Duke of Hazzard

I think what has happened to the Duke lacrosse players has been largely ignored in the national media and swept under the rug. If the colors involved in this situation were switched, black athletes accused of raping a white stripper, and the DA handled himself as DA Mike Nifong did, it would have been ten times as large as the Don Imus thing. Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and all the race card players would have come out of the woodworks and whine about the state of race relations in this country. If the charges ended up being as fraudulent as these were, race baiters would have been on every news outlet, championing their cause. It definitely would have spawned several “very special episodes” on Oprah.

Duke University threw these players under the bus based on a bunch of assumptions and cultural stereotypes and without any actual evidence. These were rich, white spoiled athletes that were mild BMOCs who took advantage of their stature, didn’t think they would get caught and exercised their manhood against a poor, drunk, black girl. It is clear their jumping to conclusion cost the coach his job, the un-involved rest of the lacrosse team the remainder of their season and caused the local community a crisis of confidence in race relations. I’m a left side of the country guy, growing up and living in the southwest, so I’m not going to pretend I know what racial tensions exist in the South, but I’ve got to imagine that in this college town, your typical elite white athlete probably carries a large sense of entitlement around with him wherever he goes. The podunk, hick district attorney, up for re-election knew he would lose if this case didn’t see the light of day in a courtroom. His constituency is mostly black and he would not get a single vote if he didn’t do everything he could to prosecute this case to the fullest. The only problem is, he made up his mind to do this without waiting for evidence and assuming the victim was actually victimized.

I can’t really blame him for doing what he thought he had to do in order to get re-elected. I just think he put all his eggs in one basket, talked a good game in the press and hoped the goods were there. But when more and more evidence came out, there was less and less a reason to move forward with the case. Of course, now that he was too far in, it was way past the point of no return. Probably something happened that night. Whether or not it was criminal may never be known. What was criminal however, is how the DA handled this case and tried it in the media. These rich, elitist white kids had the resources to fight this until their innocence finally came to light, almost a year later. I hate to think what would have happened if they were poor and unable to fight a protracted legal battle. I hope they sue Nifong for everything he owns. That would be justice being served.

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Big Heads, Big Heads, Drug Assisted Big Heads

I still don’t know why Barry Bonds is getting pitches to hit over the fence. Between this and the Tori Hunter episode, it shows that the unwritten rules in baseball are far more important than the written ones. Barry Bonds should never, ever get another pitch to hit in a game. If baseball is so sure that he is as dirty as people say he is, every pitcher should have it in their unwritten baseball code, that he should not get a pitch anywhere near his strike zone. Better yet, save your pitch count and just hit him. If the game isn’t important or close, hit ‘em. Putting him on base is better than letting him break the record. He can barely run as it is, a double play is a good probability to happen. Just plunk the big headed bastard. Don’t let him get the most honored record in sports. I remember watching the footage from Hank Aaron blasting his record breaking shot with the fans running on the field with him around the bases. This is a classic image that will only be tarnished by Barry beating the record. I hope that A-Rod can continue homering at an amazing place and destroys Barry’s record a few years later.

That would be sweet!

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