GETTING NO LOVE ON THIS BLOG, SO WE'LL SETTLE FOR HATE

Time to weigh in on Michael Vick issue. Forego believes that dear friend "Country" who is the single biggest dog lover in the world gives permission, consdering he gave Forego vintage book on game-cockery for Forego's 40th.

NAACP has also warned against rush to judgment, so there.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Ag.ZfDuOcxsdXUzk4XdqWnX.uLYF?slug=ap-vick-naacp&prov=ap&type=lgns

First of all, as Forego recalls, in the United States Of America a person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a jury of peers. Forego could be mistaken about this but as a trade association and "corporate-person" without anti-trust exemption, neither the NFL nor the Atlanta Falcons may do anything to prevent Mr. Vick from earning a living at his chosen work wihtut cause unless he is found guilty or pleads guilty, and they especially may not do so in concert. Forego is not sure if the practice of professional dog-fighting is even a Federal offense. Without any knowledge we are presuming it is illegal in the states of Georgia and West Virginia, though. We are also not sure if either the NFL or Atlanta Falcons football club may prevent Mr. Vick from pursuing his main trade in another state, should he be found guilty and after having served his sentence.

Second of all, we understand this story is news, but why does it get more prominence than recent Bush administration executive orders granted the executive dictatorial powers and the right to full asset-seizure of anyone on U.S. soil for any reason without due process?

Third of all, what's really the big deal? Here are some truths about dog-fighting. The breeding, owning, training and entry into matches of professional fighting dogs is not what everyone reflexively thinks it is. These are not street fights to the death. These dogs are not penned up in veal cages when not fighting. The training process is very specfic and most trainers use pretty standard techniques. The idea is to build the dog's hind-quarter strength as a puppy by tying a heavy object to the tail and having the dog walk ever-increasing distances dragging the object. As the puppy develops, the trainer will begin the fighting preparation practice. The first job is to discover whether the dog is an aggressor or a defender. This is done by donning soft gloves and play-fighting with the dog. The dog's stylistic response will show which type of fighter he or she is.

As the puppy matures, he or she will have safe sparring matches with muzzles and wrapped and padded paws against dogs of the opposite and same styles. Whatever weakness in the dog's fight the trainer observes, that trainer will attempt to correct those flaws by having the dog spar with only the type of dogs whose styles exploit those flaws, again with muzzles and padded paws.

The owners of these dogs have no interest in underfeeding or mistreating the dogs. The dogs are their livelihood. A top-class male can be worth $50,000 or more and a top-class bitch can yield hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars over th e course of a fighting and breeding career. An aside, for reasons Forego is not clear on, breeders like to delay breeding after one or two cycles of estrus following the bitch's fighting career or if she isn't trained to fight, the reach of sexual maturity.

The fighting dog's career is managed much like a boxer's. They participate in short fights in early career, progressing to longer bouts with maturation. The single worst thing an owner/trainer can do financially and with regard for the dog's health is accept "street challenges" from another owner who has lower-level dogs. A well-trained fighting dog would be a heavy favorite to win that fight, but could easily get hurt in the process. In other words, "ego" has no place in that world.

Forego understands that during the course of many professional dog-fights, dogs do indeed die or receive serious injuries. Forego does not know what becomes of trained dogs who are injured and have neither breeding value nor fighting value, nor does Forego know if dog's deemed to have no earning potential are indeed killed. If so, if Forego were a judge in the Vick case, and Vick were to be found guilty, Forego would consider that very much an augmenting factor in deciding Vick's sentence.

Fourth of all, Forego has never witnessed nor bet on nor even seen a video of a professional or amateur dogfight.

Fifth of all, these dogs are bred to fight. For sweet baby Jesus's sakes, the young men and women in the U.S. military and least of all those in the National Guard were NOT bred to fight! May we please have some sense of proportionality. If given an ultimate choice of being either a professional fighting dog or serving in the infantry in Iraq or Afghanistan, Forego would choose the former. At least, in the former case, he has a fair chance to survive intact, a clearly defined mission and career-path, and the support and training of those in charge. And $13 million unguaranteed dollars be damned. Please make a case that professional dog fighting is less brutal that professional football. Former NFL player and persistant players' advocate Dave Meggesey, in a critque of Players' Association head Gene Upshaw has said that professional football has taken away its players' right to be middle-aged. The actuarial tables bear this out. An NFL career of average length takes the player from youth to old age to an earlier-than-average death for an American male of equivalent circumstance, without the benefit of many years of retirement. It is a bit hard for Forego to see the (is ontological the right adjective? maybe philosophical or effective would be better) difference between Michael Vick and a top-flight professional fighting dog in terms of treatment by their "masters." Which brings up the non-political point (finally) of this post...

Please look at these links to the NFL careers of QBs Michael Vick and Daunte Culpepper (both high First Round draft picks).

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/5448/career;_ylt=AiPveL1P8FVmECGITIxK.AH.uLYF

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/4659/career;_ylt=AiPveL1P8FVmECGITIxK.AH.uLYF

Now, compare them to the careers of Matt Hasselbeck and Trent Green (both late round draft picks).

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/4416/career;_ylt=AiPveL1P8FVmECGITIxK.AH.uLYF

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/2547/career;_ylt=AiPveL1P8FVmECGITIxK.AH.uLYF

There is something Forego does not know -- and using Hasselbeck and Green as comps -- is not begging the answer Forego wants at all. At their best, Vick and Culpepper were brilliant, absolutely deserving of a high draft pick. Their key stats, passing yards per attempt and rushing yards per carry, put them at the very elite of both QBs and RBs in the same season. Essentially, in drafting these two players, Atlanta and Minnesota were getting excellence -- no, superiority -- at two positions for the cost of one pick: Quarterback and Tailback if you will. In Vick's case, his running also allowed some relief for the brilliant, yet small and injury-prone, running back Warrick Dunn.

What stands out about both Vick and Culpepper's careers (aside from scandal and we've discussed that too much already with regard to Vick), is just how much injury they endured. It is not hard to draw the conclusion that the injuries were related to having to be both a passer and a runner.

Hasselbeck and Green, however, as traditional pocket-passers have been quite durable and have always been among league leaders in passing yards/attempt.

The question, therefore, for an NFL team with a high #1 draft pick, is it better to take a player like Vick with that high pick knowing the team will get instant improvement versus taking a top prospect at a different position and trying to "invent" a Hasselbeck or Green with a later round pick, knowing that this stratety would be for rebuilding, not for instant results?

Forego does not know the answer. He does not have the time or inclination to study the question. But somebody out there must know.

Good luck from Forego, a poor skin-head without a dollar.