I've already mentioned how much I'm looking forward to football season. But it seems like there is an excess of sideshows this season, and I'm finding myself taking the opposite stance of a lot of people on these issues that have come up.
Case one: Michael Vick. Even non-fans know Vick's name for his role in the operation of Bad Newz Kennels, a dogfighting ring which led to his spending two years in prison and the loss of millions of dollars. Recently he was picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles, and there has been a huge controversy. I am a dog-lover, and having heard the details of the inhumane way that injured dogs were executed, and the dogfighting itself, I was glad that the law came down hard on him. But I'm of the opinion that he has served his sentence, and if someone wants to pay him millions of dollars, I wish him well. Not that I'm rooting for him to win five Super Bowls and go back to his life the way it was before, but I hope he makes a good thing of his life and doesn't end up back in prison, same as I'd wish for any felon returning to the streets. I can't get behind the idea of banning him from the NFL just because he's high profile. He's already paid for his crimes, and he has the right to make a living if someone wants him.
Which leads me to Plaxico Burress, the former wide receiver for the New York Giants, soon to be playing for the State Penitentiary. Last November he accidentally shot himself in the leg at a New York nightclub. He had an expired concealed weapons permit in Florida, and nothing in New York. Yesterday he got sentenced to two years in prison. I'm wondering if the world has gone completely mad. Isn't shooting yourself in the leg its own punishment? Not to mention the mockery that follows. A good friend of mine shot himself in the foot at the start of the USU school year in the fall of 2002. That same friend has gone on to earn a degree in dentistry from a top-notch school. But I don't care if he's Surgeon General, or even ends up as a Senator. I guarantee you, when that circle of friends gets together in our eighties, he's gonna hear about it when there's an opening available. Anyway, what I find really sick is that both these guys have gotten similar or harsher punishments than some child molesters. And for even more perspective, Cleveland Browns receiver Donte Stallworth received no jail time and a one-year suspension from the NFL for a DUI in which a pedestrian was killed. I don't get it. Even Vick's sentence, which I thought was completely appropriate, seems silly in comparison.
And now on to Brett Favre. I don't want to write about him, because he's been speculated and written about for six months solid now, but I am really wondering what is with this dude. I think we sometimes are quick to jump on athletes who retire and unretire. It would be a strange thing to be in a profession where you peak in your 30s, usually retire by 40, and then have to figure out what to do with the rest of your life, especially given that pro athletes' lives are their sports from at least high school on. But this thing with Favre has been going on for an eternity, and now he's signed with a divisional rival of the team he spent almost his entire career with, two weeks after saying he was done for good. He's missed training camp, which by all accounts is hated by almost everyone, but now he's put the team in a really weird position as he comes in as someone expected to lead. I generally am pretty live-and-let-live about comebacks, but this seems like it could really end badly. Favre is really going to have to prove himself that he is a part of the team, no matter how good his pedigree is. Anyway, this is all. What a circus the NFL is this year. And for those of you who really don't like sports, sorry. I still welcome your comments, since there are a lot bigger questions at play. I plan to release another survey on Saturday, so keep your eyes open for that. Until then, I must bid you "toodles"...
Case one: Michael Vick. Even non-fans know Vick's name for his role in the operation of Bad Newz Kennels, a dogfighting ring which led to his spending two years in prison and the loss of millions of dollars. Recently he was picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles, and there has been a huge controversy. I am a dog-lover, and having heard the details of the inhumane way that injured dogs were executed, and the dogfighting itself, I was glad that the law came down hard on him. But I'm of the opinion that he has served his sentence, and if someone wants to pay him millions of dollars, I wish him well. Not that I'm rooting for him to win five Super Bowls and go back to his life the way it was before, but I hope he makes a good thing of his life and doesn't end up back in prison, same as I'd wish for any felon returning to the streets. I can't get behind the idea of banning him from the NFL just because he's high profile. He's already paid for his crimes, and he has the right to make a living if someone wants him.
Which leads me to Plaxico Burress, the former wide receiver for the New York Giants, soon to be playing for the State Penitentiary. Last November he accidentally shot himself in the leg at a New York nightclub. He had an expired concealed weapons permit in Florida, and nothing in New York. Yesterday he got sentenced to two years in prison. I'm wondering if the world has gone completely mad. Isn't shooting yourself in the leg its own punishment? Not to mention the mockery that follows. A good friend of mine shot himself in the foot at the start of the USU school year in the fall of 2002. That same friend has gone on to earn a degree in dentistry from a top-notch school. But I don't care if he's Surgeon General, or even ends up as a Senator. I guarantee you, when that circle of friends gets together in our eighties, he's gonna hear about it when there's an opening available. Anyway, what I find really sick is that both these guys have gotten similar or harsher punishments than some child molesters. And for even more perspective, Cleveland Browns receiver Donte Stallworth received no jail time and a one-year suspension from the NFL for a DUI in which a pedestrian was killed. I don't get it. Even Vick's sentence, which I thought was completely appropriate, seems silly in comparison.
And now on to Brett Favre. I don't want to write about him, because he's been speculated and written about for six months solid now, but I am really wondering what is with this dude. I think we sometimes are quick to jump on athletes who retire and unretire. It would be a strange thing to be in a profession where you peak in your 30s, usually retire by 40, and then have to figure out what to do with the rest of your life, especially given that pro athletes' lives are their sports from at least high school on. But this thing with Favre has been going on for an eternity, and now he's signed with a divisional rival of the team he spent almost his entire career with, two weeks after saying he was done for good. He's missed training camp, which by all accounts is hated by almost everyone, but now he's put the team in a really weird position as he comes in as someone expected to lead. I generally am pretty live-and-let-live about comebacks, but this seems like it could really end badly. Favre is really going to have to prove himself that he is a part of the team, no matter how good his pedigree is. Anyway, this is all. What a circus the NFL is this year. And for those of you who really don't like sports, sorry. I still welcome your comments, since there are a lot bigger questions at play. I plan to release another survey on Saturday, so keep your eyes open for that. Until then, I must bid you "toodles"...
Yeah...I don't have much of an opinion on any of these matters. I don't really follow the whole sports thing. But I think you make a good point. Well, 3 good points.
ReplyDeleteI guess I do have an opinion on...hold on, let me find his name...Plaxico Burgess. (Is that really his name?) I feel bad for his 2 year sentence in the state pen after shooting HIMSELF in the leg. That sucks. On so many levels. I can understand about the expired concealed weapons license, but DANG! He shot himself in the leg! (PS I remember you telling me about your buddy shooting himself in the foot; it happened my first year at USU.)
Umm...welcome back to blogging!
What about Donte Stallworth?? That's the one that doesn't make any sense.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I completely agree about Favre. Go away already.
I had three brothers and a beer-drinking dad who spent the entire week-end in front of whatever game was on, and STILL, I know NOTHING about sports! However, since you invited all comments, here it is.
ReplyDeleteAMEN!
Comparing the sentences of Vick and Burress to the punishments that worse offenders have recieved does indeed illustrate the glaring inconsistencies within our justice system. But, I think both of them got what they deserved!
Vick is a slime ball, and hopefully prison has taught him a much-needed lesson (I totally agree with you that he's paid his debt to society and now has a right to earn a living by the way).
While Burress' sentence may seem harsh, I think it's warranted! There is no reason to be packing around a weapon, and if he is some paranoid gun-toting lunatic, he can abide by the same law that everyone else does and keep his permit current! I'm always disgusted by celebrities who seem to think they can behave however they please and that their status and money can buy them out of any predicament. If you're too careless and irresponsible to maintain a concealed weapons permit, you're too careless to be packing around a weapon. Period!
The real question is why aren't offenders like child molestors locked up for a minimum of 50 years after the first offense, rather than given sentences comparable to dog-fighters and gun freaks? It would be GREAT to see more sentences acutally fit the crime, and even though a hole in your leg is a pretty good punishment, COME ON, your weapon mistakenly goes off INSIDE A NIGHTCLUB? Where you have endangered the lives of others, all because you want to stroke your gun and hence stroke your ego? PLEASE!
Two years sounds good to me! :)
In my ever so humble opinion...