I’ll tell you what really bothers me about sports in general and this whole Michael Vick thing, aside from the obvious dog fighting debacle. The guy trains dogs to fight, uses other dogs as bait to train them, kills them if they don’t perform, kills them if they do perform, kills them, kills them, kills them, in the most disgusting, heinous ways he can think of, and because he served his time in prison, can play football again. Now I’m all for rehabilitation, but why does it only apply in certain cases? For instance Pete Rose, one of the greatest baseball players I ever had the pleasure to watch, gambled. And what happens to him? He’s banished from baseball and can never be in the Hall of Fame. Granted, he didn't do jail time, but he is still banished from the sport for life.
What’s the message we’re sending to our youth here? Sports at large have taught us that it’s OK for athletes to do drugs and steroids and still get chance after chance to continue to play the game. They can even kill defenseless animals if they want to and as long as they serve their time, all is forgiven. But don’t gamble. That’s a no-no.
Oh, yes, I remember, it was because Pete gambled on his own team; oh and he lied about it too. Well that makes it so much worse than electrocuting dogs doesn’t it? I believe that gambling is a sickness, just like any other addiction, like drugs or sex. But instead of offering the guy a six week program to get well and then re-instate him, he’s vilified for all time.
I don’t know about you, but if there was a gun to my head and I had to tell someone what the worst thing in life was that my daughter had to do; drugs, gamble or kill dogs, I’d rather she gambled. But that’s me.
No comments:
Post a Comment