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Brian occasionally enjoins us to be his producers. In my opinion - and evidently in others' as well - we should all stick to simply reading Rhoden or if he still appears on ESPN, watching him there.

Neither insightful nor particularly skilled as a speaker, WR delivered a garbled version of the Vick legal proceedings and the glib pronouncements carried on from there.

I would love to hear Brian interview Max Kellerman, a radio personality who is an extremely intelligent person (I'm not joking) masquerading as an ESPN blow hard (which he is when talking about the Yankees, but I digress). At any rate, I imagine Max, who speaks smoothly, is very articulate and is capable of actually making a real point quickly, would warm to the idea of speaking to a more urbane audience and I think it would make great radio.

I can't believe William Rhoden has a job at the NY Times or anywhere else where thought is required. How can he even IMAGINE that people are judging Vick on teh basis of race - nobody cares about what color he is, they are concerned with how sick he is and what horrors he has visited upon innocent creatures for sadistic pleasure. Period.

Mr Rhoden’s bullying whininess (two sides of a single coin as usual) and dull mind are annoying, but it is his dishonesty and racism that make it unethical for WNYC to use him as a journalistic source. And Ms Goodman’s supine enabling of “Bill[‘s]” bigotry and fact-twisting, instead of standing up for WNYC listeners by demanding some integrity--letting him pretend that the dog-torturer Michael Vick is a “victim” here, for example--did not rise to the occasion.

WNYC should investigate this subject thoroughly, especially in light of NPR’s ATC segment a few days ago with a Chicago social worker claiming that dog fighting is common and protected by conspiracy of silence in certain communities in major American cities, including NYC.

If there are any communities in our city which permit such cowardly and vicious sadism as torturing helpless dogs, WNYC should do everything it can to spotlight them and to broadcast all the information necessary for everyone to understand that only subhuman monsters would torture animals, and that no community which harbors such monsters belongs in our city.

Perhaps this is the issue for which Mr Rhoden could be, if not a trusted journalist, at least a valuable source of information.

This was an awful conversation. I blame the interviewer more than the interviewee.

I miss Brian. He would have brought out the importance of this issue with more understanding of the complexity and delicacy.

I'm relieved to find these comments. I thought perhaps I was alone in thinking that a verbal attack couldn't come close to a physical one against a defenseless animal who relies on its owner for food, shelter and healthcare.

I hope Vick is not only permanently expelled from the NFL, but also sent to prison for many years after paying a substantial fine the benefits of which should go to the humane society. He can fight with human animals all he wants in prison. Maybe he will get a taste of how vulnerable those poor dogs were.

I don't see why so many folks are coming out in Vick's defense (e.g. the NAACP). Can't they find better people on whom to expend their energy?

A lot of Sports Writers are currently equivocating on the issue. They throw out Cruelty to farm animals, Darfur, Iraq and go all over the map. Just as they went all over the map when it was any other sports stars and Rape, Murder, Assault-- take your pick.

I sat back and said to myself that, honestly, had Vick raped and sodomized someone in a hotel-- I would have went 'How sad' and went on my way. Yet the 'relatively' small barbarism of dogfighting and killing riveted me.

It isn't Iraq. It isn't Darfur. But it rivets me. It touches me. It doesn't make relative sense in the greater scheme-- yet it still IS. Like Flag burning in the Midwest-- It's just a piece of cloth, Yes? Like defacing a church statue-- It's just a piece of stone someone bought, Yes? Medicare Cuts, anyone?

It seems that Abuse of Dogs is the Third Rail of American Sports. It's Live. To ALL sports Writers, You don't need to understand it, Just Don't TOUCH IT.

William Rhoden's comments, and especially his analogies, were stunning in their illogic, insensitivity, disrespect for law, and revelation of the misplaced paranoia that characterizes so much reporting about black celebrities. No one was "out to get" Michael Vick until his despicable and illegal behavior came to light, at which point he was treated like any other indicted, plea bargaining criminal. As for the absurd comparisons to Imus and Giambi, while Imus's speech was sexist, racist, and cruel, and Giambi took drugs, neither tortured or killed any living things and neither were indicted or convicted of crimes. And regarding the widespread cruelty to animals, I would love to see that addressed in all its forms, but just as we don't have to stop all violence against women before we can condemn and prosecute a rape, we don't have to stop all animal cruelty before we punish someone who tortures animals. I am not interested in anything further that Rhoden has to say or write and hope that he will no longer be invited on WNYC.

i thought i was going to have to point out the idiocy of making a direct comparison between imus the loudmouth and vick the dog killer and torturer...but i guess i am not the only one.

i understand that part of this writer's agenda is to defend african american (athletes) from the "media pile on" mentality. however here he has chosen to sound sympathetic to a really disgusting person.

anyone who knows ANYTHING about dog fighting knows this. dog fighting is about taking an animal that has the potential to be a wonderful loving creature and torturing it from puppyhood until it turns into an insane beast which is then forced to tear another such tortured animal to pieces in front of a ring of cheering spectators. human behavior does not get much lower than this.

i found it a little amusing and contradictory that that rhoden is a vegetarian like myself, concerned about what goes down in the meat industry.

Actually, I don't think I will turn William Rhoden off. As an upstanding American, I enjoy gawking at a train wreck.

Hearing Rhoden inadequately grapple with comparison was almost as much fun as watching Britney Spears wrestle with sanity.

You should have a permanent ban on William Rhoden. How can you have a gust speaker who would compare what Vick did to Imus or slaughtering animals for food?
It's not about Vick; it's about the mentality behind the actions. Vick cruelly and methodically ran a torture chamber for at least 6 years. I think Imus is shameful, but he didn't sadistically torture and then murder live beings for his amusement. Vick was a hero to countless people; to let him back in the NFL would be to condone his behavior. Bill you are way off the mark and I will turn the radio off every time you are on from now on. Every listener who is passionate about this issue should do the same.

Rhoden says that dog-fighting as an animal rights issue is a sensitive area because it could lead to an overall review of all animal treatment, including the meat industry...

Now--while I would not mind a complete review of the way animals are treated in this country, whether that's in the meat, cosmetics, or entertainment industry--I think that this statement is un-informed and nonsensical.

The possibility for the humane treatment of beef and dairy cattle exists. Whether or not it is implemented is another story.

There is no potential for humane treatment of dogs trained and forced to fight. This is violence in its ugliest form, used for entertainment. Dogs that are naturally loyal and loving are raised to become violent and cruel as a response to the violence and cruelty they receive.

The media uproar around this case is not due to sports politics. Were the same crime perpetrated in New Jersey or California, the same charges would arise. In this case, the accused is a public figure and a role model. This is an opportunity to make a statement about the evils of this practice and to demonstrate the lack of tolerance that we as a society should have for it.

I hope that Vick is made to pay to the fullest for what he has done, just as I wish that for anyone who has done what he did.

William Rhoden is a great example of New York Times journalism. My favorite example in this segment was the barbed attack at plagiarists getting another chance at redmeption, being analogous to the animal cruelty of Vick. Kudos to Rhoden and the New York Times for flaunting their stupidity. I mean come on, does the New York Times really pay this guy to write?

You're right Rhoden, this segment isn't about Vick, it's about getting in a barb in at your colleagues. You know those unnammed plagiarists.

Rhoden, just look up the word indefensible.

The saying is "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me"
Well Michael Vick's dogs got sticks and stones in the form allegedly of electrocutions, hangings, beatings and drownings. To compare him to a plagiarist or someone who says stupid, insensitive things is not only ridiculous but frightening.
If Michael Vick did the things he's accused of, he has displayed an unbelievable capacity for sadism and cruelty that should never be a role model. That's the issue here.
He has apologized for doing wrong, but which part did he apologize for? Does he truly feel pain and regret for what he did to those dogs? We may never know.

giambi is a yankee..
and Vick's punishment should be working with the aspca for at least 40 hours a week for the next 30 years..

who would compare dog fighting for fun to killing cattle for food. i see a big difference don't u?

What's the problem here...isn't dog fighting against the law? Isn't Vick going to plead guilty.

The way I see it is...

crime + guilty plea = conviction

This conversation is a total waist of energy.

torture should not be redeemable. Imus is crude and speaks shamefully but his victims have rights and remedies - the animals don't, nor do the people whose pets were killed, because their family members were killed - no comparison, charities or none.

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