Pepsi’s stance on scandal is Ludacris
Corporations typically are the first to run for the hills at the first sign of a scandal.
With shareholders to answer to and every special interest group waiting to gain any shred of publicity it can by expressing outrage, the aggravation just isn't worth it in most cases.
That's why it has come as a surprise that Pepsi decided to continue its agreements with Penn State football, even as companies such as State Farm Insurance are severing all ties.
Maybe the soda giant should be applauded for choosing to stand behind Penn State in a tumultuous time.
Maybe not.
While it certainly can be argued that pulling sponsorship money and breaking all ties with the university at this point would only hurt innocent people, in the end Pepsi is still supporting a school that, at best, allowed a football program to get so out of control with power that the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal was allowed to continue within its walls for well over a decade.
That brings us to Ludacris.
Pepsi dropped the rapper as a celebrity endorser in 2002 after special interest groups, and Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, complained about some of the lyrics in his songs.
Perhaps if Ludacris had actually helped cover up murders and violence instead of just rapping about it, he still would be doing Pepsi commercials today.
■ JUST NOW? - After years of wallowing in the depths of the league, the Detroit Lions have finally started to achieve mediocrity.
The perennial NFC North cellar-dwellers enter the season with some expectations now that the young talent is in place to, dare we say, be a contender.
Many of the Lions players, however, have spent the offseason trying to qualify for Burt Reynolds' (or Adam Sandler's, if you're under 40) team in "The Longest Yard."
Player after player has run into trouble, culminating in projected starting cornerback Aaron Berry being cut this week after yet another arrest.
Mike Freeman of CBS tweeted a quote from a Lions player who has apparently seen enough of the off-field drama this offseason.
"One Lions player told me just now: 'This s--- has to stop. We're becoming the laughing stock of not only the NFL but all of sports,' " he posted on his account, @realfreemancbs.
Memo to whichever player that was: That ship has sailed. The Lions were a laughingstock long before this.
■ HE'S BACK - If any NFL team is in the market for a running back, Travis Henry is looking for a job.
Yes, that Travis Henry.
The father of (at least) 11 kids with (at least) 10 women, who was suspended for a year in 2008 because of a positive marijuana test, has just completed a three-year term in federal prison and wants to make a comeback at age 33.
Profootballtalk.com published a report from SiriusXM Radio's Adam Caplan, who says Henry would like to play again.
Either that, or star in a reality show with Antonio Cromartie.
If Henry is serious about trying to play football again, somebody should let the Lions know.
COMPILED BY ADAM HILL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
