State Of The Qusan: You Mean "Hang The Chinese Chick Out The Window By Her Hair" Jim Brown?

I never quite knew if that rumor was true but there seemed to be some fire behind the smoke that one time NFL star Jim Brown used to get heavy handed with the ladies ... which is why I am always surprised when I see him in articles like this as though he was a paragon of virtue. Yes, it's another commentary on the alleged dog beater, Michael Vick. Blame rap ... yada, yada ... Yawn ...

We can save the "presumption of innocence" conversation for another time. As improbable as it might sound, technically, there's a possibility that Vick actually could own a house, rent it out to his relatives and be dumb or naive enough to not know that there was a dog-fighting enterprise going on in the back yard. The U.S. Constitution provides Vick with the right and opportunity to prove that preposterous possibility to a jury of his peers. I am far more interested in how it all came apart for Vick and why it keeps coming apart for too many black athletes in America. The ultimate symbols of black athletes in our society used to be men of substance and positive image. Men with social conscience and resolve such as Jackie Robinson, Curt Flood, Jim Brown, Bill Russell and John Thompson used to be our heroes. They carried a burden and deep-rooted responsibility to portray themselves with a sense of dignity, pride and purpose. Even the cool, counter-culture rebels such as Muhammad Ali and Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood for something more meaningful than a multimillion-dollar shoe deal. But somewhere between Jackie Robinson and Michael Vick, things got all fouled up. "Street cred" became the anthem of the modern black athlete, this misguided notion that the only way to appeal to the young demographic of the sneaker-buying public was to adopt the negative attitudes of the thug life popularized by black hip-hop/gangster rappers. According to the 18-page federal indictment, Vick is accused of sponsoring the sort of gruesome dogfighting enterprise that is readily identified as a part of the dark side of that culture.

Just because there wasn't a hard beat behind these old timers doesn't mean that they didn't have some of the same misogynistic ways that are supposedly much more prevalent now ... They didn't necessarily act a fool on the court or in public but, behind the scenes, I'm sure did as much womanizing, gambling and muckraking as the newbies today.