All dogs go to Heaven, and one man can go to Hell

We need to be sure to choose our heroes wisely. We call them heroes, even though some of them merely throw a ball or run really fast. As heroes go, that would seem to be the minimum requirement. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 we were scolded for calling athletes and entertainers "heroes" because they don't do much other than read what they are told or run where they are told. Those who run into places from which others run are truly heroes.
For those of us who follow sports closely, it should come as only a minor surprise to find that Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is something of a dirtbag, and what better follow-up to Monday's post about child abuse and Tuesday's post about my favorite pro athletes than this interesting tidbit about a slice of his personal life that has thankfully leaked out. If you or a loved one has one of those red #7 jerseys, they make excellent packing material. To wit:

SURRY COUNTY, Va. — A meeting of investigators Monday morning failed to clear Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick of involvement in an alleged dogfighting operation. Three weeks have passed since police discovered a suspected dogfighting compound on Vick's former property in Surry, Va. Police found 66 dogs— 55 of them pit bulls — many covered with scars.
The case began April 25 when police conducting a drug investigation raided the house Vick owned in rural Surry County and found dozens of dogs. They also found items associated with dog fighting, including a “pry bar” used to pry apart a dog’s jaws. Police say that between 6 and 10 people could be involved, including Vick and a cousin, who reportedly lived in the house before it was recently sold. Vick himself is a licensed dog breeder.

One story reported on WIP today said that the house also contained treadmills for cats. The cats are used to get the dogs used to the taste of blood and are trained to be kill meat.

When an ESPN reporter asked Vick, "In the end, do you think you will be exonerated?", Vick replied, "No comment."
I wonder if he knows what "exonerated" means?

Then, jackass number 2 checked in, namely Washington Redskins' running back Clinton Portis, with this gem:
“I don’t know if he was fighting dogs or not,” Portis said in the interview. “But it’s his property; it’s his dogs. If that’s what he wants to do, do it.”
Late Monday, the team released a statement on behalf of Portis in which the running back said: “I want to make it clear I do not take part in dog fighting or condone dog fighting in any manner.”
I wonder if he knows what "condone" means?

And so, we have found yet one more clown in an industry full of them - namely professional sports, and it appears to run in the family. Vick's little brother Marcus is Jackass Junior, having been kicked out of VT and is such a rotten guy that he cannot even land a job in a profession that is full of them.

Pro athletes are arrested on almost a daily basis. Generally it is for drunken driving or some drug charge. Occasionally it is for something more heinous like spousal abuse or gunplay. It is sad that these man-children represent such behavior problems, and sadder that we are generally not surprised when one of them is charged with something as lousy as this.

Animals and children. I have zero tolerance for anyone who abuses either of them. Perhaps a nice punishment for this group of scumbags would be a day or so in the basement with the dogs?