Devil's Advocate

Sensationalism in the media has never been more prevalent then it is now.

Case and point:



Mr. Vick


Everyone and their mother has chosen to use their pathetic "15 Minutes" to bash Michael Vick in the media almost every minute of every day since the story broke.

Now I fully believe that Michael Vick is a bad person for what he admitted to doing in the dog fighting case against him. I love dogs just like most people and would never want an animal of any kind to be put through pain, BUT....

I do have a problem with not being able to turn on my TV, computer, or radio without hearing from someone about what they "think" about Michael Vick.

First off let us look at this in context to other crimes committed by famous athletes as a way to gauge the severity of the crime and why it "has" to be discussed all the live long day.




Rae Carruth could easily be the worst athlete criminal of all time, but I clearly remember how fast this story fell from the headlines. Rae Rae essentially "assassinated" his pregnant girlfriend in a planned two-car drive-by. The woman who was pregnant at the time was shot four times and eventually died a month later. The baby boy was born prematurely because of her injuries and now has cerebral palsy.

But if you asked any of these sign waiving animal right activists "Who Rae Carruth is? They would most likely shrug their shoulders.

Why? Because Americans are stupid and sheepish.




Jayson Williams is another athlete criminal and although his crime was unintentional he still is a grade A moron. Jayson shot a hired limousine driver to death while "twirling" a shotgun. He faces retrial for possibly "attempting" to cover up the accident and delaying the arrival of medical help that may or may not have saved the driver's life.

Neither of these cases could hold a candle up to Vick's media blitz and yet in my opinion are far worse acts of violence. I think people keep talking about Vick negatively and daily because on a subconscious level it makes them feel good about themselves. People can forget their own shortcomings by honestly convincing themselves "At least I'm not a dog killer."

The media loves feeding this idea and people don't mind getting a little undeserved "morality" boost from it either.

Again what Michael Vick did was totally wrong, but I don't think it means that public needs to keep collectively patting themselves on the back for not being dog killers. You're SUPPOSED to not kill dogs.

My prediction is Vick is going to do anywhere from a year to 2 1/2 years in a pretty core prison and may serve less with good behavior. He may have a harder time then most prisoners being that he is famous, wealthy, and an informant. Regardless if it was a condition of his plea bargain Vick may be going into the big house already labeled as a snitch and that is no fun.

When he gets out and his suspension is up and he decides to return to the NFL the media blitz will resurface and if he plays well MOST of this case will be forgotten and all the people that were on the fence will be buying #7's jerseys and saying shit like "Well, I mean he paid his dues."

Don't believe me?

How often do you ever hear about the following today: Ray Lewis's murder case, Jason Kidd's domestic violence, Darryl Strawberry's coke woes? Okay maybe not Darryl's.

None of these athletes are spoken about negatively even though all of their crimes could easily be brought up in sports media.

Who's the most talked about sports criminal of all time?

Pete Rose

Why? Because he gambled on baseball games. Are you kidding me?

It just doesn't make any sense.

That's my 2 cents.