EVERAGE MUST GO IF HE'S GUILTY

NORMAN -- After the news hit that Brandon Everage had been busted on a
marijuana charge, I headed for the bookshelf. "Snap Me Perfect!" The
Darrell Porter bio recounts the tale of the Oklahoma City baseball star who
grew up to be a junkie. The book has a happy ending; Porter got clean and
became a foe of drugs.

In his epilogue, Porter wrote, "I ... hope I can keep a few young people
away from drugs ... the torment, the hell, of drug addiction. Drugs nearly
killed me -- it is only by the grace of God that they didn't."

Porter's life had no such happy ending. He died last August of excited
delirium; cocaine was found in his system.

Sometimes we are too analytical about drugs. We soft-shoe it. Here's the
truth. Drugs suck. Drugs kill. And marijuana is the launching pad.

Which brings us back to Everage. What to do with the Oklahoma safety who
last week was charged by authorities with possession of marijuana?

Bob Stoops has not said what punishment awaits Everage. But if Everage is
guilty, the best move Stoops can make is suspension. Tell Everage his 2003
season is over.

It's time to send a message, and no better messenger in the state than Stoops.

Stoops declines to discuss Everage directly but said anything illegal is
serious. However, Stoops said not all cases are the same. Coaches talk to
authorities and know circumstances not made public.

Discipline is delicate. A tightrope. How hard to drop the hammer? Keep a
kid connected to the program or motivate through fear of banishment, all
the while considering the hundred other players affected by the action of one.

"It's easy to just throw 'em in the street," Stoops said. But his charge,
Stoops said, is to "build 'em as men. It's part of our job that they leave
as solid citizens.

"But it gets to a point where you've done your work. Enough's enough."

I don't know Everage's personal history. But I can think of no
circumstances -- first offense, personal problems, nothing -- that warrant
a mere slap on the wrist.

Running stadium steps? Sitting out the North Texas game? That's no
deterrent. Jackhammer a line in the concrete. One strike and you're out. No
tolerance on drugs.

Deterrents work. Drugs supply their users with some sort of rush. So would
French kissing a rattlesnake, but people don't try it. Risk of poison is
powerful motivation.

So would be removal of football privileges.

This is not Sooner-specific. Yes, OU is particularly sensitive to the drug
issue, because of Charles Thompson, Scott Hill and the scandals of 1989.

But no-tolerance is sound policy for any program. Nothing is more important
than football to the athletes who play it. Up the ante. Make them decide
how important it is.

Darrell Porter's words are more harrowing today than ever before. "Nobody
deliberately sets out to destroy his mind, body and soul, and it isn't done
in a day. We do it by degrees, over ... months, or years, with small
choices and little compromises."

Good advice for anyone with the power to impact a young person's life.