At around 4 a.m. on January 31st outside of an Atlanta nightclub where a post Super Bowl party was winding down, an all too familiar scene unfolded. An argument broke out between two groups. The altercation escalated from verbal to physical when one man struck another over the head with a champagne bottle. The actions to take place in the following chaotic moments were fast and furious, and it seems no two eyewitnesses saw the same thing. What is conclusive about the outcome is that as a limousine sped away and gunshots were fired at it, the bodies of two men remained eternally still. Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar had died from multiple stab wounds to their chests. And the reason their deaths were relegated to nationwide news rather than dime-a-dozen statistics is because one of the men involved in the scuffle happened to have led the National Football League in tackles last year.
If convicted along with his two friends, Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens will go from three-time All-Pro to lifetime inmate. In a matter of only a few bloody seconds, two lives were ended and the stellar career of a professional athlete was put into serious jeopardy. "I’m not trying to end my career like this", is what Lewis reportedly said in his hotel room after the fatal fight. This would be the very same room that the prosecution will attempt to show a "blood trail" leading to, with the assistance of a forensics expert no less renown than Henry Lee of the famed O.J. Simpson defense team.
So far, the state of Georgia’s case against Lewis has been rather flawed. Since the trial began, several witnesses whose testimony would supposedly demonstrate Lewis’ guilt have altered the stories initially given to investigators. Their testimonies were supposed to show that Ray Lewis hit, kicked or stabbed someone, and that he even admitted as much afterwards. Instead, the vast majority of testimony has either been inconclusive, or else supports the defense’s contention that Lewis acted solely as a peacemaker, trying in vain to prevent a tragedy that he would be tied to. It is crucial that jurors believe this if Lewis is to be acquitted, for even though no one has placed a knife in his hand or claims to have seen him stab anyone, he can still be convicted of murder if it is proven that he participated in the brawl that led to two deaths.
The lone person sticking to his assertion that Lewis acted violently has been Chester Anderson, not exactly an ideal witness. Anderson is an admitted con artist in jail on identification fraud charges. This has given the defense the opportunity to attack Anderson’s credibility, suggesting that he is falsely testifying in hopes of winning leniency in his own legal problems.
It has been shown that Ray Lewis gave a false statement to the police, mentioning only two people in the limousine that fled the scene, omitting the names of his friends and now co-defendants, Reginald Oakley and Joseph Sweeting. However, Lewis has not been charged with lesser crimes such as lying to the authorities and obstruction of justice, but stands accused of cold blooded murder. This will be far more difficult to convict him of. So unless there is a dramatic turn in the case, it appears that at most, Lewis’ guilt is strictly by association. His proven crime is one he holds in common with countless new breed pro athletes groomed by the streets in the course of humble upbringings that were dramatically reshaped by contracts which made them instant millionaires - maintaining a "posse".
In today’s celebrity obsessed culture, becoming a sports icon makes the acquisition of hangers on inevitable. As more and more prodigies are discovered in the hood, so too increases the number of questionable companions brought along for the ride. As members of the hip hop generation, it is important to these young stars that they remain true to their roots. Rather than risk losing street credibility and being labeled sellouts, they choose to congregate with those who know them best. They elect to keep it real over playing it safe. Sometimes this works out to their advantage, helping them to remain grounded at the negligible cost of funding all activities. But there are those who prefer to flaunt the baubles of newly acquired wealth and fame, and when playa haters get in their faces to express outraged envy, the star’s true friends have his back, and he in turn, for the better of for the worse, has theirs. To just walk away from a confrontation demonstrates softness, and this simply cannot be. When someone in the position of Ray Lewis chooses to bond with a man who was charged with 25 criminal counts between 1985 and 1992 (Oakley), and a convicted felon who has done time in federal prison for a firearms violation (Sweeting), a good time has very real potential to turn bad.
Today’s most promising athletes increasingly fit the profile of young black men plucked from the ghetto and thrust into the spotlight. The cultural gap between them and the largely white, upper middle-class fans who pay to watch them play is widening. This gulf is now almost as wide as the players’ wallets have grown, and is expanding nearly as quickly as their arrest records. Ultimately, it is society’s responsibility to select the qualifications our heroes must meet. So the blame lies not in the stars, but in ourselves.
I mean, really, keep it up fellas! I'm ROTFFLMAO
How did you get that out of what I said? No, he wouldn't hit 200 HRs today. But I certainly wouldn't assume that he would not be as dominant or more dominant than Bonds in this era. Because all we can do is speculate about how Ruth would be different physically if he played today vice in the 20s, the only appropriate way to compare them is to look at their performances relative to their peers. And there Ruth blows Bonds away.
No MLB is even close to what Butkus was.
