New Maurice Clarett: Don’t be like the old Maurice Clarett

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Just like you, I was skeptical that former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett was blogging from jail.

Sure, somebody had started a blog called The Mind of Maurice Clarett, but somebody had also started a Twitter account under the name Shaquille O’Neal. In response, the real Shaq started his own Twitter called ... wait for it ... The_Real_Shaq.

If there’s any confusion, I’m the real Adam Rose. Unless I’m not.

But the real Maurice Clarett? Would he really be writing a headline like Dedication to My Golden Girls - Thank You for Being a Friend? Sure, bloggers love obscure pop culture references, but somebody serving 3 1/2 years of hard time for aggravated robbery and carrying a concealed weapon shouldn’t be tipping their hat to Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia.

This week, Columbus Dispatch columnist Bob Hunter is reporting that it isn’t just some nut, but the real Buckeye behind these posts: ‘Inmates don’t have computer access; his mother, Michelle Clarett, confirmed yesterday that he calls his blog entries to family members who post them for him.’ (As Deadspin suggests, that’s basically the only way newspaper writers are allowed to blog from the College World Series.)

When you realize it’s really the man who fumbled away his dream life, the words take on new significance.

‘The defects in my character landed me in the position I’m in today,’ wrote Clarett in his first post, dated Oct. 7, 2008.

His second entry talks about how he misses his daughter.

Through dozens and dozens of posts, Clarett pours his heart out. Some of it’s minutiae (one workout ‘consisted of 1200 push-ups, 1000 sit-ups, and a few miscellaneous exercises’) and some of it’s profound.

One recent entry accidentally explained why the whole newspaper business is worried.

‘There’s no need to talk to a reporter these days. I am my own newspaper. I am my own editor. I am my own censor. I am able to put things into the proper context. I am able to control the content and I am educated enough to accurately express myself.’

There may be lingering confusion because some of the posts seem to be introduced by Clarett’s intermediary (OK, so maybe he’s not really his own editor). Also, it appears that Clarett’s items are now being cross-posted on both Wordpress and Blogspot. The sites reference each other, and individual posts seem to be identical. The archives in Wordpress go back further, so start your psychological voyeurism there.

-- Adam Rose