We’ve moved past the drugs, alcohol, steroids, philandering... even the shootings and the gambling don’t grip the headlines like they used to. We’re numb. We’re desensitized. It’s either too much to take in or we accept these as byproducts of sports. A few blips on the rap sheet no longer raise eyebrows, so in order to have staying power in a society with the collective attention span of a gnat, the infractions have to be bigger, badder, and more bizarre.
And that’s what we’ve got now.
We’ve got Michael Vick getting off on having dogs rip each other to shreds. We’ve got Jose Offerman wielding his tool of trade as a weapon on the diamond. And we’ve got Tim Donaghy fixing so many games that he makes the Black Sox look like choirboys.
Bigger, badder, and more bizarre.
We’ve gasped at the audacity of these athletic professionals, but as hard as it is to believe right now, we’ll soon be anesthetized to these stories. I’m already tired of hearing about Michael Vick. He deserves everything he’s got coming to him and I hope it’s enough to wipe that arrogant smirk off his face, but it’s a lot to process... how he could throw his career down the toilet and sully a sports world that has crowned him with so many accolades.
I hate the fact that Michael Vick and so many others have tainted sports with their behavior, but there’s been so much in the last several months that railing against it seems futile. Right now, I’d rather monitor the standings between the Red Sox and the Yankees, look for tickets for a Navy football game, and decide whether this is the year I drop the Dolphins for good.
I’d rather be uncomfortably numb, knowing that the scandals are corrupting the integrity of sports, but pretending that there is some shred of integrity left.
3 comments:
To play "devil's advocate" on a few points:
Why should fighting dogs be illegal when we have boxing, kickboxing and ultimate fighting all over the place? -->is it that the final outcome can be death, or is it something else? Last time I looked, a few fighters or wrestlers have been left paralyzed...
How does one determine the line between fighting for "sport" vs fighting for "kill"?
Is not hunting considered "sport"? Are most of us ok with this type of killing because we can eat afterwards?
Anyhow, I cannot buy Michael Vick did not know what was going on in that house of his. However, I do believe if you've grown up in a household without a canine family member, your frame of reference is completely different. Moreover if you like to watch human fighting for sport, it isn't too much of leap to animal fighting (think dog and cock fighting).
Without having "walked a mile" in his cleats, I am not prepared to say how he views dogs (family member or just another dumb animal) nor am I prepared to say if he is right or wrong...
To compare boxing/wrestling/kickboxing to dogfighting is absurd. People have a choice to do those "sports." Dogs do not have that choice. If I were to go into a ring and box/wrestle/kickbox, then the chances are very good that I may end up dead as the result. But I have the common sense to realize that I can't compete in those types of matches. Again, dogs don't have that luxury.
Dogfighting is illegal. Plain and simple. If dogfighting was legal, then there wouldn't be as much furor over the whole Vick thing.
Aren't happy at the persecution of Vick over this? Then lobby your state representatives to make dogfighting legal.
Ok, compare dog fighting to cock fighting, it is legal in a few states. Are you ok with that because it is legal? If so, why? Is it because the animal has feathers and not fur? Is it because you can’t cuddle with a rooster?
I was also trying to point out that not everybody has the luxury to grow up in a household that has the financial resources to own a pet dog. I believe that if one has never seen a dog as a member of someone’s family or a creature that needs to be loved and taken care of, one has no frame of reference to imagine a dog can live like that. Have you ever seen working dogs or farm dogs? Do you “like” the way they are treated? Have you ever seen how dogs are treated where they are mostly feral? Take a trip to Africa, the Middle East or even Kathmandu and you will see that dogs hold a completely different position in society.
I have not decided if I am “happy” that Vick was prosecuted (and persecuted), like I said, I haven’t “walked a mile” in his cleats. I do not know his motivation behind the fighting, but I know from the details of the case that his prosecution is the proverbial “drop in the bucket” regarding dog fighting rings. His case was likely over-publicized because of WHO he is not because of WHAT he was doing.
I will not, however, lobby my state to legalize it because I, personally, think it is wrong and I wouldn’t do it.
Post a Comment