We don't know a lot, but one thing we do know: If they ran baseball like they run fishing, the sport would be totally clean. Jason Giambi? Barry Bonds? If they took steroids on Tuesday, by Thursday they'd be on a chain gang breaking rocks with a sledge hammer.
Jones, 60, is an avid angler. A divorcé with no family nearby, he sometimes stayed at the shop for hours. He had friends here. So when he placed second in a fishing tournament two weeks ago, the regulars expected he would show up the next morning to crow about it, just as he did after a win the week before. But his moment of triumph — his trophy plaque and $886 — was the one that got away. He left the winner's circle that day in handcuffs, facing a felony count of theft by deception. Fishermen at the boat ramp cheered his arrest. Others were moved to anger. Fishermen can forgive all kinds of transgressions, but not cheating.
"What he did, he did to every fisherman. It's like a brotherhood," said Skeeter Law, owner of the boat shop frequented by Jones. "He's done lost any kind of trust that he had."
George Mitchell and Bud Selig, you are worthless and weak. Sigh. If only baseball had more guys named Skeeter.
Missouri Fisherman's Cheating Charge Makes Him An Outcast [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]