Dogfighting

The Michael Vick dogfighting scandal is one of those stories that sends chills down your spine. You have a seedy underground group conducting shady behavior. You have animals being starved and beaten for the purposes of violence towards other animals. You have one of the most popular players in the NFL, caught in the middle. It's a story that is exciting, it's a sexy story, a story that not only reaches the front page of ESPN.com, but makes headline news on CNN, MSNBC, and even gets a few speeches in the halls of the United States Congress.

But there are victims in this story, and that's what we should focus on. Victims who have been made to feel uncomfortable in expressing their fears. Victims who have been stuck in the dark for far too long. I feel it is necessary to speak for these victims, and because if one brave person doesn't speak up, what will America come to?

These victims I am speaking for, of course, are Madden '08 players all over the world.

Now I don't want to gloss over the fact that these dogs were treated terribly. The stories are tough to read, about how some of them were electrocuted or slammed to the floor repeatedly, how they were starved and beaten in order to breed them for combat. If these actions are proven true in a criminal court, then Vick should go to jail, and he deserves it. It's one of those things you don't want to think about, like child molestation or a really fat guy eating.

But too many people are already outspoken for the dogs, you have PETA, you have other animal rights activists across America. These dogs aren't being silenced, they are able to bark and yelp and say "arf arf!" all they want. These dogs are being protected, their side of the story is being told.

People who are concerned about what this means for Madden, that's another story.

I'm sure I am not the only person who likes to make sports video games as realistic as possible. When I get a game, I make sure that all the players are on their correct teams, I create prominent players who for some reason or another aren't in the game, and I make sure the rosters and lineups are up to date and accurate. There are some people who don't mind, there are some people who even do fantasy drafts so they could have Peyton Manning and LaDainian Tomlinson on their favorite team. Not me, my head would explode. I like to keep things as realistic as possible.

And Vick's indictment and looming suspension or possible release changes everything.

What am I going to do if he gets released? Should I put him in free agency and wait and see who eventually picks him up? What do I do if he's only suspended for four games? Will I have to start a multiple team franchise, just to make sure Vick stays off the field until he's supposed to come back? What if the story gets worse and he gets banned from football, or if he goes to prison, should I try to zero out his player ratings so that no team can pick him up ever again?

Also adding to this dilemma is the fact that Michael Vick is really fun to play. He's the fastest quarterback in the game, a threat to take off on any given play. Should defenses prepare for the run? Should they prepare for the pass? It's like that in real life, and if it's in the Game, it's in the game. Vick is a threat, and he's especially great in Franchise mode after you build up his crappy Passer Accuracy ratings and turn him into a football god.

And that's one of the unspoken tragedies of this whole affair, how Madden gamers are affected by this horrible, terrible, no good, very bad story. Many people will shrug this side of the tale off, saying that it's not that big of a deal, and that all the suggestions I came up with are pretty good and an easy fix to a non-problem. But I assure you, this is serious, and it sucks. My head is swimming. My head is in the water and it is doing backstrokes.

Shame on you, Michael Vick. Shame on you.