Critical Notes

Stephon Marbury says ‘dogfighting is a sport’. (AI Wire photo)

You’d think Stephon Marbury would know better. A lightning rod for controversy throughout his career, the New York Knicks’ point guard stepped in where his publicist should’ve warned him he doesn’t belong. Speaking in Albany, N.Y., on Wednesday, Marbury compared dogfighting to hunting in a defense of Michael Vick, the embattled NFL quarterback in legal trouble over his role in illegal dogfighting in Virginia.

“I think, you know, we don’t say anything about people who shoot deer or shoot other animals. You know, from what I hear, dogfighting is a sport. It’s just behind closed doors,” Marbury told Capital News 9, a local station in upstate New York.

Maybe Marbury has a point, but we at the Beat see deer as a nuisance - road kill waiting to happen. While dogs are, well, man’s best friend and all. Not that Vick doesn’t deserve his day in court and guilty until proven innocence and all of that good stuff, but Stephon probably should’ve stuck to just doing what he was in town to do - sell overpriced basketball shoes to teenagers who can’t afford them.

“I think it’s tough that we build Michael Vick up and then we break him down,” Marbury said. “I think he’s one of the superb athletes, and he’s a good human being. I just think that he fell into a bad situation.”

Vick will enter a guilty plea on charges related to illegal dogfighting, according to his lawyer. With Vick in heat, the Atlanta Falcons’ Super Bowl odds have plummeted. No word on the ongoing investigation into prison league teams throwing games in order to get the No. 1 pick and the right to draft Vick as soon as he’s issued a cell.