Let me adress a few people here. Steph, I don't see your link getting removed. This is the reason I moved this thread into GenDis, people who would not normally read about sports should be aware of these things happening in thier world and how they can get involved. No troubles, luv.
Sam...I agree with most of what you've said, but I say give this commissioner a chance. I don't feel, personally, that he has no balls. He has a lot to prove and has already taken very good steps against the likes of Haynesworth and Jones, as I mentioned earlier. Perhaps he may falter, but I again say give him a chance, you might be surprised. Also adressed to Sam, regarding sports culture at even lower levels. I was also an athlete in my younger days, and can attest to the attitude prevelant in even high-school level sports. I went to two different high schools...one in my first two years, and one in my second. The first two years, I was on the football team of a Catholic school (which I never wanted to be at, but that's a different story...at least they had a good team, so that was fine...up to a point.) In my sophomore year, there was an incident (several, actually, but this one caused a lot of problems) where a few kids from the "geek" area of the population were beaten badly. Two were in the hospital. I must say here that I was not involved in this. This "catholic" school engaged in a cover-up of epic proportions. We were in the playoffs and were favored to win a state title. Parents complained, and were threatened, in a subtle way, of having thier kids' tuition challenged...all kinds of things. This was after the intitial attempt at cover-up. For my part, I tried to say something, and was not only threatened with violence from some of my "teammates", but was bumped down to fourth-string receiver. At this point, my mother pulled me out of the school, which I was more than happy to leave. Eventually, the entire story came out and there were consequences. It took some time, though, as this was a school of mostly "rich kids" whose families sprung for high-level lawyers. Not to mention that the school itself was the darling of this particular diocese...including a large financial stake.
In a twist of serendipitous fate, the school I wound up going to for my junior and senior years was more than happy to have a receiver from my former school on thier team, and I was welcomed. By my senior year, we were in the state championships and we won (as serious underdogs) against...you guessed it...my former school. Justice indeed.
I'd like to say to Knox, that he's right on the ball with the events that took place before Vick's indictment. This is not the Duke rape case. This is not a single politically motivated prosecuter up for re-election. This is the FBI, among other agancies. Some of us remember reading about this case before Vick's official indictment. They took thier time making sure they had enough evidence before even bringing the indictment. This isn't a witch-hunt. Also, nice to know that Atlanta fans are somewhat more concerned about this behavior that I intially thought, at least at this point. It's nice to admit to being wrong, and I may have overstated my opinion of what the fans would do. I hope that my comments did not offend anyone from Atlanta. This was a general statement on rabid fanship in Atlanta, much like the aforementioned Oakland fanship.
In closing, I would like to once again adress those who think the NFL will cover this up. I totally disagree. Time will tell, of course. However, I stand by my statements that the NFL is very concerned about thier image and practice with things like this. Look at the stand taken against the Vikings players in the sex-boat scandal, and again I bring up Hayneworth and Jones. Are they perfect shining examples of sports morality? Of course not...there is plenty of work yet to be done. But, compared to the things that are gotten away with in baseball, the NBA and other sports, the NFL...in my opinion...is doing a fairly good job of policing its own. Vick has more than one hurdle to clear. The owner of his team, who he's on thin ice with anyway. A new coach who really doesn't need this (and who just happens to have a back-up QB capable of starting for almost any other team, and that many fans think should be the starter anyway), a commisioner with a desire to make a mark and prove the NFL to be capable of handling this...and that's not to mention the fans of cities across America who will be showing up in force at any Atlanta away game. This will not be swept under the rug for a myriad of reasons. Even in the highly unlikely event that the NFL slaps him on the wrist, the fans will not tolerate it. We hardcore NFL fans love our game, and like our standing among the major sports. Our players (most of them) give of thier off-time generously, and many communities benefit from NFL-based programs. We love our sport and will not see it sullied, standing idly by.
