The Toughest Day Ever in Redskin Nation

Most of the time, this blog is all NASCAR. But as a long time, passionate fan of the Washington Redskins, today is different. Today is bigger than NASCAR, bigger than the NFL and bigger than sports.

A man many thought of as invincible was shown to be a mere mortal.

He is a freak of nature -- carrying a size with speed rarely if ever seen.

He is one of the most fearsome players to ever don a uniform.

He is larger than life in so many ways.

The idea that 24 year old Redskins Safety Sean Taylor is now "clinging to life" after being shot in an apparent home invasion is nothing short of unbelievable.

You can read the full post at Epic Carnival.

UPDATE:  The Washington Post is reporting that Taylor has opened his eyes and is responding to doctors requests.  This is the first positive news on Taylor so far. 

Mad Props and much love to the Post's Jason La Canfora for the outstanding job he has done using his blog to keep this story updated.

Greenies. Steroids. Jet Fuel. Video Tape. Unapproved Wings. Wide Receivers Pushing Off. Running Over the Commitment Cone. Sports Fans Wonder: "Where is the Line?"

Words need to have meaning.

Words like cheating.

In sports, much like in relationships there are rules and people break those rules all the time.

Since the entire steroids scandal in baseball, the word "cheating" has been getting thrown around at the drop of the hat.

That leaves me wondering if that word has lost meaning.

So I've got to ask: where is the line between breaking rules and cheating?

Here is what I mean....

At Texas last weekend, Greg Biffle ran over the pit road commitment cone while trying to avoid a wreck and get onto pit road.

Running over that cone is against the rules. He got hit with a black flag and had to start at the end of the longest line on the restart.

Is that cheating?

How about getting a Hummer from an intern who is built like an H2?

Is that cheating?

Just for the sake of argument, let's say that one would be considered cheating.

Could there be mitigating factors (hypothetically speaking) that would allow it be viewed as a simple rules violation (like leaving the seat up) if the recipient of said SUV happened to be married to the person who is going to be our next president?

What if instead an intern in a blue dress, the Hummer was coming from F Da Eagles Heather? Whether it's cheating or not, I could at least understand it.

How about the case of Hall of Fame Wide Receiver Michael Irvin. No, I'm not talking about Irvin's activities at the Dallas Cowboy's White House.

This is about what he did on the field. Irvin is in the Hall of Fame today because of his ability to push off of covering defenders without getting caught.

Is that cheating?

This year in NASCAR there have been a number of major penalties handed down. The year started off with Michael Waltrip getting busted for having "a jet fuel like substance" found in his manifold (after further investigation, a cone of silence settled upon the NASCAR enforcers and on Michael Waltrip Racing about what really happened).

Is that cheating?

Later, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. got popped for using an "unapproved" wing mount on his car. Shortly after that, Hendrick Motorsports got nailed because both Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon had bent there fenders to give them more down force.

Is that cheating?

Even the Michael Waltrip incident doesn't even come close to an entire laundry list of things the late, great Smokey Yunick managed to pull off. Say what you will about Smokey. The man was an innovator. An amazing, genius of an engineer.

My favorite Smokey story is the one when NASCAR pulled his gas tank after an inspection (this was pre-fuel cell) and he was able to THEN start his engine and drive away. Smokey had found away OUTSIDE the rules -- not AGAINST the rules to get more gasoline in the car by having a longer fuel line.

Is that cheating?

There is a line out there somewhere. It's just that I'm not sure anyone cares where it is.

It's just easier to slam somebody by calling them a cheater.

CC Rider's Favorite Sports Posts of the Week

Some people think getting a black flag is a bad thing. Let's be real. A black flag is street cred. Besides, chicks don't dig the long ball, they dig the bad boys (and in your case, Sarah, the bad girls).

So I'm giving my favorite sports posts this week a black flag.

Odell v. Goodell
Sarah at Strike Zones and End Zones writes a piece for The Naughty American about Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman's suit against the NFL under the Americans with Disabilities Act, challenging his suspension by citing his alcoholism as a disability (tsk, tsk, Sarah -- writing for The Naughty American -- and I thought you were a good girl).

Jared Allen's Mullet Wins and Award
Someone who did NOT sue the NFL for his suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy is Jared Allen. Allen was named AFC Defensive Player of the month and Arrowhead Addict reports Allen is now giving his mullet credit for the award. His mullet did it. Roger Goodell needs to get the #### man out to Arrowhead and check Allen's progress in recovery.

Baby Bull vs. Midget
I did not find this post from Chris over at Blog of Hilarity in any way shape or form funny or enjoyable. In fact, I'm really offended on behalf of the midget. And the poor baby bull. That's exactly why I'm linking it here.

The Chief's Power Rankings
The Chief provides his absolutely hilarious NFL power rankings for Hugging Harold Reynolds. MEMO TO SPORTS ILLUSTRATED AND THE NFL HALL OF FAME: Fire that fat pig Peter King and hire The Chief. Today.

KLValus is off to Texas Motor Speedway for Miller Lite and FoxSports.com
Winner of Miller Lite and FoxSports.com's version of a Florida election (somehow FoxSports.com completely #### up and the right person won) and judge of The Black Flag-DirecTV NASCAR Hotpass Moment Contest at Epic Carnival has over drugged her patients for the weekend so she can head off to Texas Motor Speedway and hang with NASCAR bad boy Kurt Busch.

Two Words Redskins Fans Never Want to Hear Again: Heath Shuler
At First and Ten Inches, the Ghost of Heath Shuler Stirs a QB Controversy in Miami during their quest for their second and greatest perfect season. Not sure which is scarier this Halloween week. Thoughts of Shuler and his room temperature IQ in the NFL or in Congress. A biopic of his life could be called dumb and dumber. The NFL is a thinking man's sport, but Shuler is right in his element in Congress.

Not the Usual Black Flag-- This One is Serious, Personal and Potentially Life Saving.

UPDATE (3:47P.M. Eastern - 9/24):  CJ does NOT have retinoblastoma or any other form of cancer.  He is having surgery on Wednesday, but his condition is not in any way life threatening.  There is so much more to this, but I wanted to get this much out as soon as I could.  I'm going to try for a new post later tonight with more.

The outpouring of support we have gotten from this community is something we will never forget. 

On May 7th, point guard Derek Fisher missed the first game of the Utah Jazz's playoffs against the Golden State Warriors. He rejoined his team three days later in the middle of the third quarter during the second game in Salt Lake City.

Fisher provided a key fourth quarter turnover in that game and hit a three pointer in overtime to help the Jazz take a 2-0 lead over the Warriors.

Fisher had left a hospital in New York City that afternoon where his 10 month old daughter Tatum had just been diagnosed with and was being treated for a disease called retinoblastoma -- cancer of the retina. It is a rare, life threatening disease that only 350 children a year are diagnosed with in the United States.

On Wednesday this week, my four year old son CJ joined Tatum Fisher in being one of those 350 kids who will get that diagnosis this year.

Without a doubt, Wednesday was a day of shock. Thursday and Friday have been about reality.

To give you an idea of how rare this is, there are only eight medical practices in the entire country who deal with retinoblastoma.

The odds on having this disease are pretty close to what they were during a poker tournament when I flopped four 8's and had runners on the turn and river to lose to four jacks.

We live in Richmond, VA. On Monday we travel to Philadelphia to spend the day with one of those specialists.

As a longtime Redskins fan, I have a firm policy of not exposing my son to large numbers of Eagles fans.

But we've done our research, and we're very confident that this doctor is highly skilled and a real pioneer when it comes to dealing with this disease (even though it means dealing with this in the town that booed and threw snow balls at Santa Clause).

So, why am I writing about this?

Regular readers of The Black Flag come here expecting to read me goofing on somebody in NASCAR. This is a humor blog about NASCAR. In fact, right now I have the Kasey Kahne PR machine in meltdown over my Budman post, using paid shills to make comments on it.

Obviously, this piece isn't what you are used to getting here (although even in this post I couldn't stop myself taking a few shots).

The key to surviving retinoblastoma is early detection. That's the entire ballgame.

There is only one reason why we even had him checked out: my wife's cousin, Cheri saw something in a photograph. Then she said something about it.

Cheri can't even remember where she heard about this, but she just knew she had.

See the white glow in the left eye? That is the symptom. That's what to look for. Sure, it could be something else. But that is the number one way it is detected -- flash photography.

So if you see it in a child's photo, say something.

If you know someone who is a professional children's photographer, ask them to be on the lookout for this. People you know who work with children, tell them about this.

But most of all, if you have kids, look at their pictures.

Right now, we don't know for certain that we have caught CJ's in time. We think we have. We have a number of reasons to be optimistic we have. We'll probably know on Monday.

But the only reason we even know there is a problem is that somebody did him a life saving favor. So I need to do what I can to try and repay that favor to somebody else.

There are enough people who read TBF (by people I do mean in addition to the sports spy agency over at Sports Media Challenge that according to my log files monitors The Black Flag with the enthusiasm of the NSA keeping tabs on Al-Qaeda) to get the word out to make a life changing difference for somebody.

Sure, Derek Fisher has been able to reach far more people than I can, but I know I can get to a bunch he didn't. What I'd like to do is just get to the right one.

It's easy to do. It's just that very few people even know what to look for. I sure didn't. In CJ's case, nobody had even noticed any problems. He's an otherwise healthy kid and he's not in any pain.

As it stands now, CJ is coming into this as someone who has a fantastic attitude.

I've written before that about how his favorite NASCAR driver is somebody who handles himself at the track with a great attitude -- Jeff Burton.

CJ has some tough days coming down the road and they are coming real fast.

His attitude and that of everyone around him will are going to make a difference in how he comes out of this thing.

There are quite a few things we don't know right now, but one of the things we have been told is that he will be legally blind in his right eye for life.

As strange as it sounds, that's an outcome we'll happily accept. What matters is that he pulls through this. There are plenty of kids who have to face far, far worse.

As tough as this has been, we've been touched and amazingly blessed by so many people who have already reached out to help and have done so in ways we couldn't expect or didn't even know to ask for.

For those you who want to know what you can do to help....

First off, prayer helps, prayer matters. By my last count, the only deity who isn't getting an earful from a whole bunch of people about CJ is Mohammad. He can always use more.

If you are involved in an organization that helps with cancer, sick children, blindness, or something else that makes this a good fit and you want to get in touch with me, contact me through this link here (if you want to push some alternative medical therapy, please don't -- I promise you that my reaction to that will be something you won't enjoy).

At this point, we still don't know which way is up and what all he is going to need. So we don't know what to ask for. I might not have a clue about what all is going to happen next, but I already know we can't do this on our own.

We wouldn't even to be getting him what he needs on Monday without the help we've already gotten.

But more than anything else you can do, next time you see a picture of a kid, just take a look at the eyes. You might just save their life.

As you might gather, over the next week or two you probably won't be seeing as much from me as you normally would.

However, much to the chagrin of the NSA types at Sports Media Challenge (KGB types if they have any IRL clients), I will be back soon and bringing the smack and the funny down harder than ever.

Coach Marty's Daily Game Balls Slay BOTD/MIB

The BOTD/MIB fiasco, along with the structure and navigation of the FoxSports.com blog directory has created a system of balkanizing and hiding great blogs, promoting Fox writers and helping the rich get richer.

FoxSports claims of fairness in the system and assertions that it is all due to "an outside contractor" are about as believable as Senator Larry Craig's statements the last couple of days.

By the way, how do upstanding Idaho parents talk to their children about their Senator sucking ####?

Speaking of balls, fear no more. Coach Marty has introduced the Daily Game Balls at his blog where he is giving recognition to a diverse group of six quality blogs every day.

Coach Marty's DGB is your chance to stick it to the Stalinist regime running the FoxSports.com blogosphere.

Check it out. Favorite Marty. Comment on his DGB posts and do the same on those posts being given DGB.

Coach Marty is giving a window to some great blogs here that FoxSports.com simply hasn't.

TBF's CCR is the Guest on LugNuts Radio at 10:00 PM Eastern Tonight This from Chuck Story of LugNuts Radio:

That’s right Race fans!!

CCR from Nascar Black Flag is spinning with the Lugnuts Sunday night.

He’s wild! He’s wacky! He’s irreverent! But most of all, he knows his racin’!!

Some of the topics could include: This week in Michigan, the Cup “Chase for the Championship”, and the Miller Lite Sportswriting Challenge.

Or… we may just talk about his new avatar, and why he hates Tony Stewart so much.

Either way…. It’s guaranteed to be “Must hear Radio”.

To listen to the broadcast, click the "Listen Live" button above or go to LugNuts Online.

Loyal Black Flag readers are more than welcome to call in at 646-478-5769-- I'd love to hear from you.

I'll also be posting a link after the show for those who don't get a chance to hear it live.

Kodak Giving Away Five Pairs of Tickets to the NASCAR Sharp AQUOS 500 in California at Ranting & Raving Blog

A great guy (for a Canadian anyway) and fellow NASCAR blogger 4Ever3 has a contest up to give away free race tickets.

Click here to get the details. There will be a special email link in a few days you can use to enter.

The race is being used to promote the special fan designed Kodak paint scheme for the #12 driven by Crime Dog McGruff pal and Michael Vick castration advocate Ryan Newman.

Ryan Newman Says Dog Fighting Supporters are Dumb.

Over at the AOL Fanhouse, TGOM writes that NASCAR driver Ryan Newman has joined Greg Biffle in weighing in with some strong words on the dog fighting affair.

While nearly every other professional athlete has kept quiet on the dog fighting, you now have two NASCAR drivers who have publicly weighed in.

Not wanting to be left out, McGruff the Crime Dog is going after Vick as well in the following video.

McGruff The Crime Dog Attacks Michael Vick

The Savannah Morning News quotes Newman saying, "Everybody is innocent until proven guilty. But his little group has made it clear they fight dogs. People who defend that are slugs. This separates the smart people from the dumb."

Separates the smart people from the dumb. That's tough. But it is honest.

As it turns out, the arguments coming from the dog fighting supporters do raise serious questions about their intelligence.

They like to take a page from the Clinton-Lewinsky defensive play book by modifying, "It's no big deal, it's only a #### -- there are wars and murders and rapes" to "It's no big a deal, it's only dog fighting -- there are wars and murders and rapes."

There are many problems with this line of reasoning. For starters, no man with one functioning brain cell should ever utter the words, "It's no big deal, it's only a ####." Okay?

But more on point here, that worse crimes are committed doesn't make lesser ones insignificant. That kind of broken logic leads people to say stupid stuff like a #### is no big deal. The case at hand doesn't involve any charges for war crimes, murder or rape.

Biffle goes after the insignificance arguement pretty directly, "I have read the indictment. I got so mad when I read it. This will be a high-profile case. If it was anyone else, it wouldn't be a national story. If it's true, it's galling. If it's true, he's great athlete who made some very poor decisions. If he did it, he has to pay for it."

It's interesting to note, both Newman and Biffle emphasized that Vick is innocent until proven guilty.

Another really ignorant approach by the dog fighting supporters has been to attack those opposed to dog fighting with one word: PETA.

What the dog fighting supporters don't realize is that less than a fraction of 1% of those outraged at the dog fighting support or are members of the quasi-terrorist organization People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

They also don't realize the relationship between the Humane Society and PETA is pretty close to the kind of relationship the FBI has with the Crips. We are talking mortal enemies here.

Like Greg Biffle who runs the Greg Biffle Foundation for Animals, Ryan Newman is a major supporter of the Humane Society through his foundation. Newman and his wife Krissie have been specifically involved as board members of The Humane Society of Catawba County.

Raising questions about the room temperature IQ of dog fighting supporters wasn't enough for Newman.

As is typical for the driver of the #12, he went just a bit further. Between now and the end of the Vick trial, he'll be wearing a T-Shirt (that thing has got to be just a bit ripe after four hours on Newman in a fire suit and a 135 degree race car).

The back of the shirt reads "7 to Life". The front says, "Neuter Vick".

Do Changes and Leadership Problems in the Family Business Signal a Change in 2008?

This is an issue alluded to earlier this week in my piece on the pending marriage between Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch.

J.D. Gibbs, the president of Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), has had his hands full this season.

From the outside looking in, Joe Gibbs Racing has appeared to suffer from a significant lack of leadership.

The issues came crashing into the headlines in July when Tony Stewart wrecked team mate and then race leader Denny Hamlin from behind in the Pepsi 400 then promptly started trashing Hamlin from his car radio.

As soon as he pulled into the garage, he proceeded to rip Hamlin and blame the wreck on him.

Drama ensued. J.D. Gibbs wasn't able to get the problem resolved in house. He had to pull in one of the greatest team builders in history to fix it. Washington Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs.

Gibbs took a detour from his pre-training camp vacation to straighten up the mess J.D. Gibbs couldn't (not an insignificant sacrifice).

Hamlin later said he'd never seen the Coach that angry. You have to wonder, angry at who? Stewart? Hamlin? Both? Or was he really just upset that the guy he left in charge couldn't get the job done?

Even with Gibbs intervention in Chicago, you have to wonder based on a column Hamlin wrote this week if Hamlin is really over it.

Now, JGR is adding Kyle Busch to the team for 2008.

If you thought you had drama with Stewart and Hamlin (someone who had never publicly said anything short of glowing about Stewart prior to the Pepsi 400), what do you think is going to happen when you pair Stewart with someone he has been feuding with since he came into NEXTEL Cup racing?

What are they thinking at JGR? Look, Busch couldn't play nice with Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Stewart couldn't play nice with Hamlin. Do the math. JGR has smart people on board. You know somebody over there knows what is coming.

Do they really think they have what they need to handle team chemistry in place under those circumstances?

There is only one way they do. If they don't, the Gibbs family business is about to experience some serious upheaval in 2008.

Joe Gibbs has to retire from the Redskins at the end of this season and return to NASCAR.

If Gibbs leaving the Skins wasn't in the plans already, it is hard to see how JGR makes the effort to sign Busch.

JGR is also in transition in other areas as well. There are reports the team is leaving Chevy for Toyota. The team also needs to grow from three cars to four in order to stay competitive.

From the perspective of the Redskins, they are already stocked internally with prospective new head coaches. It isn't a devastating loss to Washington from a football perspective.

When Gibbs came back to the NFL, it was with a five year contract. This season will put him just one year short of that.

If the Redskins miss the playoffs this year, change may be coming regardless at the "suggestion" of team owner Daniel Snyder. If they do make the playoffs, it might be Gibbs opportunity to go out on a high note.

Either way, Joe Gibbs does have a family business to think about.

Is a Day Trip to Massachusetts in the Future for NASCAR's Two Baddest Bad Boys?

Dave Moody at Motorsports Soapbox reports that Kyle Busch will be moving to JGR in 2008 putting Busch under the same roof as Tony Stewart.

At this point, this report is merely a blog report without any sources quoted for attribution.

Although there is no confirmation as of this writing, there is no marriage I have hoped to see more than this one.

If it happens, I will be crashing the wedding and shamelessly shedding tears of joy.

Juan Pablo Montoya (although he has been behaving himself lately), Tony Stewart and the Busch Brothers comprise The Holy Trinity for any good NASCAR blogger.

If one of them isn't making news, it's usually because two of the others are.

Having Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch in such close proximity of would be my wildest dream coming true.

It isn't like they have gotten along that well publicly till now either. There have been plenty of signs that they needed to get a room and just get it over with.

Short of Jimmy Spencer leaving SPEED to sit on top of Stewart's pit box, there is nothing I can imagine that would be a more explosive mixture of dangerous chemicals.

Unless of course it was Jimmy Spencer becoming Kyle Busch's crew chief at JGR. It'll never happen, but I didn't think this one would either.

It's a real interesting choice at an organization founded by one of the greatest team builders in history.

J.D. Gibbs had to call his Daddy to bail him out just to prevent a homicide between Stewart and (by all accounts a relatively easy to get along with) Denny Hamlin.

If he couldn't make the chemistry work between Stewart and Hamlin, how is Gibbs the younger going to handle Stewart and Busch?

I'M JUST HOPING HE DOESN'T.

The image that keeps popping into my mind is the video from the 1960 Daytona 500 where they started 68 cars and took out 37 in one wreck.

That's what I'm counting on here.

Then again, maybe what J.D. Gibbs is counting on is the current head coach of the Redskins retiring at the end of the coming NFL season and being available in time for Daytona.

Just for the record, I'm not saying anything about Stewart or Busch like what Junior fans like to say about Jeff Gordon.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

I've Painted Myself Into a Corner. I Need to Find a Loophole or Renegotiate.

Seven years ago, before I married the hottest member of NASCAR MILF Nation, we verbally entered into a pre-nuptial agreement.

It addressed one single, but very important issue in having a happy marriage. It is an issue that is a source of conflict between tens of millions of couples: sports.

The idea was that she wouldn't become a sports widow and I wouldn't have to become a complete-chick-flick-watching-loser-gelding (like the execs over at Anheuser-Busch).

It is a very simple deal. Here it is:

The husband is entitled to one sport and one sport league of his choice. The wife will not interfere with the husband's fanatical following the selected sport. Efforts will be made by the wife to prevent any conflicts or interference of the husband watching said televised events of the selected sport. If practical, the husband's attendance at live events of the selected sport will be supported and facilitated by the wife. The husband has no right to watch or attend televised or live sporting events which are not part of the selected sport. Although such activities on an irregular basis are not prohibited, they shall happen at the discretion of the wife.

The pre-nup was working great and everyone was happy. It was a good deal for everyone Then something changed.

See, when we got married, my choice was the NFL.

That's what I stuck with. I didn't push it.

I'm a huge Redskins fan. The NFL TV schedule was factored into timing for family events. My wife was so supportive that she worked it out so my daughter was born during the Skins bye week that year (that is some amazing planning on her part) .

Then my son turned two.

Which is when he decided that NASCAR is the greatest thing ever. He still does.

Those bright colors on the cars, pre-race flyovers, loud engines, wild crashes. That stuff is like catnip to a little kid.

Being the good daddy I am, we started watching races together. It's a bonding thing.

For a four year old, the kid's NASCAR knowledge is absolutely amazing. He can tell you what every single flag means. His hero is Jeff Burton (he picked with no input from me when he was two). He can recognize Richard Petty and knows he is The King. He can look at most of the top 20 drivers or their cars and tell you who it is.

He'll even see a FedEx, duPont, Lowe's or Home Depot logo and say, "I just saw Denny Hamlin's (or whoever) logo". However, I can no longer take him to Home Depot without fear of getting my #### kicked because he will always pipe up at the top of his lungs, "There's the crybaby."

Then my wife started watching with us and became an enthusiastic fan. My daughter even decided to become a Junior fan (although having to answer questions about what happened to his daddy was a bit rough).

So race day became family fun and nobody said anything about this being an issue with the pre-nup for over two years.

Then something clicked, my wife called me out on the pre-nup and announced I've got to pick.

She even says something about it to a business associate of hers. A huge Dolphins fan, he tried to help me out with a loophole. This man is a great American who clearly understands Man Law.

He told her, "CCR isn't breaking your pre-nup. NASCAR isn't a sport."

Amazing. Such a heroic effort. But is there any way I can even think about using that one without having my fellow NASCAR fans run a Gitmo style Code Red on me?

Besides, I'm kind of way out there on a limb saying NASCAR is a sport. I'm not sure I can get away with even trying to sell that one to her.

Training camp has started for the NFL. I've got to figure something out and I've got to do it fast.

There has to be another loophole.

Of course, I do have one piece of leverage I can use. I can drop the big one. It's guaranteed to work -- it always does when she uses it.


I'll just start withholding sex.

Biffle Says Innocent Until Proven Guilty -- Previous Comments Taken Out-of-Context

In another stunner, it seems the media got a big part of the story wrong. Hey, sometimes it is easier to just report the juicy part of the story. Which was why in my post on the topic I gave Biffle the benefit of the doubt about his comments (just as I have said Vick is innocent until proven guilty).

This has been posted at the website of Greg Biffle's foundation.

Greg Biffle Foundation Response to Michael Vick Comments

We would like to make it understood that Greg's full statement was not put on the internet as to what he really said. It is unfortunate since what was said has now been twisted into Greg thinking Michael Vick should go to jail no matter what. What was said was that Michael Vick should go to jail if found guilty. Greg would not want anyone to go to jail that was not guilty, and it is absurd for the reports on the internet to state otherwise.

The accusations about this dog fighting ring are sickening. If they are found to be true we believe that all involved should get the maximum punishment that the system allows; and they should take another look at this nationwide problem and make harsher penalties to stop this barbaric act.

We have seen the after pictures and stories of animal fighting ring busts and it is disgusting and heartbreaking. The torture that the animals endure is horrible. The unfortunate thing is that this has been going on for quite awhile and most dog fighting rings are underground. This case has gotten everyone's attention and we hope that whether he is found guilty or not that people stand up and demand harsher penalties for this crime. We also hope that it will help put an end to this barbaric torture of animals. We are in full support of any humane group that works towards the benefit of animals. We are saddened that events like this take place at all and that animal cruelty in this country exists.

We appreciate all of your support and letters and we will continue to try and raise awareness on animal welfare and assist those who dedicate themselves to the well-being of animals throughout the country.

Sincerely,
Greg Biffle and Nicole Lunders

I know The Black Flag just asked your help for the NASCAR Children's Fund which is trying to aid Tony Stewart fans, but I know from the reactions that this story has touched a great many of you. If helping out one of Smoke's fans isn't what you're into, you might want to go to Biffle's site and buy a NASCAR Pet's Calendar or T-shirt.

What's the Real Agenda of Behind Support for Mike Vick and Justification of Dog Fighting?

I'm taking a short break from training for the NASCAR vs. IndyCar rumble with Dave in Indy and doing my first non-NASCAR specific post.

But first, I've got a question for my fellow NASCAR fans....

Imagine for a second that it was your favorite driver whose name was in the dog fighting indictment. Junior, Gordon, Stewart, Kahne, Montoya, Hamlin, Johnson, Burton or whoever. Would you be out there defending him and justifying or minimizing dog fighting?

Just curious.

In spite of the fact that Dave in Indy and I don't see eye to on a number of motorsports topics, we're in 100% in agreement that the entire idea of "innocent until proven guilty" has been trashed in this country and that only being indicted means you are still innocent.

Then the defenders of Vick are going much further than "let him have his day in court."

Sure, they start off with that. Then they start saying the case is weak and the evidence is just based on testimony by snitches who are criminals.

Well, the case against Tim Donaghy for fixing NBA points and spreads is almost certainly based on criminal snitch testimony. How come the same people defending Vick aren't fighting for Donaghy as well?

What the Vick defenders do next, after they attack the case for being weak is really stunning to me.

First, they completely ignore the gambling aspect of the case. Then many of the Vick defenders begin justifying and minimizing the dog fighting.

So I've got to ask the Vick defenders a question. What is your real agenda?

Obviously, you don't care that much when someone like Donaghy is treated like he is "guilty until proven innocent". If you did, you would be out in front fighting for him.

Are you that rabid a fan of the Falcons or Virginia Tech that this is a homer thing? Even an area code 757 thing?

Is this about race loyalty of some kind?

Do you actually participate in dog fighting yourself and just don't have the stones to say it?

At this point, Vick and Donaghy are both innocent. Everyone has been accused of something they didn't do before. Indicted doesn't mean they did it.

Hypothetically, let's say they both did do it (regardless of whether either is ever convicted of anything -- I'm talking about what really happened, not what the courts say). There have been people who have engaged in dog fighting and there have been point shaving scandals before.

In my mind, someone who gets off on dog fighting is a much worse human being than someone who gets caught up in a situation and engages in a crime about money and addiction.

That doesn't mean I'm defending or minimizing fixing games or being involved with organized crime. I'm saying the kind of sociopath who can get off on stealing, torturing and slaughtering house pets is much worse.