Thursday, July 26, 2007

What a Week

In what has been an absolutely horrible week to be a sports fan, I think the biggest story has slipped under almost everyone's radar.

We all know that Michael Vick is under federal indictment for his alleged participation in all kinds of heinous acts involving dogfighting. You can see a description here as well as the full text of the indictment.

Federal cases result in guilty pleas or convictions about 95% of the time, to the best of my knowledge. In other words, Vick has much more than his career (which may be over) to worry about--he could be looking at some serious time in a federal prison.

As I've been following this case, I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop--that shoe being that Vick isn't the only professional athlete involved in dogfighting, and isn't the only NFL player. Clearly, there are others, and more than a few, but the NFL is desperately trying to avoid that issue, because it would be reflect incredibly negatively on the league as a whole.

So far, they had succeeded. Then Deion Sanders wrote a column for a southwest Floria newspaper on Sunday. And Deion was stupid enough to tell the truth.

The column is being widely represented as a defense of Michael Vick, but that's not really accurate. Sure, it's nominally about Vick, but if you read it more closely, it's really about something else. Look at this excerpt:
I believe Vick had a passion for dogfighting. I know many athletes who share his passion. The allure is the intensity and the challenge of a dog fighting to the death. It's like ultimate fighting, but the dog doesn't tap out when he knows he can't win.

It reminds me of when I wore a lot of jewelry back in the day because I always wanted to have the biggest chain or the biggest, baddest car. It gives you status.

"I know many athletes who share his passion." There's the dirty secret, and now it's out, if anyone's paying attention.

Sanders isn't defending Vick--he's defending dogfighting.

I love how he says the "allure" is the "intensity and challenge of a dog fighting to the death." I guess you should know about death, Deion, because the last time you tackled a guy in the NFL, he died of shock.

This whole thing is so sickening it's just beyond words, really.

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