A Rose by any other name...

Remember the old arguments made about the differing punishments accorded black vs. white cocaine offenders in the 1990s? It was argued by some that because whites were busted for snorting pricey coke powder that they were given lighter jail sentences. Their black counterparts that were busted for using the more pedestrian “crack cocaine” were allegedly given harsher sentences. To many it was clearly a case of economic discrimination and racism that was being practiced by the criminal justice system.

There is much to consider while observing the current Michael Vick redemption tour a.k.a., the NFL Pre-season. Vick, as you may recall was convicted of running an illegal dog fighting and gambling ring. The details of the cruelty committed on the losing dogs is a stomach turner. Vick was released after serving 18 months of a 23-month sentence for his involvement in the crime. Still, sports talk radio debated whether or not Vick should be reinstated to the NFL. Many sports talking heads concluded that Vick has a right to make a living as a professional football player. Fans seemed to be split between a permanent ban and a return to the NFL by Vick. The Philadelphia Eagles signed Vick after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell gave Vick a conditional reinstatement. Vick was also sponsored by former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, a model citizen beyond reproach.

What many football fans and sports talkers forget is that as well as visiting cruelty upon helpless animals, Vick was bankrolling an illegal dogfighting gambling ring. So you might ask why Pete Rose is still banned for life—as well as he should be—from Major League Baseball (MLB) for gambling in pedestrian betting parlors. Gambling is Gambling—right? That ain't necessarily so. Green Bay Packer legend Paul "Golden Boy" Hornung and Detroit Lions star defensive lineman Alex Karras were suspended and reinstated a year later into the NFL after being caught betting on various sporting events--including NFL games--in 1963. In 1987, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle did prevent Art Schlichter, the quarterback from resigning with an NFL team but only because he was arrested for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar sports betting operation. According to the Wikipedia article on him, Schlichter estimated that over his lifetime he had committed 20 felonies and stolen $1.5 million. What Rose did pales in comparison.

Yet, Rose is still out of MLB and Vick is back in the NFL. In Rose's case he hasn't helped himself much over the years by allegedly being seen in gambling parlors; thus suggesting that he still has a gambling problem. It would be very easy to claim reverse racial discrimination against Rose, but the real answer lies elsewhere. What it comes down to is money. The NFL is big business. Vick is an exciting player to watch and he puts "butts in the seats" and attracts TV viewers. As an aside, the 1960s are widely regarded to have been the "Golden Age" of professional football. Thus, Paul Hornung was reinstated after a year because he was a valuable commodity to the NFL and a huge fan favorite. Hornung was left relatively unscathed by the gambling scandal.

Rose on the other hand has been out of baseball for over 20 years. With his playing days long behind him, there is little or no incentive to bring him back into baseball as either a coach or a manager. Major League Baseball has always tried to maintain a patina of being a "holier than thou" institution over the years. This image has been tarnished somewhat by the use of performance enhancing drugs by several of MLB's current and past megastars in the last 15 years. Still, most any taint of moral turpitude is not tolerated by MLB. That especially applies to allegations of gambling--legal or illegal. In contrast, Steve Howe was suspended seven times by MLB for alcohol and drug abuse and reinstated six times. But Howe didn't gamble on baseball as Rose or Shoeless Joe Jackson of Black Sox infamy did and therein lies the rub of moral relativism.

There are apparently some very serious cultural differences between the two "professional" sports that go beyond racism, which might explain the moral schizophrenia of tolerating illegal activity plus depraved cruelty vs. non-tolerance of an illegal activity. Americans traditionally view baseball and dogs as sacred, i.e., no one messes with baseball or dogs. Or perhaps football is perceived by the sports fans as a violent culture full of thugs; and therefore, expectations are much lower for football players. In his debut last week, Vick was by most accounts warmly received by the fans, some of whom are probably dog lovers. Unless you follow the money, this would appear to be a puzzling moral paradox.