Things should be "Rosy" for Bonds and Vick.
4,256 hits. A record that will never be touched. A record that stands pure, untainted by allegations of steroid use or haunted by hanus acts of crime. I've never heard anybody say that Pete Rose bet on baseball while he was a player, only when he was a magager. Player or not, betting does not help you hit a baseball. Performance enhancing drugs do not help you make contact either, but they could add a little extra distance on a ball that would normally wind up on the warning track.
If Bonds is found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs and is not banned from baseball, what does this say? Gambling is worse than drug use? The last time I checked, both have rehabilitation programs to help those addicted to such vices. How many people will remember Bonds when A-Rod breaks the home run record in 5 years or so? How many people will remember the guy that holds the record 4,256 hits in 5 years? In 20 years? This is a record that will stand forever. Yet, the holder of this record will never occupy his deserved space in the hall of fame. If Bonds is guilty of performance-enhancing drug use, is this not an equal transgression against the validity of the game? I'm not saying Bonds doesn't deserve to be in the hall of fame. I think he does, steroids or not.
However, the fact remains that Bonds may have tarnished the sanctity of the game, knowingly, while in pursuit of a record. Yes, Rose bet on baseball but he did it while he was a manager. He still deserves to be among the game's greats for what he accomplished as a player. If Bonds truly did use performance-enhancing drugs, to let him in the hall of fame while Pete Rose remains ineligible seems nothing short of discrimination.
The NFL is a whole different matter, however. If Vick is found guilty of the hanus allegations against him, the NFL needs to take a stand and ban him from the game for life. To allow these players to beat their wives and kill dogs then come back to continue to make millions while players in other sports are banned for gambling, is pure lunacy. If Goodell wants people to take his new conduct policy seriously, people convicted of especially hanus acts need to be banned from the sport just the same as someone who would gamble on their sport.
Just as Rose stained the trust of baseball, to have somebody on a pro field who is capable of such immorality disfigures and stains the dignity of football. To argue that it's unfair to take away Vick's source of income, is ridiculous. Vick has made millions already. He should have plenty of money to begin another business venture to secure future income for himself. Normal people have to change careers several times during their lifetime. If he is stupid enough to have blown all his money already or if he lacks the neccesarry socail skills to find another occupation and be a productive member of society, the rest of the world is better off with him in jail anyway.
Looking at all this, it is evident that morality and ethics are severely skewed in pro sports. O.J. Simpson is another prime example. Is this really how the world works now? If you make enough money you can enact any fantasies your sickly, spoiled mind can dream up and either get away with it or receive unwarranted breaks on your punishment? It's not good to use drugs, beat your wife, murder people, or torture dogs, but at least you didn't bet on baseball...
If the real world worked like pro sports, we would be letting child-molesters, rapists, and serial killers go with minimum punishment while people would be getting sent to the electric chair for buying a lotto ticket or going to the casino. I'm glad my kids will be able to learn such valuable lessons from the sports world in the future because gambling is so terribly and horribly unforgiveable... Give me a break!
Thanks for all the yards, TDs, and memories, Priest!
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Originally Posted by chief31
The only reason a beer sweats around Canada is because he's decided it will be the next beer he drinks.
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