The Milwaukee Post

July 12, 2013 • Milwaukee Post • 11 Did Patriots do enough to monitor Hernandez? What if Aaron Hernandez was a Green Bay Packer? Am I the only person asking that question? If Hernandez played for the Packers, I'd be screaming for an explanation for the contract extension of five years and almost $40 million less than a year before he was charged with murder. They gave a young player $12.5 million dollars in guaranteed money and that same player is now in jail for allegedly killing someone in a gang-style execution. How could they be so stupid? How they could they have missed so badly on the character and behavior of a player they certainly thought would be a core member of future success? They believed in Aaron Hernandez. They weren't just trying to get some good plays from the tight end before he messed up on or off the field. They were sold on the short-term and long-term success of Hernandez. At the time that he was drafted by the Patriots, it was believed that he dropped to the fourth round because of concerns about his off-the-field behavior at the University of Florida. I would assume that those concerns produced extra background work by the Patriots. In his first comments about Hernandez, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said that Hernandez wrote a letter to the team. He stated that they had nothing to worry about when it came to reports of his drug use. Kraft also said that the team saw nothing that might indicate that Hernandez would be a criminal risk. If Hernandez was a Packer and that was the response of the Green Bay organization, I would not be happy Hernandez wrote a let. ter and that was good enough. I would have expected information about some investigation by someone representing the team that confirmed that Hernandez could be trusted. Kraft also told Boston.com that they don't put private eyes on people and he only knows what goes on inside the Patriots' facilities. That's also very weak sauce. Hernandez was not a model citizen, yet the Patriots did little or nothing to investigate the level of risk involved in drafting him. Then they believed everything he said after joining the team. At least, that's the version being presented by the owner. Kraft's bottom line: "If this stuff is true, then I've been duped and our whole organi- zation has been duped." It's clearly the truth, but it's not the important part of the issue. The question is whether or not they SHOULD have been duped. I won't give Kraft a total pass, but I will state that he's not the one who should be talking and is most responsible. Calling Bill Belichick. He's the one who should be held responsible for knowing the most about Hernandez. It might not be that hard to dupe Kraft, who isn't around the team on a daily basis. It would be much harder to dupe the head coach-general manager-ruler of the Patriots, who sees Hernandez on a regular basis. I'm stating the obvious by declaring that Belichick is one smart guy . What did he think of Hernandez? What did his teammates think of him? Where there stories that indicated that he was a risk? Did Belichick make any effort to find out as much as possible about Hernandez? Did Belichick even care about such stories because Hernandez was such a talent at tight end? What did Belichick know and what should he have known? Did he want to win so badly that he didn't care about anything but on-the-field performance? If Hernandez is found guilty of murder, "HOMER" on SPORTS STEVE "The HOMER" TRUE it's not Belichick's fault. It could be Belichick's fault that Hernandez was a member of the Patriots when he committed the crime. Kraft should be doing an intensive investigation into the actions of Belichick regarding Aaron Hernandez. If Belichick knew or should have known that Hernandez was duping the organization and was still a high-risk player, Kraft should consider firing his Hall of Fame coach. I'd be saying the same thing if it was the Packers and not the Patriots. The coach's future with the team should be an issue. (Steve "The Homer" True, host of "Homer and Thunder Show," heard from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays on 540 ESPN, can be reached at homer@espnmilwaukee.com) Area students take a swing at polo By DANIEL MIKE Conley News Service NORTH LAKE – Jim Huber loves polo. He's been involved in the sport for many years, and his family is heavily involved as well. It's Huber's love for the sport – and his desire to pass along that love for generations – that prompted the president of the Milwaukee Polo Club to begin the Milwaukee Polo School. "It goes back to the long-term future of polo," Huber said. "I've been emphasizing to the U.S. Polo Association that we have to make entry into the sport easier, that it doesn't have to be a change in lifestyle but a sport that people can enjoy, they can afford and doesn't take a good bit of their free time." Megan Flynn runs classes for the Milwaukee Polo School, teaching six students four times a week – although recent rains have hindered her ability to teach. "I'm doing everything," Flynn said. "I have all the horses, all the equipment, everything. I just sort of run it myself." Flynn said much of the equipment is from her or her family, so she hasn't had to purchase a lot of new items. All lessons are taught at the Milwaukee Polo Club, and the horses are stabled on a farm in Colgate. "I always wanted to do something with horses, and my family always did polo," Flynn said. "I found something I wanted to do with it." Most of the horses Flynn uses are retired polo horses who can no longer handle higher-level polo but can handle work with the school. Most of the animals have been donated to Flynn from people she's met through her travels with polo. Flynn spent one year with the Milwaukee Polo Club. She has spent recent years working within the United States Polo Association. While working with a club in At a glance What: Milwaukee Polo School Instructor: Megan Flynn About: The Milwaukee Polo Club has created the school with lesson horses, an instructor and a step-up program to bring new people into polo. More information: contact Flynn at meganflynn@hiddenviewfarmpolo.com or 414-651-8091. Photo by Robert F. Borkowski/Special to The Post Polo instructor Megan Flynn, left, explains the proper technique to Fox Point's Carrie Wendt at the Milwaukee Polo Club in the Town of Merton. Sarasota, Fla., Flynn began teaching polo to members of the club. She was an easy choice as instructor of the Milwaukee Polo School. "She's good with people, good with horses and she makes it fun for them," Huber said. "This is supposed to be fun, you get to know one another and it's just an enjoyable sport to be in. It's much more fun going through something like this with someone you get to know rather than strangers." Huber's hope is the school will help the Milwaukee Polo Club remain in the area for a long time. The Milwaukee Polo Club has been around more than 50 years, and Huber fears that without the school, the club might not last much longer. "We have to get another generation in to take over," he said. "It depends a lot on players getting their kids in. Most of the time, if a grandfather plays, his kids and grandkids play That's the family nature of the sport." . Family helped get Flynn into the sport, and she developed a love for horses as well. She traveled to be around the sport – as the winter months require dedicated polo athletes to travel to warmer areas than Wisconsin – and believes she found her way to a career she can truly enjoy . "I grew up playing polo at the Milwaukee Polo Club and sort of went off and traveled," Flynn said. "The U.S. Polo Association hired me as a regional polo center intern, and as I was doing that internship, I started trying to find my niche teaching people and horses. "It just sort of developed into its own polo school." Flynn hopes to expand the school. She said she's received positive feedback from her students, and she believes the school will benefit the Milwaukee Polo Club. "If we do keep it going, we could potentially build a barn and start stabling at the club for people who would like to buy their own horses," Flynn said. "It's a commitment to buy your own horse, trailer, come to the fields three times a week. If we're able to build facilities at the club, people could buy a horse and decide if it's something they want to do, then keep the horse at the club."

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