 "Photo: Brian Ray")
Granted it was a basketball game in Oklahoma City - not exactly the type of hardwood haven as the boogie-down Bronx or even Anchorage, Alaska, for that matter. Nevertheless, it was still an NBA basketball game, and he was arguably the second-most popular athlete in the state of Oklahoma who took a chance and got caught doing wrong.
No, it wasn't Adrian Peterson who was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol after an undercover police officer spotted a Sooners football star drinking at a New Orleans Hornets basketball game at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City in March.
It was his starting quarterback. Well, up until Wednesday afternoon anyway.
When news hit the wire that Rhett Bomar and teammate J.D. Quinn, who was expected to start as guard, were dismissed from the team following an investigation by the team, that incident five months ago snapped in my head.
Maybe we should have seen this coming?
According to reports, the players violated NCAA rules by working at a private business and taking "payment over an extended period of time in excess of time actually worked."
That business was a car dealership, and not just any ordinary dealership at that. It was the same dealership that let Peterson "test-drive" a used Lexus free of charge for a few weeks before returning it. Peterson was cleared of any penalties, because then-owner Brad McRae deemed the arrangement a "standard operating business practice." It is also the same place that provides rides to coaches and athletic staff.
In case you weren't aware of it, Bomar, being a starting quarterback at a tradition-rich school like Oklahoma means a spotlight is likely on you all the time.
He got caught once, and yet again a second time.
Now, not only are the Sooners, who were a familiar choice to win the national championship according to several media outlets, are scratching their heads before its 2006 campaign kicks off. Remnants of this incident could haunt them for years to come.
Bomar was set at Oklahoma. He was the top-rated high school quarterback in the country three years ago, who spurned the Longhorns and decided to team up with Peterson across the Red River. He had the arm and the weapons around him to win, and win often.
Because of the sophomore's abilities, however, quarterback was not a position the Sooners heavily recruited, recently.
They will likely settle down with fifth-year senior Paul Thompson under center this season. Thompson was Oklahoma's starting quarterback for two games last season before Bomar took over, thus moving him to wide receiver.
But once Thompson leaves, the Sooners will be left with junior college transfer Joey Halze and incoming true freshman Sam Bradford - Scout.com's 17th rated signal caller in last year's class - as the only true quarterback options barring the emergence of a highly-touted transfer or unexpected blue chip signee.
Aside from the obvious bugaboos Bomar has painted Norman, Okla., with, the idea that this happened where it happened should, and most likely will, not go unnoticed.
NCAA sanctions are a possibility, though unlikely unless university involvement is uncovered.
With the Sooners season opener against Alabama-Birmingham coming up on Sept. 2, head coach Bob Stoops is probably dirtying up his crisp, white visor. He has a receiver underneath center, a sketchy pool of quarterbacks awaiting Thompson's departure, and the foreshadowing of having to answer or avoid questions about this issue all year long.
Bummer Boomer.
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