappleton’s two cell phones and Sappleton was pushed to the ground. Medics checked Sappleton and found no abrasions, contusions or swelling relative to the incident.

Strong’s lady friend had two cell phones? For some reason this made me laugh. And yes, this is in fact the most Pitt related news we’ve seen this weekend.

Only 89 days until kickoff.

Darrell Strong didn’t take Memorial Day off from causing trouble.

Strong, 21, of Sunrise, Fla., is accused of damaging the woman’s purse and cell phone during the altercation that began in an apartment and moved to a fast-food restaurant in the Waterfront complex where police were called at 7:55 p.m. Monday, Homestead police Chief Jeffrey DeSimone said.

Of course it’s known that Dave Wannstedt can be harsh with his punishment of players, even for seemingly small offenses.

“After meeting with Darrell, I have decided that he will be subject to internal disciplinary measures effective immediately.”

Thankfully he wasn’t stupid enough to injure her and is was a dispute with some shoving (not like that kind of action should be condoned either) or else we could have another pretty big punishment handed down my Wannstedt.

By now you’ve heard that Joe Paterno has decided on a punishment for his football team after some inexcusable behavior: have the entire team clean the stadium after a game day and give all of the money earned to the club teams which use such income to fund their sports. Sounds pretty good, right?

No doubt Paterno is a smart man, at least in some sense. Not smart enough for a few people to see right through his punishment though.

If you peel back the warm and fuzzy blanket, it’s as much a preemptive strike at the University’s Office of Judicial Affairs as it is corporal punishment for the players.

Consider the timing of the announcement. It comes before the Judicial Affairs folks begin their hearings into the incident.

In the pecking order of justice, the legal system is first, then Judicial Affairs and finally, Paterno’s court.

It is also a calculated move to undercut the Judicial Affairs office by taking matters into his own hands and meting out his own punishment. That will make anything Judicial Affairs decides to do look like overkill and further advance the perception that Judicial Affairs has some vendetta against the football team.

Yes, Joe Paterno is smart, but Ron Bracken is just a step ahead.