Peter King: Oh Really?

If you are like us, and subject yourself to cnnsi.com's MMQB column by Peter King as a form of intellectual self flagellation, and if you made it to the end of his muddled thoughts on the Vick situation and his socially irrelevant commentary about his travelings and muddling through his boring existence; you might have come across one of his "quotes of the week":

"He's the biggest fish in the whole doggone pond right now, so they're putting the squeeze on him [Vick] to get to everyone else. Now, granted he might have been to a dogfight a time or two, maybe five times, maybe 20 times, may have bet some money, but he's not the one you're after. He's just the one who's going to take the fall -- publicly.''-- All-time NFL rushing leader Emmitt Smith, speaking Saturday at his enshrinement in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Anyone with a modicum of sense and a broad perspective can understand what Smith is saying. He is saying that, essentially, Vick isn't the "godfather" of dog fighting in America and the federal government is using Vick's fame to make this case a front page issue in an effort to get to the "godfathers" of the activity.

This is not an uncommon practice used by law enforcement. Shake the trees. Go after people with a lot to lose.

King's response?

Nice to see Emmitt knows so much about the federal government's case. Didn't anyone ever tell him, "When there's an important issue out there, give an educated opinion if you have a good idea what you're talking about. If you're not sure what you're talking about, the only thing you can do by opening your mouth is look like you're 11 years old.''

First of all, if only educated opinions were allowed, we'd have long ago seen the editors force King to talk about NOTHING but football in his bowel moving columns. If only educated opinions were allowed we wouldn't have to hear about King discovering things like a Betamax or 8 track tapes 30 years after they were technologically relevant. We wouldn't have to endure things like him telling us about the wonderful music he discovered to download on his iPod. And the "discovery" being Johnny Cash. If educated opinions were all that were allowed, King would have been stifled long ago. So, let's not go throwing rocks at glass houses, Mr. King.

It sounds very much like Smith empathizes with Vick's plight and doesn't find it very objectionable that Vick might have put a few bucks down on dogfights. Is he serious? Is there anything justifiable about Vick going to a single dogfight, or gambling a dime on a dogfight? Should the feds, once they had evidence from four corroborating witnesses that placed Vick in the middle of one dogfight after another, have ignored the evidence and not gone after him?

Where did Smith say any of this? All Smith did was say that he believed the Feds were so aggressively going after Vick because they saw the chance to use him to get folks even deeper in the game than Vick.

Why on earth would this cause Mr. King to become so indignant?

I have a bad feeling about Smith's tenure at ESPN, and it hasn't even started. His comments on Vick are so idiotic and inappropriate that a few people at the Worldwide Leader have to be thinking, "Uh-oh. What if we've gone and hired someone who's very famous but not very smart?''

Based on Mr. King's interpretation of Smith's remarks (and King's column in general), we have to think that Sports Illustrated must ask itself the same thing every Monday morning.

Perhaps the most ridiculous part of Kings misinterpretation based diatribe was another of his choices for quotes of the week:

"I am confident that the hottest places in hell are reserved for the souls of sick and brutal people who hold God's creatures in such cruel and brutal contempt.''-- West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, on those who participate in dogfighting and raise dogs for dogfighting.

Ruminate for a moment.

King is calling Smith an idiot because of Smith's point of view.

And King goes on to reinforce how horrible dog fighting is by using quotes about going to hell for doing it. How horrible it is to treat God's creatures badly. Quotes from Robert Byrd on who should go to hell for being cruel to God's creatures.

Ruminate.

Robert Byrd. Proud former member of the KKK is an example of a reasonable moral barometer with currency behind his words on how to treat God's creations, according to King.



And, Emmitt Smith is the idiot?