Just another manic Monday

A lot has happened in the last few days, and not all of it was good.
Ole Miss put 20 of its football players on probation for stealing items from the team hotel on two occasions, the Atlanta Falcons are still dreadful, Barry Bonds finally got pinched by the feds and the Atlanta Braves turned to one of their aces from oh, about 15 years ago, to help them recapture their lost magic.
Let’s attack these topics in order:
* A little advice for the Ole Miss football team: Those robes that they put in the bathrooms? They’re supposed to stay behind when you go.
Ole Miss announced Sunday that it was putting 20 of its players on probation (the fact it was announced must mean it's not double-secret) for stealing items from the team hotel on two occasions.
School officials said the purloined items, including pillows and clock radios, ranged in price from $15 to $40. The university’s statement said the players have made restitution.
Here’s what’s more shocking: The players, who have yet to be identified, will apparently be allowed to participate in Friday’s game at Mississippi State.
So the message that head coach Ed Orgeron is sending is that crime may not pay, but crime it will still allow you to play.
Lovely.
The one positive is that Ole Miss will be traveling to Starkville. There aren't any decent hotels in Starkville. I know because, having traveled around the league all these years, I've found that the best lodging option in the quaint little hamlet has a Waffle House next door. Plus, if memory serves, the clock radio at the Days Inn was bolted to the end table.
* That bug on the windshield of the Tampa Bay Bucs would be the Atlanta Falcons.
Sifting through the rubble of the 31-7 corporal punishment the Falcons received, it's impossible to avoid comparing the statistics of quarterbacks Byron Leftwich and Joey Harrington.
Leftwich: 15-of-28, 106 yards, two interceptions, two fumbles (one lost) and a chorus of boos.
Harrington: 16-of-20, 139 yards, one touchdown in garbage time and something resembling appreciation when he entered the game.
While Harrington obviously has limitations when it comes to actually getting his team into the end zone, it was hard to believe that head coach Bobby Petrino thought an injury-plagued Leftwich would give his team a better chance to win.
Even more glaring was the fact that Harrington had to learn of his demotion to second team status from a reporter.
Petrino should have told him up front. Even high school coaches know that.
This team may have two quarterbacks who are in over their head, but it’s stuck with a coach who has apparently lost his.
* I’m not a fan of Barry Bonds. He’s arrogant and surly. If he lied to a grand jury, then he should deal with the consequences.
But his federal indictment for perjury seems a little late.
Cheater or not, he’s got the all-time home run record. Hank Aaron, a good man who played clean, is in second place.
If the feds have had evidence of positive drug tests by Bonds during the season, it sure would have been nice if they’d delivered their indictment sooner.
I don’t defend what Bonds may have done, but Major League Baseball bears some responsibility for the epidemic proportions of performance enhancing drugs. MLB officials should have been asking tough questions when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa started hitting baseballs to Jupiter.
Instead, they looked the other way and watched the money pour into their coffers.
* The Atlanta Braves made a good decision signing Tom Glavine to a one-year, $8 million contract on Sunday. Yeah, he’s 42 years old and made his first start for the Braves 20 years ago, but Atlanta doesn’t need much out of its third starter.
As long as John Smoltz and Tim Hudson remain healthy and productive, the Braves can contend for the NL East pennant as long as the No. 3 can supply 12-15 wins. The pre-Glavine options can’t do that.
So a one-year contract for a 303-game winner with two Cy Young Awards is worth a gamble.
However, if Braves GM Frank Wren suggests Dale Murphy to replace Andruw Jones ...