Well, it seems that two of the major sports stories on the airwaves right now are the chase for 755 and the life and times of Michael Vick. I actually meant to post this a couple weeks ago, but given time to reflect I’ve actually come to a different conclusion. Bear with me.
First, let me say that Michael Vick is a worthless piece of dog squeeze, who at best is guilty of poor judgment. It pains me to say it. I used to admire Michael Vick. I love me some hard-hitting option football, and Virginia Tech is my favorite team outside Lee County, Alabama. That said, Vick has gotten every chance and then some. First it was Ron Mexico, then it was his one finger salute to the fans in A-town, The water bottle incident, and now we have this.
Recently, a Federal Grand Jury indicted Michael Vick, AKA “Ookie”, on charges of “Conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities”, and “to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture”. The details in the indictment are damning to say the least. We also have the little statistic that the conviction rate for defendants who have been indicted by the feds is somewhere north of 94%.
The outcry against Vick has been immediate and harsh. He’s been excoriated in the press and unceremoniously booted from the Falcon’s training facilities. My first inclination was to jump on the bandwagon. I mean I’m a dog lover too, and I’ve got some creative ways I’d suggest to punish those found guilty of the details spelled out in the 19-page indictment. Still this rush to judgement strikes me as being awfully similar to what happened to members of the Duke lacrosse team last year. And I really hesitate to stand lock-step with PETA on any issue.
So, I’m now firmly a member of the “wait and see” camp. The US District Court in Virginia is affectionately referred to as "The Rocket Docket", so we shouldn't have to wait too long. The trail is set to begin in November. This guy has all sorts of problems. I mean how stupid does a person have to be to have a $117 million dollar contract, tons of endorsement deals, be the face of a franchise and one of the top up and coming athletes in America and throw it all away on an illegal animal fighting syndicate? To top it off, one of his partners has flipped, and will be key to the prosecution’s case against Vick. But it’s a honest mistake, who would have thought a friend who went by “P-Funk” would be untrustworthy?
As for Barry, it’s pretty obvious to anyone with a modicum of sense that the guy isn’t exactly au naturale. I mean look at his head in 1986 and today. Hank Aaron’s mark of 755 is considered the most hallowed of all the sports records. No other sport places the importance on statistics and record keeping that baseball does. The fact that Bonds is going to break this record with the aid of chemical enhancement rubs the purists (and, well pretty much everyone) the wrong way.
You will often hear the talking heads prattle on about how Bond’s achievement should be noted with remarks of his assumed steroid use. This is asinine if you ask me. Regardless of what you or I may think, Bonds has never tested positive for anything. That's not naiveté on my part, I'm just stating the facts. If you make exception for Bonds, you pretty much have to invalidate the entirety of the "Steroid Era".
I mean, how often do you hear people give consideration to the number of homers that bonds has hit off of pitchers using performance enhancing drugs? How ironic that Bonds hits the record-tying homer off Clay Hensley, who tested positive for steroids while in the Padres minor league system. Frankly, I’m sick of hearing about it. I’m also sick of Bud Selig. This steroid issue exploded under his watch and indifference, and he's just as culpable as Bonds.
Putting aside personal feelings about Bonds (I think he’s a dick), the guy is easily the best baseball player of this generation and one of the top 5 of all time. Look at the culture of sports today. The importance our society places on the exploits of athletes can be sickening at times. Given the amount of money in play, the competitive nature ingrained in these guys from day one, how can anyone honestly be surprised that some guys are willing to bend the rules (the steroid ban in baseball is only a recent advent of public & congressional outcry).
Think about it, if you were offered the opportunity to pop a pill that had minimal potential long-term side effects (when not abused) and become among the elite at your chosen profession how many people would turn that down? I have a hard time getting fired up over Bonds anymore. I don’t like the guy, but in the end I just really don’t give a shit.
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