Wednesday, July 18, 2007

A "sport" of cruelty

Hey gang:
As we all know sports provides a great escape from the real world. We can talk about whether A-Rod is worth $35 million a year as casually as we can talk about our neighbor down the street getting a raise at work.
After blogging yesterday about A-Rod, I was prepared today to write about the domino effect his contract situation would have on Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera.
Then -- sitting at my computer at the Freeman -- I saw an AP news alert come over the sports wire -- Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick indicted for his alleged participation in dogfighting.
As I read about the alleged (I must use that word since he's innocent until proven guilty) things he was indicted for, I was horrified, mortified and simply outraged.
There is a large segment of society that loves boxing or who really gets into ultimate fighting -- a sport where basically two guys enter a caged arena and then beat the heck out of each other until you get a winner. I have no problem with that.
But watching ESPN today, I actually heard some people compare ultimate fighting or boxing to dogfighting and I thought, you got to be kidding. (Those of you who know me know there were a few expletives thrown in there as well).
Last I knew, grown adults were making the decision to participate in these sports. I don't think pitbulls had any input in whether they wanted to participate in dogfighting.
People sending their dogs in to try to kill the other, and then these people electrocuting; or shooting; or beating to death; the "losers" who survive, I mean, are you kidding me? Let's just call this what it actually is -- cruelty to animals.
I read where dogfighting is quite lucrative. Well, I hope those people who benefit from it sleep well knowing what they're actually doing.
This post is not intended to vilify Vick because we all know even Grand Jury indictments don't necessarily add up to guilt in the end. I think we've all seen that with the Duke lacrosse case last year.
But if indeed the Falcons quarterback is found guilty of these allegations I can only hope he serves what could be a potential 6-year sentence (although I doubt even if found guilty he'd ever see the inside of a prison) in doggie years.
That's it for now. Hopefully, I can get into more mundane stuff like my Yankees actually playing pretty well in future posts.
Until next time, take care and God bless.