Sports: August 2007 Archives

Cabbie by day, Orioles superfan and cheerleader by night, Wild Bill Hagy has passed away. He was 68.

Wild Bill, a Dundalk boy, was a mainstay at Orioles' games at old Memorial Stadium. He led the O-R-I-O-L-E-S cheer in the cheap seats, usually after sucking down his share of Natty Bos.

Wild Bill never made the transition to Camden Yards. Too yuppified. And the first time he saw someone talking on a cell phone at a ballgame was the last.

He didn't have much respect for fans who showed up merely to make the scene. He was a O's fan, one of the breed who thinks the National Anthem sounds weird if people don't yell "O" in the middle of it.

Wild Bill was a true character and a legend in Bawlmer.

Godspeed, Wild Bill. Hope Pat Dobson is pitching the first half of a double-header whereever you are.

So now, Michael Vick's going to plead guilty and may wind up in the pokey for an extended visit.

Sounds good.

Dogfighting is incredibly inhumane and brutal and gruesome and ugly, and Vick's alleged role in it was pretty inhumane and brutal and gruesome and ugly.

The sports commentariat is going bonkers over the Vick thing. Will he ever play football again? Will someone give him a second chance? What does he have to do to get back in the league's good graces.

Funny. I don't seem to recall such gnashing of the teeth and concern over his career when Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was involved in a case of murder a few years back. That is, murder where a human being was killed.

And I don't recall such apolexy over former Ravens' running back Jamal Lewis, who did time on drug charges.

The National Football League has a number of players who have run afoul of the law, from drugs to being involved in shootings to accusations of domestic abuse. And those players continue to make livings playing a game.

Vick is planning to cop a plea to charges surrounding his role in a dog fighting ring. Now, that's despicable, certainly. But to be banned for life from football for it?

The lesson?

People care a lot more about dogs than they care about human beings.

I'm not making an accusation, just an observation.