Friday, February 15, 2008

Aramis Ramirez Loves the Cock

But do they cross swords?


The White Sox have had a wife-beater (Will Cordero) and a psychopathic stalker (Albert Belle), but neither of these compares to the wrath brought on by animal cruelty (see: Michael Vick).

Unfortunately for Cub fans, Aramis Ramirez loves cockfighting.

"Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramírez is prominently featured in a recent issue of a Dominican cockfighting magazine, En La Traba, in which he is pictured with several roosters that he raises for fighting. Of roosters, he said in the magazine, “When I’m in the Dominican Republic, I’m dedicated entirely to them.”

So, let me get this straight: not only is Ramirez a fan, but he breeds his own fighters? Doesn't this sound like some guy who went to jail for doing this with dogs? I'm starting to think that the Dominican Republic is some sort of magic place you can go to illegal things -- but LEGALLY! Feel like shooting someone? Go ahead, Juan Uribe! Feel like watching animals kill eachother, Pedro Martinez? It's OK -- it's the Dominican Republic!

Man, if only Vick had been breeding Chihuahuas.

5 comments:

Brad Price said...

Dude, it's another country and another culture. A 3rd world culture at that. How can you expect people who grow up with dirt floors to automatically become cultured and "humane" once they sign their million dollar contract?

Quit being so high and mighty and insinuating that another country should have the same laws as the United States, and mind your own and the United States business.

Chris said...

I'm kind of with Clove here..

There are some basic human rights things that regardless of law, culture, they are bad.. (think: Imprisoning women for being raped) but we can't expect everyone from cultures that have been raised with different understandings towards the treatment of animals to automatically be as 'enlightened' as we are.

Honestly I really don't think a whole lot of people are truly outraged about the cockfighting. I think people are outraged because they believe they are supposed to be outraged, not because they actually are outraged.

Gepetto said...

The issue here isn't your upbringing -- it's the difference between hurting animals and hurting people.

For example: Ray Lewis is charged with murder, pleads guilty to "misdemeanor." Isn't even suspended by the NFL, but has one year of probation.

Jamal Lewis organizes a cocaine deal on his cell-phone, but serves only 4 months in prison.

Oh, and then there are players like Tank Johnson who stock up on enough guns to kill several hundreds of people and get involved in several nightclub incidents (Pacman, anyone)? Tank was suspended one game, Pacman one year. No prison time for either.

And now, Mike Vick is locked up for a small eternity because of his dogfighting. Is it wrong? Of course. However, the media blew this out of proportion -- Mike's career is likely over while everyone else above gets to live on another day.

I'm curious as to how Ramirez will be treated as essentially "Vick Lite."

bloomerang said...

Would it be as big a deal if he was very enthusiastic about bull fighting? I'm not sure there's too much of a difference. No one talks about bull fighting because it's got cultural clout, when in fact it's even more cruel than something like cock fighting.

Food for thought...

Gepetto said...

You mean like how they torture the bull by tricking it repeatedly, and then even if the bull manages to "catch" the matador, they kill him anyways?