At least if the police report is accurate.

Pittsburgh police arrested Fleming, 21, of Reisterstown, Md., about 10 p.m. Friday outside One Stop Mini Mart on the Boulevard of the Allies in Oakland.

As Fleming exited the store and got into his Ford Taurus, police approached and attempted to stop him for a traffic violation. Fleming pulled away and attempted to hit the marked police car before crashing into a guard rail, according to a criminal complaint.

Fleming then shoved a plastic bag containing marijuana in his mouth and started to swallow, authorities said. Officers pulled Fleming from the car and, after failing to remove the bag, punched him, successfully dislodging the drugs from his mouth, the criminal complaint states.

Despite commands to remain on the ground, Fleming struggled with officers before being handcuffed, authorities said.

He was evaluated at UPMC Mercy, Uptown, and taken to the Allegheny County Jail, where he was being held in lieu of $10,000 bond. Police charged Fleming with two counts of aggravated assault, resisting arrest, fleeing or eluding police, drug possession, tampering with evidence and vehicular offenses.

What ever your feelings on drug laws, if Carl Fleming thought he could swallow the baggie of dope, he probably did not have a quantity sufficient to take this beyond a misdemeanor — and likely a summary offense at that. Not good, but hardly career ending for a 1-A scholarship football player.

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I swear I will get to Pitt stuff today. But there is no rational way to ignore last night.

This is not over for Penn State. There is still a trial for Sandusky. There is still the matter of perjury charges. There will be the oh so deserved civil lawsuits that can never give back what was taken from the children. The number of molested children continues to grow and there are disturbing rumors of more horrors. The Department of Education is looking into serious issues that can affect student aid. It will be a long time before this long, dark shadow leaves State College.

The school has to hire a new football coach, a new AD and a new president. In what order and how quickly can you move on those things?

Tom Bradley will be the interim coach the rest of the way. He and the entire remaining staff will almost certainly be swept out after the season. Penn State men or not, it is hard to imagine they will be able to stay. Fair or not, they too are tainted by this.

This will also upset many PSU fans — even if they do concede the logic and necessity — as so many of the connections to the Paterno era are abruptly severed. This will create more strain and animosity with the fans and school. Making the job of whomever comes next that much harder.

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I don’t know if there has ever been a college football season where the actual games have continued to take a backseat to all the other issues. And if the sundry expansiopocolypse matters, Miami football scandal, the legitimate debate of paying college athletes all haven’t been enough. They all pale in comparison to the seriousness and depravity that has come to light in Happy Valley.

Now it is announced by Joe Paterno in a press release that he will be retiring.

Everyone comes at these matters with their own history, biases and knowledge. My wife has been working in juvenile justice for over fifteen years. She has been a juvenile court magistrate for nearly ten years. Her fist year as a magistrate she heard “abuse, neglect and dependency cases.” These were emergency hearings on the immediate removal of a child from their home, parent and/or guardian. Those are not taken lightly. They are done when the risk to the safety of a child is so great that there is not time for a regular hearing with procedural standards. The details in these cases created emotions that ranged from rage to hide under the blankets depression. There was not a week that went by where my wife would come home in absolute tears over a particular case that was so horrid. I would listen as she described the matters, and do what I could to comfort her while trying not to lose it myself. My wife is much stronger and less selfish than I. Could never have kept doing that for even a year. Sadly, I have actually heard more disgusting things than what was described in the indictment of Sandusky.

There are two primary parts to the Sandusky-Penn State child molestation scandal. The first are the crimes by Sandusky. Horrific. Disgusting. Repulsive. Tragic. There aren’t words sufficient to describe the revulsion anyone with a shred of decency feels if they actually read the charges and years of preying on young children. Those are being handled by prosecutors and the legal system. It has been investigated, charges have been filed. Sandusky will never truly pay for his crimes, because there is no punishment. No remedy that can ever make whole what he has done to so many.

Then there are the crimes — both legal and moral — by so many in the Penn State administration. That is where everyone has their focus at this time.

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The wheels of justice turn slowly, very slowly in Lancaster (insert Amish buggy joke here).

In December, Lamar Patterson got caught in a dine-and-dash debacle. He and his cohorts master scheme, undone by leaving behind his brother’s ID.

In February, he was actually charged. That was when Pitt suspended him for a game.

Now, the end of August, and we have this complex legal matter mostly resolved.

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The insanely bizarre Next Media Taiwanese animation folk have their depiction of the Miami scandal.

This just keeps getting more entertaining.

Wow. Just. Wow.

There were so many topics I wanted to post on in the less than copious spare time, I have, but the bomb Yahoo! dropped in the college football world moves that to the front of the line.

I won’t lie, given Miami’s history. Given what happened with their departure from the Big East. I had a fair amount of bitter cackling laughter over this. I deeply mean this. I have been giggling like a school girl every time I look at that picture of Nevin Shapiro bowling with Frank Haith, while Miami Pres. Donna Shalala is greedily examining the check Shapiro gave her.

When you think of the possible consequences Miami faces for this. When you also think about the still ongoing mess with UNC football. Plus the penalties that were put on Georgia Tech over the summer. Well, it is clear that while the ACC may not be matching up with the big boys of college football on the field, they are overcompensating more than a little off of the field.

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It could have been easy for Coach Graham, Anthony Gonzalez and Pitt to bury this. To put the whole negative story out of sight.

We all know the drill. Player under suspension is declared off-limits to the media for the duration. It’s couched in a way to argue that he should not be a distraction to the team and what they are trying to do. To make it into an example of the team coming first. Then after Gonzalez serves his two game suspension, lift the restriction. By then, however, the season is underway. So is the Steelers season. So how much interest is there in talking to the 2nd or 3d string QB about an arrest from back in June that will eventually be expunged? Even if the story does happen, it is such old-news that it is mostly ignored. It’s a time-honored PR tactic to delay and bury a negative story.

That didn’t happen. On the very first day of practice. With all the local media on-hand, Anthony Gonzalez did interviews and talked about his mistake.

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Seems reasonable enough.

Pitt coach Todd Graham said today redshirt freshman quarterback Anthony Gonzalez will be suspended for the first two games of the season against Buffalo and Maine for violation of team rules.

Gonzalez, 20, was cited earlier this year in his hometown of Bethlehem on charges of possessing a small amount of marijuana and fake identification, and underage drinking.

Gonzalez will be permitted to practice with the team when training camp opens Aug. 8 …

While participating in preseason camp, Gonzalez will be subject to “internal accountability,” Graham said.

“A championship program has to be built on accountability and discipline, on and off the field,” Graham said. “We know Anthony will learn from this experience and be better for it moving forward.”

I have no problem with this suspension. I’ve said before that I don’t consider this a huge offense — except for the timing.

Otherwise, the article confirms that Brandon Sacco has left Pitt — reasons not given.

Aliquippa is expecting big things from Brandon Lindsey. They like to have their boys from ‘da Quip getting attention and they love to make it some sort of geographic lineage.

Lindsey, 22, has strong family bloodlines. His father, John, played major-college basketball at Memphis. His brother, Willie, played major college football at Northwestern.

Lindsey comes from a strong high school football program that has produced five first-round picks in the NFL Draft — Mike Ditka (1961), Sean Gilbert (1992), Ty Law (1995), Darrelle Revis (2007) and former Pitt teammate Jonathan Baldwin (2011).

“It’s a little too early to start thinking about the NFL Draft, but really, it’s not too far away,” Lindsey said. “This is my last year (at Pitt), and I know it’s going to happen. What round I get drafted … it all depends on what I do on the field this season.”

The successes should be celebrated. In an area like Aliquippa that has no shortage of problems, you want to point to the people that do something. That take advantage of their opportunities.

Then there is Monroe Weekley.

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A short follow-up to the post about Anthony Gonzalez. It was noted that he was applying for the accelerated rehabilitative disposition (ARD) program. This is in conjunction with the prosecutors lowering the marijuana charge misdemeanor possession to conspiracy to possess.

Speaking with a friend who has more than a passing familiarity with the criminal legal system in Allegheny County, it is safe to assume that Gonzalez is nearly a shoe-in for getting ARD. Now that his charge is no longer a straight drug charge, it is more palatable for a prosecutor to recommend a first time offender for the ARD.

The likely result is that at the time of his next hearing, he can formally accept participating in the ARD program.

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Probably not the best news for Anthony Gonzalez. His arraignment date is not until September 1.

Gonzalez, 20, waived his right for a preliminary hearing Monday in front of District Justice Nancy Matos Gonzalez in Bethlehem.

The marijuana charge is a misdemeanor and the others are summary violations, according to court papers. Gonzalez was cited May 20 while he was a passenger in a car that was stopped by police in South Bethlehem.

Pitt coach Todd Graham suspended Gonzalez, one of only three quarterbacks on the roster, at the time of the incident. His status with the team hasn’t changed, a spokesman said.

That means Gonzalez very likely won’t have this settled until after training camp. The season opener is September 3. While I have stated that I do not feel these charges do not merit a dismissal from the team or even much more than a game suspension, there is no way Pitt will reinstate Gonzalez to the team until after the case has been settled — if it takes until then.

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Honestly, I expect Anthony Gonzalez to remain suspended from the team through the summer, and reinstated before training camp. I suppose it could end sooner. First he has to have his day in court.

Pitt quarterback and Liberty High School graduate Anthony Gonzalez has a court date on July 11, when he will go before District Magistrate Nancy Matos Gonzalez to face three charges from his arrest last month.

Presumably, no relation. The three charges are: marijuana possession, underage drinking and carrying false identification.

The possession charge is a misdemeanor that maxes out on penalties with 30 days and/or $500 dollar fine. I sincerely doubt that Gonzalez will see any time for what appears to be his first offense. The other two are summary offenses.

Coach Todd Graham spoke about Gonzalez’s situation without saying anything.

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By far the best comment about what has happened in Morgantown over the past few weeks came from Matt Hinton (Dr. Saturday):

Dana Holgorsen is about to be the first man ever promoted as a result of a story about him being tossed from a casino at 3 am on a Wednesday

It all started with that ill-fated night at the Mardi Gras Casino. Embarrassing, but Bill Stewart thought he finally had an opening to get Holgorsen. He (or a family member) fed stories to a willing media lackey claiming Holgorsen had lots of incidents already hushed up in West Virginia. At least a couple of the stories turned out to be completely false. Amusingly, WVU in announcing their investigation results that revealed falsehoods were very specific about which ones were complete lies, never actually said if any of the other stories were true or false. Just sayin’.

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…The former WVU beat reporter for the Post-Gazette pours some more kerosene on the couch and lights with a small tactical nuke.

Allegations nothing, this was an all out declaration that the bleep has hit the fan in Morgantown. In case you were sleeping, Colin Dunlap went on 93.7 The Fan last night, and well, this:

” … He (Stewart) tried to flame-throw the guy (Holgorsen) in December by calling me and at least one other reporter because the reporter and I discussed it. He said, ‘can you get the word ’scumbag’ tattooed on the front of the sports page?’

“‘(Stewart said) you need to dig up this dirt. You need to get it out on this guy.’ And I said, ‘hey man, I’m not a part of some witch hunt.’”

You can listen to the audio by clicking the link above. But, wow.

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Given the nature of family relations when it comes to West Virginia, is it any wonder that a member of the Hoopie family may be trying to fuck the coach-in-waiting and Mountaineer football?

There is some serious weird stuff going on in Morgantown. I realize the place is strange enough, but this is something extra.

Last night, twitter started percolating that there was something big and messy brewing with the West Virginia football program. Ultimately, lots of rumors and speculation. Yet nothing substantive.

Today, more of the same but a more specific allegation from WVU blog Smoking Musket: outgoing head coach Bill Stewart was the source of the story that claimed Coach-in-waiting/OC Dana Holgorsen has been partying a bit too hard in West Virginia.

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