Now, a gentle reminder that while the dogfighting charges against Michael Vick are disgusting and make you wonder exactly how callously cruel a person can be, bad things can happen to humans, too, and that those acts should be regarded with the same level of disgust.

So, I suggest we take a brief break from coming up with imaginative ways to punish Vick (OK with the working for the Humane Society, but the other suggestions aren't as "clever'' as the author thinks), displaying our ignorance of the judicial system (hello, Tim Donaghy isn't going to spend 25 years in jail; he cut a deal, just as Vick reportedly plans to do) and displaying how inhumane we can be in showing how "humane'' we are to other living beings (letter-writers and e-mailers, you know who you are).

During that break, check out HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, after the reports on dogfighting and on Pacman Jones. Andrea Kremer interviews Javon Walker, the Broncos player who was sitting in the limo last New Year's morning next to teammate Darrent Williams when Williams was shot to death in a drive-by. She also talks to his friends in Fort Worth, Texas to find out what they knew and what we might not know about Williams (try to get through her mildly patronizing questions about whether he or they were gang members). The whole thing is heart-wrenching, especially as Walker describes the scene that night, says that he feared for his own life for weeks afterward, and talks of how he still has his shirt covered in Williams' blood. Kremer closed the report by saying that police have men in custody for the murder but have not charged them yet.

This week, the Broncos worked out with the Cowboys in Dallas, near where Williams grew up, and here's a great column about what they're going through. And here's a story about how the Broncos invited Williams' mother, Rosalind, to practice yesterday and brought her onto the field to break the final huddle of the day with one of her son's catchphrases.

It won't make you feel any better about either the fate of those dogs or about Michael Vick. But it might make you work up a similar level of rage when a person has his life pointless and senselessly taken away. The next email or reply that I get that is even half as inflamed about Williams' murder than about the dogs Vick abused, will be the first.

Posted by David Steele at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

So, how much do you trust government officials and our system of justice? Do you believe they're doing their jobs correctly? And how much do you let their actions influence who you believe in the current wave of sports controversies?

Consider this:

* The affidavits charging Tim Donaghy, and the information coming so far from the FBI, tell us that Donaghy acted alone in providing inside information to gamblers. The key phrase is: "Donaghy concealed this scheme from the NBA and other referees in order to prevent its detection.'' That, it seems, proves David Stern's assertion last month -- that Donaghy is a "rogue, isolated criminal'' -- correct, and that there aren't two or five or 15 other refs about to be caught up in the net, and that Donaghy isn't about to flip on several of his colleagues.

Do you buy that? Is what the charging documents, the judge and the FBI tell you good enough to give the NBA a pass on the idea that it's rife with crooked refs and has no integrity left at all? Its integrity has taken a severe hit, for certain, but it looks as if it's not as bad as it could have been. Does this mean you're free to surrender your trust back to the NBA, or are you going to look cockeyed at the league for a long while to come?

* Michael Vick is still mulling a possible plea, now that his three co-defendants are turning on him, several other witnesses previously turned, and possibly teammates are going to called to testify. The thing here is, he might very well be completely innocent and the victim of a huge frame-up -- but with all these witnesses lined up against him, can he and his lawyers still believe they'll win the case? He looks guiltier by the day, and if he pleads out, that will seal the deal.

So, again -- do you buy it? The federal prosecutors are showing the public what appears to be an airtight case (although no one will see actual evidence until this actually goes to court, if it does). Remember, a certain local prosecutor made a huge public scene of having an airtight case against certain college lacrosse players, until it became obvious that he had no evidence at all. But that prosecutor didn't have seven people waiting to bury the defendants. Vick's lawyers are even divided on this -- some say a plea is the safest route, others want the feds to bring their evidence to court and see if it stands up in the light of day.

Whether you believed Vick guilty from the start or you wanted to see how the case played out, the latest developments have to color your impressions of him. Unless there's some shocking reversal soon, the people who "convicted'' Vick prematurely might have been premature, but they might also have been right all along.

* Last but not least, Barry Bonds is talking about striking back at people who publicly jump to conclusions about what he has and hasn't done. It's been made clear that it's directed toward Curt "Shill''-ing more than anybody, but it does raise this never-ending question: How, in all these years, has the federal government not been able to find a single thing to charge Bonds with? Not perjury, not tax evasion. Yes, Bonds' pal, Greg Anderson, has clammed up and let himself cool his heels in jail (Vick needs friends like this, right?), but if he's the linchpin to either case, then you might conclude that there isn't much of a case.

So ... do you believe the circumstantial evidence piled up against Bonds -- books, grand-jury testimony, witnesses, doctors, the eyeball test, his helmet size and all -- or do you think, "Well, this is what the Justice Department supposedly does best, and they can't pin anything on him, so what exactly can we really say?'' Heck, they caught Capone, they caught John Gotti, but they can't get Barry Bonds? What conclusion can be drawn from that?

Just asking.

Posted by David Steele at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

Thanks for being so patient. Had some time off and spent some time last week in Las Vegas, at the annual National Association of Black Journalists convention. The big news out of there: plenty of black people can't stand Barry Bonds or Michael Vick, either!

Of course, I get back to town and find out that a perfectly good name for this blog, instead of the one I sweated over and furrowed my brow about, has now been taken by the new Steelers mascot. I mean, if I had come back and told my editors I wanted the blog to be re-named "Steely McBeam,'' they would have had to say no, for copyright reasons. Who needs that aggravation?

And I find out that Cal Ripken is being appointed as some kind of super sports secret agent, or something. Your government at work. It's sending Cal around the world to spread the word about baseball to other countries, presumably including the dozens that already play it better than this one does.

Thanks to the readers who engaged in an intelligent debate about Barry Bonds' record-breaking home run after the column last week. Emphasis on "intelligent debate.'' It's been refreshing.

But this post is mostly about a discovery I made on the way back from Las Vegas late Sunday night. Inflight magazines catch a lot of flak in general, being as bland as they are, but at times it can be pretty entertaining reading, not just under the circumstances (you've finished your book and the batteries on your laptop and iPod have died). Southwest's Spirit magazine had a decent how-to article on fantasy football that I enjoyed, right up until its graphic on "Over/Under'' --  players who are either rising or falling as fantasy pickups.

One of the "falling'' players was identified as Edgerrin James of the Cardinals. Makes sense, based on an unimpressive 2006 season. Until you look at the picture (near the bottom of the article) and see that the photo that goes with it is of Steve McNair. Click back on all the links in this paragraph. Find a resemblance, any resemblance.

Here's the resemblance: they're what one blog site calls Misidentified Black People. The blog itself is called "Undercover Black Man.'' The blogger is David Mills, who wrote for "Homicide'' and "NYPD Blue,'' among many other shows, and is a Maryland grad. He's become the nation's clearinghouse for published photos in which black subjects are identified as someone who they are not. He never comes up short on material.

It's an amazing phenomenon he's tracking, with an extensive reach, from network and cable TV to daily papers to national magazines and, now, inflight reading you are encouraged to take with you when you deplane.

And, as Mills notes, more than their share involve athletes. Like Edgerrin James and Steve McNair.

Posted by David Steele at 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)