I am going to try to point out good writing when I come across it on the Internet and give you all some links to these stories.
Here is a well-done piece by Wright Thompson of ESPN.com on Michael Vick and Atlanta.
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That was a good piece. Why can't the Beacon Journal ever print something like that in its own sports section? Seems the closest we've ever gotten to that kind of hard-hitting journalism in the Beacon Journal's sports pages is a maudlin love story featuring Ilgauskas and his wife.
If I may be so bold, may I also point a click to another Internet page? If that top picture doesn't say it all about the 21st century's version of the reconstituted Cleveland Browns, then nothing does.
Oops. Forgot to give the link.
http://www.withleather.com/index.phtml?t=BRADY+QUINN
If Atlanta folks are still so caught up with segregation issues that they're willing to overlook a felon's heinous crimes–just so their football team won't lose its QB–well, you just have to feel sorry for the simple-minded folks.
I realize Cleveland fans, for the most part, cut raging nutcase Albert Belle some slack while he was parking HRs, but most certainly realize now that the stalker is seriously demented and deserves his current imprisonment.
People need to snap out of it, and look at humans (or in Vick's case, in-humans) for what they are: criminals. They're no longer qualified to play a kid's game. They forfeit that right when they cross over the adult common-sense line of "what's right and what's wrong." Felons have no place in our civilized society, no matter how fast they can run. Falcon fans may comprehend that hard truth after the dust has settled.
Browns Booster, if your argument has even a scintilla of merit, then what is Jamal Lewis doing on the cover of Sports Illustrated, let alone doing eventually dragging down the Browns' running game? He's a felon. Ryan Tucker? Purchasing prescription anabolic steroids without a doctor's prescription is a crime. In fact, it's a felony.
Indeed, if some of the Beacon Journal's investigative sports journalists (uhhh…right) did some real digging, I'll bet that a sizable percentage of the Browns roster has some kind of a criminal record. And just because it's not a felony doesn't make some of those crimes any less heinous.
Perhaps if one of the Browns dropped one of those mauling serial killer dogs on its oversized gigantic head, then local whites would care. Otherwise, who gives a damn, right? It's egregious hypocrisy at its most noble. Indeed, when it comes to Vick, if it didn't involved dogs, I honestly don't think the average white football fan would give a crap in any way, shape or form.
Vick's neighbor was playing his stereo too loud, so Vick cracked his skull with a lead pipe? My God, think of all the fantasy leaguers that are suffering!
If you equate Ryan Tucker's use of steroids with Michael Vick's smashing a live animal's head to bloody smithereens on the concrete, then buddy: you've got a serious problem.
If Tucker has commited a felony, he needs to pay the penalty. Lewis commited a felony and went to prison. I doubt there were many fans waving signs of support to spare him his just punishment. And it's troublesome that the Browns would bring in an ex-con like him.
As for the Atlanta fans and their QB, however, those folks need to wake up and smell the rotting carcasses. Their "boy" is a monster who will soon be spending time in the Graybar Hotel…and he has absolutely no one to blame but his prettyboy reflection in the mirror. "Can't touch this?" Ha. Watch 'em.
It's too bad that civil rights groups and activists can't garner much attention unless they defend someone like Vick or OJ. It's a very divisive dynamic.
You're contradicting yourself, Browns Booster. A crime is a crime. A felony is a felony. You said yourself a criminal shouldn't be allowed to play a kid's game.
I presume Lewis' coke found it's way into the noses of a lot of kids. So you believe Lewis is a "better" brand of crook than Vick? What kind of logic is that?
In case you didn't notice, football has got to be one of the most violent sports on Planet Earth. Do a little digging into dogfighting, it's been prevalent for centuries in every corner of the planet. Indeed, it is still prevalent in this country. It all comes down to your love of dogs. If Vick got drunk and bashed some human sap in the head, you and 99.99% of white guys wouldn't give it a second thought.
And by the way, did Vick really do any of the dog smashing, or did he just provide a place to do it? Did you get all huffy when Kentucky Fried Chicken uses chickens stuffed in cages like sardines? Do you know how veal is made? Have you seen live lobsters being boiled? I could go on, but why bother. They're all living creatures. So let's keep this in perspective.
I didn't see any contradiction in BB's comments. Where did he advocate Lewis being allowed to play? It's not there. And as for your analogy about some "human sap" getting Vick'ed, I suppose if you were the sap, alan, you're right. We wouldn't give it a second thought.
You don't see any contradiction? He believes Vick should be treated far more severely than a convicted felon that distributed cocaine to kids? Maybe elementary school age, for all we know. "It's troublesome the Browns would bring in an ex-con…?' TROUBLESOME??? Ooh, what a strong objection!
How can you not see the contradiction? A criminal is a criminal. Either criminals can play football, or criminals can't play football. Which is it? If you're comparing Lewis to Vick, as one example, you can't have it both ways because one crime involved kids that snorted and smoked cocaine, and the other crime involved victims that snorted and smoked Alpo.
I loved your subsequent idiotic ad hominem. What would Internet comment sections be without them?
Frankly, when it comes to the Vick matter, I think there would be a lot less white v. black if the radical crazies like PETA had some actual black people. I mean, those white knuckleheads actually did a campaign a couple years ago that compared the enslavement and lynching of blacks with animal cruelty. Yeah, that went over really well with the black civil rights organizations. So with lily-white PETA and all the other lily-white animal loons down there now getting all the media attention, if I were an older black person in Atlanta, or anywhere where there's that same racial aftertaste, I can certainly understand why they have the feeling that Vick is a victim of race. Not saying that it's true, but I can certainly understand why they would feel that way.