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In the days since the news broke that the Rooney family could be giving up its majority ownership of the Pittsburgh Steelers, there has been almost universal praise for the Rooneys in the media.
But New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden had harsh words for the Rooneys today. On an appearance on ESPN’s The Sports Reporters, Rhoden ripped the Rooneys for their involvement in dog racing, and even compared the Rooneys to imprisoned Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.
“Throughout Michael Vick’s dog fighting ordeal,” Rhoden said, “the National Football League talked about how it opposed Vick’s behavior and cruelty to animals. Now we find out that the Rooneys, one of the pillars of the National Football League, own a dog track.”
Rhoden continued by saying that dog racing is cruel. “The sport should be banned and anyone who aids and abets the industry should be sanctioned, especially an NFL owner whose league just a year ago took such strident stands against animal cruelty,” Rhoden said. “You can’t allow the Rooneys to perpetuate a barbaric industry just because they do it from a luxury box.”
Rhoden was referring to the Palm Beach Kennel Club, which the Rooneys bought in 1970. The NFL has said that some of the business practices of the Kennel Club are inconsistent with NFL gambling policy, and as it appears more likely that the Steelers’ ownership will be restructured, part of that restructuring will likely include having the Steelers and the Kennel Club under separate ownership.
July 13th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Yah we should also get rid of the olympics too, cruel and unusual punishment by some countries to some of the competitors
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Rating: 4.3 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Are you f-ing kidding me? Rhoden is trying to draw a comparison between dog racing and MURDERING DOGS IN A CRUEL FASHION? I know Rhoden is trying to point out racial injustice in sports, but he’s drifting into tardom here.
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Rating: 4.2 / 5 with 12 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
As a Cleveland fan, there are so many different jokes here with the Rooneys “owning” a Dawg…errr..Dog Track…
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Rating: 1.75 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Apples and oranges…….
Find another outlet for racial injustice……this is called…um….OVER-REACHING
I am sure the dogs that race are treated much better than Vick’s dogs. Do they drown, shoot, strangle or electrocute the losers of greyhound races?
P!ss poor “journalism.”
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Rating: 4.25 / 5 with 11 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Regardless of what you think of the Rooneys, Rhoden is so far out of line its not even worth discussing. Unless he’s going to give evidence that racing dogs are treated inhumanely like fighting dogs are then he needs to quiet down. He needs to remember that the Rooneys helped make the NFL and thereby are partly responsible for his cushy little paycheck from ESPN.
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Rating: 4.35 / 5 with 9 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
the only racial injustice in this story is mr. rhoden. it’s another one of many examples of him sticking up for mike vick. he’s (rhoden) undoubtably the biggest racist in sports media. i’m no fan of the rooney’s by any stretch but this is insane !!
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Rating: 4.55 / 5 with 9 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I’m not familiar with Rhoden, but if this is any indication of his abilities, he should not be allowed to write for a newspaper. Comparing dog fighting & dog racing is absurd. I know people who have adopted retired racing dogs. The dogs absolutely love to race. Racing them for sport is no more cruel than people competing in track & field. Take a greyhound out to a dog park and you know what they do? They try to get all the other dogs there to race them. As far as what goes on off the track, yes there could be an probably is cruelty in some cases. That all depends on the trainer. Like any other profession, there’s good ones who treat the dogs very well and there’s lousy ones who are probably cruel to them. The racing itself is not the least bit cruel though.
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Rating: 4.35 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Yet another case of a columnist trying to make his own headlines by over-sensationalizing a topic. Just because both circumstances involve dogs doesn’t make them equivalent. Is dog racing the best life for dogs? Perhaps not. Are some racing dogs treated poorly, either during their career or once their career is over? Certainly. But understand this: when a dog race is over, there isn’t a dog lying dead on the track. Can’t say the same thing for a dog fight.
The Times should be ashamed. And as for Rhoden, it’s ill-conceived knee-jerk reactionary crap like this which makes the average sports fan despise sports columnists.
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Rating: 3.9 / 5 with 9 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I don’t think he’s saying dog racing and murdering dogs are the functional equivalent. He’s saying the Rooney’s, as pillars of the NFL community, are held to a much higher standard than Mike Vick, a single player, is.
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Rating: 1.6 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Really? Can this guy actually compare dog racing and dog fighting? What a dick.
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Rating: 4.3 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
The Dog racing that the Rooney’s are invloved with is legal and regulated, as well as the slots on site.
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Rating: 4.35 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
here’s a story from a guy who wrote a book called
“forty million dollar slaves”
the gist of the book is how black athletes are taken
advantage of by the white ownership,yeah right.
the salaries of the nba players don’t smack of slavery
to me.
i would not take a lot of credence in anything that
william c rhoden writes.
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Rating: 4.55 / 5 with 9 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Dog racing is legal,monitored, taxed, and regulated by the government.
Raising dogs to fight to a bloody death is ilegal. It’s not monitird or taxed, ect.
The commentator is trying to dumb this down to make this a race issue, but it’s not.
Mike Vick is a millionare who is paying a high price for making a bad life choice.
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Rating: 4.5 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Rhoden is such a f***ing tool. Any writer that doesnt understand the difference between a legal business thats open to the public and an illegal business held behind closed doors is destined to be a print writer in a dying industry. If one of Vicks dogs lost, it would be hung,have a cattle prod stuck up its a$$ or drowned. If a dog loses at the race track, its listed in the program and running again the the next week. Vick retired dogs by being the judge, the jury and executioner. Why doesnt Rhoden compare Jeffery Dahmer to a kid with a magnifying glass burning ants ? It might be a closer comparison. I’d imagine Rhoden still thinks O.J. didnt do it.
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Rating: 4.05 / 5 with 10 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Dog racing does have a seedy underbelly. It’s not in the same “cruelty” league as dog fighting, but racing dogs mostly wind up dead or abused as well.
The gambling issue is huge, and a major flaw in the hypocritic Commishioner’s approach to “justice.” A coach can cheat on the field and get no suspension,but players can get fined and suspended for wearing the wrong socks.
The Rooney’s should not be allowed to own a gambling operation at the same time as owning the Steelers.
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Rating: 2.65 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Greyhounds do lead a miserable existence when racing. Here is a fact sheet from The Humane Society:
http://www.hsus.org/search.jsp?query=racing+greyhound&x=0&y=0
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Rating: 2.15 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
This is ridiculous. Dog racing is a legal sport. Dog fighting is not. The Rooney’s are not accused of any cruelty to animals. I’m actually a Bengals fan, not a Steeler fan, but I have to say that those comments are way over the line.
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Rating: 4.4 / 5 with 9 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
@ bleedsorangeandbrown
You mean like - the Rooneys own the Steelers and the Steelers own the Browns…
…but I digress. Was Rhoden waving around his PETA member ship card in outrage? I suppose he wants the people of PA to stop “shooting deers” also.
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Rating: 3.3 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Right, because fighting dogs to the death and racing them around a track are the same thing *rolls eyes*. I hate the Steelers and still can’t take the side of this ass clown that calls himself a journalist. Wow.
In the eyes of Rhoden my kids must be as bad a Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens since they take Flintstone Vitamins every night.
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Rating: 4.5 / 5 with 8 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
While I don’t know much about dog racing I can’t imagine how it equates to dog fighting. I don’t think dog racing involves the injuring or killing of one of the dogs as a likely outcome of every event. I also doubt that the Rooneys actually participate in the brutal killing of these dogs (which I don’t see happening as part of dog racing) like Vick did. I’m also assuming that dog racing is legal while dog fighting not so much.
Now I guess you could make the case that dog racing is inhumane (I don’t know myself but for the sake of argument lets assume it is) then make that your case don’t equate it to Vick and the horrors of dog fighting because you’re just making yourself and your case no matter how legit it is look stupid. Try to make the ’sport’ illegal like dog fighting. Make the argument that they support animal rights issues then this is in violation of them but don’t make them out to be Mike Vick. Its just a sure fire way to loose credibility. If your argument is good enough there is no reason to exaggerate.
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
This is an example of “MY RACE, RIGHT OR WRONG!”
How is owning a legal dog racing venue the same as putting two dogs in a small space to fight until the death and then electrocuting/strangling/smashing the losers/poor performers to death?
If Vick was not black, he would not be trying to make this analogy.
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Rating: 4.45 / 5 with 10 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
amen kingcityguru.
if dick, i mean vick had been white rhoden would have wanted him executed. this dude is nothing but a piece of sh*t who ought to shut the fu^k up and go away!
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Rating: 4.35 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
I am just as disgusted by his comment as I’m sure he was with Don Imus’ nappy-headed rhetoric; just as ignorant, irrational and created with ratings in mind, not logic.
I can’t stop him from saying it, but I will never again read any publication that employs him. Isn’t this what we’re supposed to do in these situations?
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
@ DbleD23…
Well put. A bunch of name calling and no point.
This isn’t a race issue, its a legal issue. Of course what I say doesn’t matter because this is my vagina talking.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 13th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Rhoden’s indignation is a little rich. Dog racing isn’t as inherently bad as dog fighting. That being said, it isn’t all that great for dogs either.
My problem with Rhoden in this case is the fact that I looked his articles up in the NYT archive and saw that he does report on the Triple Crown in horse racing. If he has no problem with horse racing, but he does with dog racing than he’s a hypocrite. I don’t see how either one of those forms of racing are any different in terms of how they treat their animals. Both, in my limited exposure to each of them, treat their animals acceptably overall, but there is also a very seedy and cruel underbelly on occasion.
What I don’t get is why anyone would rather own a dog track than an NFL team? Even if you make less money, I would think you would do pretty well for yourself money-wise.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)