Many people have chimed in with their thoughts on the Plaxico Burress situation, so I figured why not add my two cents.

By this point we all know the details. We know Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg, that he was at the club with teammate Antonio Pierce, that he turned himself in to the New York City Police Department, and that the Giants have suspended him for the rest of the season and the playoffs.

While many are wondering how this will affect the Giants as a team, I am wondering what lessons will athletes and stars learn from this? The fact of the matter is, when it's all said and done, Burress was extremely lucky. He's lucky that the accidental gunshot went off on himself and not any innocent by standard. He's lucky that the bullet struck his leg, and not a main artery. He's lucky he's alive, as is everyone else that was at the club that night.

The next question then is why did Burress feel the need to bring a gun, let alone a loaded gun, to a New York City nightclub on a Friday night? If he was that concerned for his life, why go out at all? He's got a wife, a family, and a job to worry about it. If he fears that going to a club that night could endanger all of that, then don't go!

The excuse that many athletes and famous people give for carrying guns is that they're targets due to their fame and fortune. I completely agree that they're more recognizable than the average person, however sometimes they bring it upon themselves. By wearing big, flashy jewelry, dressing to the nines, and driving expensive, decked-out cars they attract attention, sometimes positive and sometimes negative.

But in today's economy, with unemployment rates rising seemingly daily, crime is only going to go up. So if that's the case, start taking precautions. Dress down a bit; wear a nice watch or a nice necklace, but not ones that cost $100,000. You can still look good, but there's no need to flaunt it. If you go out to a club, maybe bring a bodyguard, leave well before closing time, and be very attentive when driving home. Try to see if someone is following you. I don't know about you, but when I was growing up, I was always taught that if you felt someone was following you, you drive directly to a police station.

Obviously this is not the lifestyle we desire to live, but the operative word there is live. If you want to enjoy the rest of your life with your friends and family, and not behind bars, there are changes that we all have to make. One of those changes is to leave the guns at home; nothing good ever comes from bringing one to a club.


Random Thoughts:

• Can we please stop this trend of naming head coaches-in waiting? I mean, honestly, how dumb is this? It's one thing if there was a timetable for the current coach to retire (like at the end of the year), but there isn't! If a school or a team wants to make certain than an assistant is not going to leave, how about they make the agreement, but don't announce it until the head coach has decided it's his final year?

• I, for one, am happy Charlie Weis is returning to Notre Dame. If for no other reason than because Notre Dame decided to give him a ludicrous extension so quickly into his tenure as head coach. Hopefully it's a lesson for all schools and teams going forward, don't base terms for a contract extension on such a small sample, instead take at least 3 years of service and go from there.