Besides golf, Moore asked Chuck about if he's straight-and-narrowed since the DUI arrest and the enormous gambling debts. Not surprisingly, Barkley was candid, gregarious and charming about both of those incidents and decided that he enjoys his life too much to make any drastic changes at this time.

On if he misses gambling:

"Actually the only time I miss it is during the football season, not calling my bookie every Saturday and Sunday. But as far as the casino goes, I haven't missed it. And I'm going to start gambling again whenever I get ready, to be honest with you. I like to gamble. When I'm ready to go back to gambling, I will."

On if his nightlife habits have changed since the DUI:

"Not at all, man. I like to drink, I've just got to be careful when it comes to drinking and driving. It was a great thing (to get caught) because. I've been in the NBA since 1984. So let's just say (you're) going out to dinner or going out with your friends probably 100 times, 200 times a year; I've had something to drink and driven. So to never hurt myself or anybody and never get a DUI, I was lucky and fortunate. This thing just (told) me, you know what, that's stupid of you to drink and drive. And you can't do that again."

Nothing about the bj, though. But Moore says he should have asked Barkley, "What did you say to your wife and daughter?" after he was arrested. Yeah, good luck with that.

Sir Charles has issues, starting with his golf swing [Seattle PI]

The exchange with host Howard Eskin went like this.

CB: "Since I've been in the joint, what have you been saying about Rush Limbaugh? You all got to get that fat ass off the brother, you hear me?"

HE: "I haven't been saying anything about Rush. I've stayed away from that."

CB: "You need to speak up about that. Someone's got to tell (Limbaugh), sit your fat ass down somewhere and stop embarrassing the country and embarrassing yourself."

HE: "I don't really ... why even respond to him? The White House should just ignore him."

CB: "I am so close to flying to wherever he is and just punching the hell out of him. He is driving me nuts! There's a lot of idiots out there and Rush Limbaugh has a lot of influence on people."

HE: "Yeah, I guess you're right. But I want to keep this fun."

Eskin's idea of fun, by the way, was asking Barkley earlier in the interview if anyone in prison had tried to make him their boyfriend.

CB: "You're a funny brother."

HE: "With that ass, I might think that someone would try to be your boyfriend."

CB: "You're confusing me with Rick Mahorn."

Barkley then went on to say that his three-day stay in Maricopa County's Tent City jail (he slept in a tent over the weekend! It was like camping!) was the best thing that could have happened to him.

"It was really good for me and let me explain why I say that. I was thinking I've been in the NBA since 1984, so we're talking 25 years and I would conservatively estimate that I've been drinking 100 of those nights and I'm being probably on the bottom end of that and I've gotten behind the wheel of a car. So to go 25 years that many nights drinking and driving and not get a DUI, not kill someone or kill yourself, I think that was a very valuable lesson for me to learn and I'm going to use that in the future."

Barkley also said he "did a lot of reading" in prison, even though he was only there a total of 36 hours. "And I did my own reading," he said. "It wasn't like college."

Barkley On His Time In The Joint And Wanting To Beat Up Rush Limbaugh [Sports Radio Interviews]

Via Awful Announcing via USA Today:

"I have spoken with Charles Barkley regarding the incident. .. and I understand he has hired a lawyer to represent him regarding this matter," said David Levy, president of TNT Sports, in a statement. "When I spoke with Charles, he was apologetic for the events that transpired and it was obvious he understands the significance of the situation. This is an important time for Charles as he deals with the legal and personal issues that confront him. Charles is a valued part of the Turner Sports organization and we are concerned for his well-being."

Interesting move. Also, TMZ has the audio clip of Chuck's failed roadside test. Here's a summary: "Of courseshhhh..."

Hopefully, Charles takes the time away to fix himself. He might be a flawed human being, but the sports world does need him.

Charles Barkley Taking Leave of Absence From TNT [Awful Announcing]

The transition from Charles Barkley to the bane of a sports writer's existence (in his early playing days) to the quote-starved writer's best friend dramatically altered the perception of a man whose personal problems could have easily made him one of the most despised athletes of all time, instead of one of the most beloved. This has always been a fascinating aspect of Charles' career, that no matter how much off-court trouble he caused, his ability to spout off honestly and admit to his own flaws somehow made him Teflon. But this is a man, who for all intents in purposes, has a pretty reprehensible history: alleged domestic abuse, legal problems, gambling problems, infidelity issues, drinking problems, and overall surliness that has, for the most part, been forgiven. By virtue of admitting he was "not a role model" for Nike has ultimately given him a lifetime pass to fuck up people's lives without consequence. Peter Vecsey brings up another point as well that Charles's lifetime of behavior problems is ultimately the reason he never got that championship ring:

I don't care what the following people are prepared to say now; Barkley's reckless life style and non-compliance to team rules and conditioning was a primary reason Julius Erving retired a year or two early, Billy Cunningham prematurely gave up coaching, and Kevin Johnson, A.C. Green, Clyde Drexler and Scottie Pippen demanded the Suns and Rockets trade Sir Childish.

But Charles has too many fans in the media to ever be harshly ridiculed for his actions. He's availed himself and opened up to so many print guys, radio guys, television guys and hidden behind the race card for so long that he's going to get another free pass from a long list of people who do have the ability to call him on his shit.

Right now, TNT is aggressively no-commenting on whether Chuck will be back on air with them for the second half of they year. If this were anyone else, this would be an easy decision, regardless of legal consequences or contractual obligations. Most likely he'll still have a career, still be the perfect golf and drinking buddy for everyone and still be given a platform to criticize and opine on myriad subjects. But why?

Actually it's unclear as to whether Jaleel White — Urkel from television's Family Matters — was actually in the car. But several tipsters had him partying with Barkley and Michael Strahan in a private booth at The Dirty Pretty Rock Bar in Scottsdale on Wednesday night. New Year's Eve, Urkel, and a box of bear claws ... suddenly I feel much better about my plans that evening.

The Dirty got a hold of Barkley's bar receipt (I'm sure by asking the waitress politely), and it reveals an $1,800 tab for six bottles of, well, whatever they were drinking. Plus a pretty bare-minimum tip. The photo above, of Barkley pounding Patron, is from Harrah's Lake Tahoe this past July. The difference then being that he was staying at Harrah's, and his bodyguard could just pour him into the elevator at the end of the night.

Barkley's Party Pal: Steve Urkel? [TMZ]
Basketball Legend Charles Barkley Arrested On Suspicion Of DUI [New York Daily News]
Exclusive: Charles Barkley's Receipts From Dirty Pretty [The Dirty]

TMZ, has the dirty details, but The Smoking Gun has the full report:

According to the officer who wrote the report, "He told me that he ran the stop sign because he was in a hurry to pick up the girl I saw get in the passenger seat."

The officer continues: "He asked me to admit that she was 'hot.' He asked me, 'You want the truth?' When I told him I did he said, 'I was gonna drive around the corner and get a b**w job. He then explained that she had given him a 'b**w job' one week earlier and said it was the best one he had ever had in his life."

The report says when Barkley was taken to the station, he told one of the employees, "I'll tattoo my name on your ass" if he helped "get him out of the DUI." According to the report, "He laughed and then quickly corrected himself and said, 'I'll tattoo your name on my ass' and then laughed again."

The report also says officers "found a handgun in the vehicle" which was immediately impounded. The report doesn't say if the handgun was legal or not, and the only thing that we know for sure was loaded...

Hmm. This is probably not the best way to kick off his political career. Anyway. Back to New Year's. I'm sure we'll be talking about this more on Friday.

Barkley: All I Really Wanted Was Oral Sex [TMZ]
Charles Barkley's Oral Statements [Smoking Gun]

How hot is it in Arizona this time of the year? Also, I have a hunch Barkley will have to go to rehab after this latest blemish. Between the gambling problems and now this, he seems in dire need of a reprogramming.

Charles Barkley In DUI Bust [The Smoking Gun]