Come on, Joba!

Considering how hard Morganobrien.com is on drunk drivers, I was troubled by reading of this news about one of my favorite Yanks today:

Yankees' pitcher Joba Chamberlain arrested in Nebraska on DUI charge
BY DORIAN BLOCK
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Gutierrez/AP

Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain was arrested early Saturday morning in Nebraska for driving under the influence of alcohol, the state patrol said.

The 23-year-old starter - with a wholesome reputation - was driving southbound on Highway 77 in Lincoln, Neb., his hometown, at 1 a.m. when a trooper pulled over his dark-colored 2006 BMW for speeding, said Deb Collins, a spokeswoman for the Nebraska State Patrol.

Before I go on: he's innocent until proven guilty, but it is noteworthy that he's already apologized for his error in judgment.

Moreso than his beloved status as an on-field standout for the pinstripes, I admire Joba as a role model for the Native American community.

Native Americans are an incredibly underrepresented--damn near forgotten--ethnic group. For every success story coming out of the reservations, there seems to be dozens of tales of woe and misery.

The hardscrabble lifestyle that comes with tribal life is only underscored by the challenges of alcohol that American Indians face. Just this summer, USA Today reported that nearly 12 percent of Indian deaths are alcohol related. Compare that to about 3.3 percent of all Americans. While there is no evidence of a universal genetic predisposition of American Indians to alcoholism, there at least exists some significant research into the the issue.

In recent years, prominent Native Americans like Chamberlain, Boston Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and golfer Notah Begay have earned a national profile thanks to their respective athletic prowess. Begay and now Joba have both run afould of the law thanks to alcohol-related incidents, with Begay serving significant jail time as a consequence.

And if you don't think that American Indians can use role models, take a look at this profile about Ellsbury's heroic return home after winning a world championship with the Sawx in 2007:

Ellsbury, widely believed to be the first Navajo player in major league history, was born and raised in this small farming town in the Oregon high desert. His mother, Marjorie Ellsbury, moved here from her home in Arizona to become a special education teacher for the nearby Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs.

Here she met Jim Ellsbury, a forester for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, and they raised four sons, of which Jacoby is the oldest. He is an enrolled member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes in Arizona.



"I'm really proud of Jacoby, coming out of the Navajo Nation," said Ken Man, a member of the Warm Springs tribes who called the radio play-by-play of Ellsbury's high school basketball games. "He could have been in the NBA, too, he's that good." (more)

Charles Barkley talked about never asking to be a role model, and in the vein, Joba may not have asked for that status, but he's inextricably tied to his heritage (any Yankee fan worth their salt can tell you about Joba's dad, Harlan and the tough road he's hoed). And while he's in his early 20's (23) and bound to commit typical youthful transgressions, here's hoping that he can find the silver lining from this experience and use his example so that others--specifically those that look up to him--don't fall down this path.


Joba and dad, Harlan
The New York Times did a nice piece on this very issue, highlighting what Joba means to his fellow Winnebagos:

In his flat-billed Yankees cap that always seems a half size too big, with an arm already rated somewhere between fable and holy, Joba Chamberlain has all but passed through a dream catcher. In essence, he is a dream come true for American Indians who have been forever marginalized by cultural fatalism and outside bias, forever freighted by historic atrocities and benign neglect.

To watch Chamberlain is to spy on hope, to witness a revolution in belief among his Winnebago tribe.

“I think he shows that everyone can do it — even if you’re from around here,” said Aaron Lapointe, 16, a high school sophomore on the reservation. “It’s good just to see that he is a Native American, that he is the same as me(emphasis mine).”

In light of his arrest, Joba's boss Hank Steinbrenner has offered to provide any support that Joba needs. Lord knows that there are too many other Native Americans without the benefit of the same benefactor. By shining light on this, Joba's terrible error in judgment might have a silver lining and benefit a community terribly in need of a high-profile champion of this issue.