Dana Blankenhorn

Michael Vick Deserves No Sympathy

My daughter has decided to make protecting animals her passion. She has learned many things along the way, and taught me many lessons, for which I am grateful. She has witnessed first-hand the cruel way we treat animals, and the inhuman emptiness found even in some animal lovers.

Her most important lesson is that, even if we eat or breed them, we have a responsibility to animals. They have souls, simpler, more basic perhaps, but souls nonetheless. Heeding this lesson is part of man's own civilizing process.

Thus there is needful cruelty and there is needless cruelty.

Raising dogs to fight, to kill other dogs, and murdering those who don't do well is needless cruelty. When the Humane Society or ASPCA breaks up a dog-fighting ring, all the dogs involved must be put down. It is needful cruelty. Their training makes them impossible to place as pets. It's not their nature which is bad, it's their nurture. And it can't be unlearned.

People who engage in dog fighting dehumanize themselves. They hold all life as cheap. They forfeit all sympathy, all claims on our emotions. They deserve nothing more than what they dish out to the animals.

Un-patriotism

What do Tom Hicks, George Gillett, Stan Kroenke (left), Malcolm Glazer and  Randy Lerner have in common?

They've all stuck hundreds of millions of dollars into English soccer teams.

Meanwhile, the MLS goes schlumping along, and by the time the season winds down in September no one will care who wins. (Oh, wait, it ends in November. See?)

All most Americans really care about is their national team, and Sunil Gulati, who runs US Soccer, finally gave in yesterday and named Bob Bradley his permanent coach.

What does this mean? It means big American money is fleeing the sport and its status is not going to change. What is big-time elsewhere will remain small-time here.

It doesn't have to be that way.

Smash and Grab

I stayed up late last night watching the USA-Mexico game, so if your idea of sport is some steroid-juiced bumpkin pounding a pea over a wall, smashing someone's head in, or swatting a basketball away bear with me. (Picture from MLSnet.)

The game was the typical smash-and-grab we've become used to since Bruce Arena became the USA coach in 1998. The team concentrated on its defense, got lucky on a set play, and then dug in deeper until Mexico made a mistake that allowed a quick counter. Another 2-0 victory. (That's Landon Donovan rounding the Mexico goalkeeper and putting the game away.)

This is sad (in a way) because Mexico plays beautiful football and they love the game so much. The tactics Arena introduced (and interim coach Bob Bradley employs) come directly from the way Germany played it for years. It's not pretty, let alone beautiful, but it's effective.

Why Mexico doesn't just find themselves a big-footed power kicker, fall down a few times and beat up anyone who comes near their box is somewhat beyond me (at least when they play us). Instead they insist on playing beautiful (Beautiful!)...believe it or not Mexico hasn't scored a goal on U.S. soil this Millenium.

Anyway, the real news was made at halftime, only no one noticed.

The Bell Grizzlies

A new study is out from Heavy Reading which tells us all you need to know about what the Bells plan to do with their new market power.

Sports.

No really, sports. These idiots think that sports are their ticket to integrated multimedia success. (Stop laughing...OK, I'll wait...)

Basically they figure that since they "control" a lot of "end-user service platforms" (cable, phone, Internet, cellular) they are in a unique position to profit from Americans' insatiable appetite for sports stuff.

No, seriously. They think they're going to work with their equipment suppliers (Cisco) to deliver the same LeBron James dunk through all sorts of wired and wireless channels, and you'll sit there enthralled enough to pay-and-pay for every view of it.

The Beckham Chimera

Like Pele a generation ago, David Beckham is coming to America.

This is supposed to grow professional soccer in the U.S. into a true competitor to baseball, football, basketball and NASCAR.

Won't happen.

It could happen, over time, but it won't under the current circumstances.

American soccer today is a travesty.

Care? Read more.

The West Side (of campus)

I have noticed that bloggers sometimes take time out from their regular chores to congratulate their favorite teams.

John Aravois is a fan of Ohio State. Oliver Willis loves the Washington Redskins.

Regular readers know I'm an alumnus of Rice University and when I notice the old school at all it's to highlight its achievements in science and engineering, which is as it should be.

But the west side of the campus is devoted to athletic pursuits, and the far west side features an enormous, concrete, 72,000 seat football stadium, built by a predecessor company of Halliburton (Brown & Root) in just 9 months back in 1950.

Nothing much happens there. Since the Southwest Conference left Rice in the mid-1990s, few have even noticed the place.

But something remarkable did happen at homecoming this year. A new coach, Todd Graham, suffered through some enormous defeats while installing a new passing offense on what had been a wishbone program. And he stiffened the defense. Long story short, the Owls beat East Carolina yesterday 18-17, their third win on the last play of the game in a five-game win streak. (This one was witnessed by about 12,000 souls.)

It was also great entertainment. Real value-for-money stuff. The other team misses a clinching pass by inches, we get the ball on our 26, and drive the field in less than a minute with our second and third string quarterbacks, before the final score is laid down by a walk-on?

ESPN Mobile:When Will They Ever Learn?

Despite an enormous campaign of house ads ESPNMobile is going under. (Hat tip to Francase Place for the link. And to Gizmodo for the illustration.)

My favorite ESPN Mobile ad just played recently. It featured Seattle running back Shawn Alexander, trying to mix himself an energy drink, then falling to the floor after getting tangled-up with his little dog. Immediately the phone rang and it was a video message with ESPN talent John Clayton saying “this just in, Shawn Alexander is doubtful for Sunday's game after an accident involving a lemon and a wiener dog.” Alexander looks around, wondering who's spying on him.

Path To 911 Controversy Less Than Met the Eye

Did you watch The Path to 911 on ABC last night?

I didn't. Neither did most people, including the vast majority of Republican people. Do I have to tell you why?

For gosh sakes, man, Peyton vs. Eli! Giants vs. Colts! Madden and Al Michaels on a new network! Were you ready for some football?

America was.  And it was a great game, Eli running out of time an falling 26-21. (Threw two interceptions earlier in the game. But what's up with that wimpy Colts running game? Gee they miss Edgerrin James.) With dad Archie in his suite, along with the Manning women. Followed by an embrace at midfield, surrounded by cameras.

Name me a persuadable NASCAR Dad who's going to miss that? Show me one who won't get a lump in his throat? (OK, maybe Cowboy or Titan fans.)

So if the people who put this craptastic pile of junk in front of us hoped to influence the national debate their way, they failed. Just as Osama Bin Laden failed.

The real story here was the push-back, not the movie itself. For the first time since the attacks, Democrats were fairly unified in standing up to a Bush Administration bullyboy move. They seemed anxious to put their tactics for the War -- invest in port security -- against "stay the course" or "adapt to win" or whatever other nonsense the RNC is calling this piece of FUBAR.

The real story is that our nation's reaction to 9/11 is being seriously questioned, not just on the fringe but in the mainstream. This is important, because Americans were not given that choice in 2002 or 2004. They were given a choice between Republicans and yeah-but.

Landis

Since yesterday's announcement that a blood sample from Floyd Landis tested positive for excess testosterone, many of us who praised him highly last week have been silent.

So let me say this.

What was once a simple game of "does he or doesn't he" has changed over the years. Everyone does. Those who don't approach the line between conditioning and chemical enhancement don't get near the game.

In all competitive sports athletes and trainers manage bodies like a NASCAR garage. You come as close as you can to the line without stepping over. Meanwhile, however, the doping authorities keep moving the line back. Excess testosterone may mean illegal supplements, or it may mean an excess of legal ones. Or it may mean Landis was jacked up going into Morzine and produced it all naturally. (Or the second sample may show nothing.)

Best Bike Race Ever

This post is updated here.

 I guess I like "blue state" sports. But I got there first. I got into futbol (soccer) in the 1990s, once my kids became old enough to play. I was always into cycling. It gave me freedom as a kid, it gave me priceless friendships after college, it gives me youth in middle age.

(I did 34 miles a week ago, through the streets of Atlanta. I mentioned it casually to my trainer at the YMCA, who looks like a Mr. Universe contestant.  His jaw dropped. A mere bagatelle.)

And, of course, I'm a huge Lance Armstrong fan. Huge.

Even Lance never did what I saw Floyd Landis do today. The French saw the way Lance won as "arrogant." He was the best, he knew it, and he let everyone else know it, especially the French. That's why they've tried to take him down so relentlessly, and made themselves look so ridiculous in the process. He was barely human, and the French love humanity above all.