| GREG-STRANGE.COM |
"If you haven't found something strange during the
day, it hasn't been much of a day." -- John A. Wheeler
day, it hasn't been much of a day." -- John A. Wheeler
PROVIDING SUBSTANTIVE COMMENTARY ON THE
PEOPLE, POLITICS, EVENTS AND ABSURDITIES OF
OUR TIME. SERVED UP WITH ACERBIC WIT, YOU
SHOULD FIND IT QUITE SATISFYING.
PEOPLE, POLITICS, EVENTS AND ABSURDITIES OF
OUR TIME. SERVED UP WITH ACERBIC WIT, YOU
SHOULD FIND IT QUITE SATISFYING.
Michael Vick: Wassup Dog?
When it comes to the inhumane treatment of animals, the
charges can sometimes be a bit silly. For instance, Al Gore was
recently castigated by the Humane Society International for
serving Chilean sea bass, one of the world’s most threatened
fish species, at his daughter’s wedding. You know what? I
believe I can find it within my heart to forgive him for that.
But there’s inhumane -- and then there’s really inhumane.
Case in point, Michael Vick, Atlanta Falcons star quarterback
and -- get this -- “registered dog breeder.” Just seeing or
hearing that name now makes me sick to my stomach, literally.
You don’t have to be a dog lover to be repulsed by the
“sport” of dog fighting. Sure, there are worse things that plenty
of other well-known professional athletes have done or been
accused of, like assault, rape and murder. But there’s just
something so despicably base about taking pleasure from
watching dogs tear each other apart -- and being utterly
clueless that there’s even anything wrong with it.
You’d think that someone who managed to reach such a
stratospheric level of fame and fortune, a life that the rest of us
can only dream about, would spend his free time engaging in
more refined pursuits. Well, forget about yachting, symphony
box seats and collecting fine art. That’s for a bunch of stodgy
ol’ bores. Vick apparently yearned for something a lot more
stimulating, like establishing a dog fighting empire that would
service a large region of the country.
Okay, allegedly. But it doesn’t look good for this
quarterback who, at the very least, has always projected a
thuggish image with his doo-rag, mangled English and surly
attitude. According to a document filed in U.S. District Court
in Richmond, not only were dog fights being staged on Vick’s
property for fun and profit, but “at the end of the fight, the
losing dog was sometimes put to death by strangulation,
hanging, gun shot, electrocution, or some other method.” One
of those other methods? Slamming a dog’s body to the ground.
My God! What kind of depraved people take pleasure in
such abject cruelty? The thought that one of them could be the
star quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons is shocking and
repulsive.
But yo, what’s the big deal, Washington Redskins player
Clinton Portis wanted to know in a television interview. Portis
was of the opinion that if Vick gets convicted, then the
authorities would be “putting him behind bars for no reason --
over a dog fight.” Furthermore, Portis said that “it’s his
property, it’s his dogs. If that’s what he wants to do, do it. I
know a lot of back roads that got a dog fight if you want to go
see it.”
As Portis delivered this erudite mini-lecture in situational
ethics, his equally classy teammate, Chris Samuels, laughed
out loud at the absurdity of everyone getting upset about what
somebody does with his own dogs.
The cluelessness of these large men with miniscule minds
is dismaying. So was an initial statement issued by the Falcons
over this latest Vick debacle: “We are disappointed that one of
our players -- and therefore the Falcons -- [are] being
presented to the public in a negative way, and we apologize to
our fans and the community for that.”
Yeah, well, that’s what happens when the feds make a case
against your star player for fighting, torturing and killing dogs.
Hey, Falcons. Forget about the weasel words and the
perfunctory, half-hearted apologies. Because of the
particularly disgusting nature of the charges against Vick,
you’ve got a serious public relations problem on your hands. If
you don’t want the season to be a total disaster, you need to
make sure that Vick, an alleged sadistic felon and obvious low-
life, never sets foot on a playing field unless and until he is
proved beyond the shadow of a doubt to be spotlessly innocent.
In the meantime, and unfortunately, according to Mark
Kumpf, a member of the National Illegal Animal Fighting Task
Force, dog fighting is on the increase nationwide: “It’s a
multibillion-dollar industry and it’s partly because it’s
glamorized in the entertainment industry in hip-hop, rap, and
professional sports.”
Huh. Imagine that. Yet another cruel and unsavory
feature of life glorified by hip-hop and rap. Who woulda
thought? Guess it just goes to show, you can take the boys out
of the ghetto and put them in the NFL, but you sho ‘nuff can’t
take the ghetto mentality out of some of the boys. Ya know
what I’m sayin’?
But don’t take my word for it. Read the words of St. Louis
Post-Dispatch sports columnist, Bryan Burwell, who happens
to be black himself:
“The ultimate symbols of black athletes in our society used
to be men of substance and positive image. Men . . . such as
Jackie Robinson, Curt Flood, Jim Brown, Bill Russell and John
Thompson used to be our heroes. They carried a burden and
deep-rooted responsibility to portray themselves with a sense
of dignity, pride and purpose. . . . But somewhere between
Jackie Robinson and Michael Vick, things got all fouled up.
‘Street cred’ became the anthem of the modern black athlete,
this misguided notion that the only way to appeal to the young
demographic . . . was to adopt the negative attitudes of the thug
life popularized by black hip-hop/gangster rappers.”
Mr. Burwell has absolutely nailed the larger issue on the
head and Michael Vick epitomizes what went wrong. Vick’s not
much for “dignity, pride and purpose,” but he’s all about that
all important street cred. Hopefully, he’s in for the kind of
upgrade in cred that only comes with serving time in the joint.
Word to the Falcons and the NFL: If you’re going to take
the route of letting Vick play while the legal process works
itself out, I’ve got news for you. The fans don’t have to wait for
the conclusion of a trial or for Vick to cop a plea. They can
turn away in droves from day one if Vick suits up and sets foot
on a playing field.
Maybe I’m dreaming to think that a significant number of
fans will stay away if Vick is allowed to play. But when the
leader of the team is alleged to have been involved up to his
neck in an activity that should have been left far behind after
mankind’s long, upward climb from a state of savagery, that’s
when I, personally, throw in the towel.
When it comes to the inhumane treatment of animals, the
charges can sometimes be a bit silly. For instance, Al Gore was
recently castigated by the Humane Society International for
serving Chilean sea bass, one of the world’s most threatened
fish species, at his daughter’s wedding. You know what? I
believe I can find it within my heart to forgive him for that.
But there’s inhumane -- and then there’s really inhumane.
Case in point, Michael Vick, Atlanta Falcons star quarterback
and -- get this -- “registered dog breeder.” Just seeing or
hearing that name now makes me sick to my stomach, literally.
You don’t have to be a dog lover to be repulsed by the
“sport” of dog fighting. Sure, there are worse things that plenty
of other well-known professional athletes have done or been
accused of, like assault, rape and murder. But there’s just
something so despicably base about taking pleasure from
watching dogs tear each other apart -- and being utterly
clueless that there’s even anything wrong with it.
You’d think that someone who managed to reach such a
stratospheric level of fame and fortune, a life that the rest of us
can only dream about, would spend his free time engaging in
more refined pursuits. Well, forget about yachting, symphony
box seats and collecting fine art. That’s for a bunch of stodgy
ol’ bores. Vick apparently yearned for something a lot more
stimulating, like establishing a dog fighting empire that would
service a large region of the country.
Okay, allegedly. But it doesn’t look good for this
quarterback who, at the very least, has always projected a
thuggish image with his doo-rag, mangled English and surly
attitude. According to a document filed in U.S. District Court
in Richmond, not only were dog fights being staged on Vick’s
property for fun and profit, but “at the end of the fight, the
losing dog was sometimes put to death by strangulation,
hanging, gun shot, electrocution, or some other method.” One
of those other methods? Slamming a dog’s body to the ground.
My God! What kind of depraved people take pleasure in
such abject cruelty? The thought that one of them could be the
star quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons is shocking and
repulsive.
But yo, what’s the big deal, Washington Redskins player
Clinton Portis wanted to know in a television interview. Portis
was of the opinion that if Vick gets convicted, then the
authorities would be “putting him behind bars for no reason --
over a dog fight.” Furthermore, Portis said that “it’s his
property, it’s his dogs. If that’s what he wants to do, do it. I
know a lot of back roads that got a dog fight if you want to go
see it.”
As Portis delivered this erudite mini-lecture in situational
ethics, his equally classy teammate, Chris Samuels, laughed
out loud at the absurdity of everyone getting upset about what
somebody does with his own dogs.
The cluelessness of these large men with miniscule minds
is dismaying. So was an initial statement issued by the Falcons
over this latest Vick debacle: “We are disappointed that one of
our players -- and therefore the Falcons -- [are] being
presented to the public in a negative way, and we apologize to
our fans and the community for that.”
Yeah, well, that’s what happens when the feds make a case
against your star player for fighting, torturing and killing dogs.
Hey, Falcons. Forget about the weasel words and the
perfunctory, half-hearted apologies. Because of the
particularly disgusting nature of the charges against Vick,
you’ve got a serious public relations problem on your hands. If
you don’t want the season to be a total disaster, you need to
make sure that Vick, an alleged sadistic felon and obvious low-
life, never sets foot on a playing field unless and until he is
proved beyond the shadow of a doubt to be spotlessly innocent.
In the meantime, and unfortunately, according to Mark
Kumpf, a member of the National Illegal Animal Fighting Task
Force, dog fighting is on the increase nationwide: “It’s a
multibillion-dollar industry and it’s partly because it’s
glamorized in the entertainment industry in hip-hop, rap, and
professional sports.”
Huh. Imagine that. Yet another cruel and unsavory
feature of life glorified by hip-hop and rap. Who woulda
thought? Guess it just goes to show, you can take the boys out
of the ghetto and put them in the NFL, but you sho ‘nuff can’t
take the ghetto mentality out of some of the boys. Ya know
what I’m sayin’?
But don’t take my word for it. Read the words of St. Louis
Post-Dispatch sports columnist, Bryan Burwell, who happens
to be black himself:
“The ultimate symbols of black athletes in our society used
to be men of substance and positive image. Men . . . such as
Jackie Robinson, Curt Flood, Jim Brown, Bill Russell and John
Thompson used to be our heroes. They carried a burden and
deep-rooted responsibility to portray themselves with a sense
of dignity, pride and purpose. . . . But somewhere between
Jackie Robinson and Michael Vick, things got all fouled up.
‘Street cred’ became the anthem of the modern black athlete,
this misguided notion that the only way to appeal to the young
demographic . . . was to adopt the negative attitudes of the thug
life popularized by black hip-hop/gangster rappers.”
Mr. Burwell has absolutely nailed the larger issue on the
head and Michael Vick epitomizes what went wrong. Vick’s not
much for “dignity, pride and purpose,” but he’s all about that
all important street cred. Hopefully, he’s in for the kind of
upgrade in cred that only comes with serving time in the joint.
Word to the Falcons and the NFL: If you’re going to take
the route of letting Vick play while the legal process works
itself out, I’ve got news for you. The fans don’t have to wait for
the conclusion of a trial or for Vick to cop a plea. They can
turn away in droves from day one if Vick suits up and sets foot
on a playing field.
Maybe I’m dreaming to think that a significant number of
fans will stay away if Vick is allowed to play. But when the
leader of the team is alleged to have been involved up to his
neck in an activity that should have been left far behind after
mankind’s long, upward climb from a state of savagery, that’s
when I, personally, throw in the towel.