Yesterday at the end of the post about Clermond having charges against him dropped, I was going to rip the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. They were the first media outlet to report the story of his arrest back on July 24 when Paul Zeise broke the story on the P-G’s website. And when it was published online, they put it in REALLY BIG LETTERS at the top of the page. So I was a little curious as to why it took them so long to put up the story of his release from the charges. Does the Post-Gazette have some sort of anti-Pitt agenda? (Gasp!)
I decided not to bring it up yesterday, and today I learned that it might have just been a product of a bad week for Mr. Zeise.
In introducing the topic, Pompeani said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is “probably going to suspend [Vick] for the rest of the season, the whole year. Is he right to do that given the fact this guy has not been convicted of anything?” Alexander answered: “Absolutely. When you’re indicted by the federal government, you’re going down. Since 1987 they have a 92 percent conviction rate.”
Zeise took an opposing view. “It’s really a sad day in this country when somehow … Michael Vick would have been better off raping a woman if you look at the outcry of what happened. Had he done that, he probably would have been suspended for four games and he’d be back on the field. But because this has become a political issue, all of a sudden the commissioner has lost his stomach for it.”
I don’t know what the best part of the article is: Zeise’s comments or the fact that the apology from the newspaper was penned by the lovable Bob Smizik.
This fails to explain why Pitt coverage has always been a little bit behind from the P-G. Meanwhile, Kevin Gorman over at the Trib does an excellent job and keeps from being a complete homer.
As for the Trib, there’s a reason why I call it “Pirates Pravda”.
…Elijah Fields.
Good Lord, did that give me a scare.
On the other hand, organizing, financing, and supporting a dogfighting ring is not a one time offense, it is ORGANIZED CRIME. It is a conscious recognition of committing a crime EVERY DAY of your life through his actions of running this ring. He knew what he was doing and he continued to do so repeatedly and without concern for the wellbeing of the dogs’ health or other people’s illegal gambling.
That to me is what makes it worse than a single assualt charge against a female. Now, alot of americans are upset because of just the dog aspect, as Zeise alleges, but regardless I think America has the right to be upset.
…Elijah Fields.
Good Lord, did that give me a scare.
Will… Elijah is a much better football player than Levance is a basketball player… believe me…
P.S. For all you know-it-alls, he was really making a comparision to Kobe Bryant…oh but wait, he (like OJ) was innocent, too. Yeah, they’re ALL innocent.
However, the NFL (and certain college teams, such as one to the northeast of Pittsburgh) have long demonstrated their contempt for crimes against women by yawning at domestic abuse and sexual assault cases. FOR GOD SAKE, MICHAEL VICK HAS BEEN IN A HIGH PROFILE CASE FOR GIVING A WOMAN HERPES. It affected nothing! He got huge money from the NFL and all of his sponsors. Nearly every other week around the league you’ll read of other players arrested for various atrocities against their girlfriends, wives, etc. Nothing happens to them.
The NFL, NCAA and big sponsors like Nike, et al are all totally driven by $$$, so they make the market analysis that their fanbase won’t care, at least to the extent that they want to jeopardize their favorite team’s chances by banning their star player.
Zeise should be appalled that his freeedom of speech was violated like it was, and that his gutless Nit editor failed to support him. Like with John Clayton, Mike DeCourcy and others, the Nit-loving, Steeler-fawning geezers here will run him out of town. The good news (for him) is he’s almost certain to get a better job.