This is very long.
I urge you to take the time to read it all.
Forwarded with permission. Permission to forward and crosspost as long as it is done in intact form including the introduction below.
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this is a great article (i thought it was great any way) in DOG NEWS. i
don't have which issue it was. written by CinDee Byer. (Dog News did give me permission to "reproduce" it) (it's kind of long but hope you find it worth reading - please note that the underlined parts of the article are MY emphasis - based on some of the discussion on the list" monica kline
bel canto
THANK GOD FOR FOOTBALL
by CinDee Byer
Football games, for the most part, are played on weekends, as are most
dog shows. Since dogs are my passion, you can guess where I am on most of those week-ends. However, about seven years ago i was introduced to football by accident. I was at one of those family functions that all of us dog people struggle through. A game was blaring over the TV and I began to watch. This game of football impressed me with its gladiators in uniforms who ran, threw mighty passes, caught uncatchable catches, tackled and were tackled, all in the effort to get this odd-shaped ball to the other end of the field. I learned the names of the teams and their players, the positions they played, and the color of their teams uniform, as well as what made them so outstanding in the sport. I became a student of football, but don't turn the page just yet! This isn't about my love of football; it's about my love of purebred dogs - especially cropped and docked breeds - and believe me, i'm just warming up!
You see, in football, as in any good sport, there are rules, goals and
penalties. And, as in any good sport, football adheres tenaciously to their
rules and penalties. Of the many rules in football, the most basic is that a
player MUST wear the colors of his team.
Hines Ward, an outstanding receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, could
say that black and silver go better w/ his complexion than black and gold,
but the rules state otherwise. And many could make the argument that the color of his uniform does not affect his game and is inconsequentia l; the uniform, after all, is only man-made. But you see ...in the NFL, rules are rules, and for each rule there is a purpose. Rookie quarterback Ben Rothlisberger of the same team was warned by the NFL uniform police about initials that were written on the soles of his shoes. Those initials - "PFJ", meaning "Play for Jesus" - are illegal by NFL uniform code rules. Players can even be fined by the league for infractions as small as not having their shirt tucked in.
What makes a good sport a great sport? It doesn't change rules to cater
to one's whims no matter how important that one is to the team. The NFL
doesn't change the rules to cater to outside whims that seek change for the sake of change without regard for the sport. Do you see where I'm going with this? Organizations like the NFL know Mr Ward and Mr Rothlisberger were given a choice the day they signed w/ the Steelers. They knew the uniform code long before they made the decision to become a Steeler.
An exhibitor of purebred dogs should know the standard of a breed
before they choose to exhibit at a sanctioned show. We too sign an agreement every time we fill out an entry form to enter a sanctioned show. This agreement states that the signer "will abide by the rules and regulations of the AKC". The AKC represents our parent clubs and their standards. So why all the boo-hooing about docking and cropping in breed standards? If the NFL did not adhere to the rules of uniform, we would not be able to identify the members of our teams on the field. Ignoring part of our breed's standard will begin to make it difficult to identify our breeds in the rings.
Let's talk lawsuits. Fans could bring a lawsuit against the NFL just b/c
they disliked the color of uniforms Some fans may actually believe they should have a choice in the uniform that the players wear - after all, it is the fan's money that pays for the tickets, which supports the team, and the fan's taxes that builds stadiums. Considering the huge investment of public funds, it would seem that average taxpayers should have more say about the operation of the NFL than Joe Public should about breed standards. Yet in this era of political correctness, our biggest concern in the dog world seems to be how the public "feels" about cropping and docking.
Do you think the NFL cares how the public "feels" about team colors after
they have already been established? Do you think is has its own little secret committee to address the "concerns" of fans that dislike those colors? WELL, LET ME JUST TELL YOU - THEY DON'T! They don't sneak around behind the team's backs coordinating color schemes with the fans, lawyers and fashion consultants to placate a few radicals. They stick to the rules and they don't change the high standards of the game.
"Sport" is defined in the Funk&Wagnalls Standard Encyclopedia as: "That
which amuses in general, pass time or to participate in games". There is no mention of punishable by law if you are not amused and if you don't
participate.
"Game" is defined as: "A CONTEST governed by SET RULES entered into for amusements, a test of prowess or for money, or other stakes".
Breed Standards are the "rules of our games, NOT THE LAW OF THE LAND". So this movement in the Fancy to add tails and ears to standards of traditionally cropped and docked breeds and/or taking out penalites against those dogs that do not conform to the American dress code is about someone's hidden agenda and NOT about or dogs or our sport at all. This decision to change the standards strikes at the very core of the American Breeders who have struggled to keep the bar high and preserve the breed's heritage. This movement compromises our sport, the sport of the purebred dog in America, and it will not benefit but rather destroy, and in many cases eliminate, various breeds o dogs. Exhibiting purebred dogs is a sport! Tampering with our breed standards in the name of political correctness does not change laws of the land, but it seeks to change the rules of our game.
Now supposing that some of us can make the leap of awareness to the
understanding that the participate in a sport, let's talk penalities. There are no apologies from the NFL referees to the players, coaches or fans for
penalities - that's just the way it is in football. The fact is that in football,
just like in the sport of purebred dogs, even the team with the most
penalties and still win (smile). The difference between the AKC and the NFL is that in the NFL, the penalties are ALWAYS assessed AND THE OFFENDER IS ALWAYS POINTED OUT!
Football is a sport, as is the sport of purebred dogs, but unlike the
AKC, the NFL is a mighty force to be reckoned with and secure in it's beliefs and direction. As an example, some years back when a grout of "do-gooders" came knocking at the locker room of the NFL, boo-hooing b/c children should learn we are all winners and football only promotes violence, the NFL simply said, "sorry, 'ladies', this is a football league, not your psychiatrist". Did these unanswered cries result in the end of football? NO, the game is more popular than ever, played in nearly every high school and college and, for the most part, funded by our tax dollars.
The NFL understands clearly that football is a "sport and not the law
of the land". They wouldn't even entertain the recent boo-hooings of parents in Pittsburgh who petitioned them to move the Steelers vs Patriots game from Halloween 2004 (Sunday) to Saturday so their kids could go trick or treating and the parents wouldn't miss the game. the NFL apparently round-filed that complaint as well. Did the game suffer? No, in fact, the Patriots/Steelers game had one of the largest turnout of fans ever in Heinz field (not to be confused w/ Hines Ward). It was a great game (that is if you are a Steelers fan).
What is the NFL doing that we are not? They don't back down! Perhaps if
some in the AKC ran the NFL, we'd wake up to the Steelers wearing pink tutus and yelling, "quit that" in place of making tackles. Yes, there would be group hugs and we would be looking to other countries to make new rules governing football in America. All this in hopes that other countries would play with us. Doesn't it seem like some in this current movement to eliminate cropping and docking are saying, "You're so ugly your mother had to tie a pork chop around your neck to get the dogs to play with you"? Do we really feel that we need to tie a pork chop around our necks to get other countries to play with us? I think not, and whoever among you thinks so, perhaps it's time for a career change.
You say we are behind the times with the cropping and docking! You say
Europe is smarter than we are because they have banned these procedures! Remind me...what year was it the Europeans put a man on the moon? Oh wait, I suppose they were too busy lamenting over cropping and docking. Well, perhaps Neil Armstrong was behind the times for going to the moon. Perhaps all those American multi-million-dollar plastic surgeons are behind the times for offering appearance enhancing surgeries. Perhaps Paul Tagliabue is nuts to be the commissioner of the NFL, and perhaps we in the dog world are just a little brainwashed from the PETA people who seek elimination of our breeds.
If we are behind the times, it is because we are the ones who are
holding ourselves back!
We are refusing to use the wonderful technologies of today to protect
the history and heitage of our breeds for tomorrow. It's time to put another man on the moon! Take a page from the NFL playbook. Serious, controversial injuries happen weekly, by the dozens in the NFL during football season and people boo-hoo. The NFL did not sit back and beg the AMA to not make negative statements about football and these injuries. They have not been wringing their hands wondering how to make a softer defense. They aren't making deals with the AMA to phase out injuries. On the contrary, the NFL has worked with the AMA to develop a whole new field called "SPORTS MEDICINE". Yes, the NFL has found a way to take what the public may "feel" as violent and what some medical professionals may "feel" is brutal and created a program to benefit
us all. Sports medicine is one of the fastest growing fields in medicine.
Working with injured players, they have developed new techniques and medicines to heal bones and repair injuries. This does not only benefit today's athletes but also older people and people like myslef who are prone to injury as well.
Do you think the guys running the NFL are ruthless in their dealings
with their players and the public? No, not ruthless, just very, very
successful - not to mention mentally stable. Why are they successfull? They understand that FOOTBALL IS A GAME, PEOPLE, NOT THE LAW OF THE LAND! They promote instead of demote their teams. If only we in the dog world could invoke the Gods to bless us with this power of reasoning, our problems in the dog world would be solved. We would soon realize we are not dictating laws to the public, but rather standards to a relatively small group of people in America who love, breed and exhibit dogs under the rules of the AKC.
There are good people in the AKC trying to do a good job. They just
seem to be using the formula for failure - trying to please everybody. I have never asked any breed to change its standards. On the contrary, I believe, as does the NFL, that by sticking to and standing behind its standards, the organization becomes stronger and the world gravitates to you.
And for the record...Cropp ing and docking as well as grooming procedures of certain breeds were all originally done for PURPOSE....NOT BEAUTY. WE AMERICANS TOOK THAT PURPOSE AND MADE IT BENEFICIAL, HUMANE AND BEAUTIFUL. Take pride in that fact and stop beating your war drums against our American breeders.
I realize the AKC is seeking to grow and is testing the waters in many
directions, but keep in mind the NFL is a mulit-billion-dollar (maybe
trillion by now) organization! One stadium to play football costs taxpayers $200 million to build. The NFL didn't get this way by losing control of its very foundations and selling out to the crybabies. It became this monumental creator of one of America's favorite pastimes b/c it leads and protects its legions with a vengeance against all that challenges it. Football has not gotten softer over the years; it has gotten tougher! The players are stronger and their hits are a whole lot harder. The just use a lot better padding these days!
So here is what the situation in the dog world looks like in football
terms...
- the coaches are arguing w/ the sidelines
- the play callers have a break down in the communication devices
- the owner of our team is getting ready to sell out
- we are on the field playing against radicals
- the two minute warning has just sounded
- the score is 10 to 7 in favor of the radicals
- our team has the ball on our own nine yard line w/ no time outs left
- it is third and long and the radicals are getting ready to blitz our
standards
The choice of the next play is up to you...
- throw a "Hail Mary" pass for a touchdown and win?
- run the ball for the first down
- hope to get in field goal range to put us in overtime?
- or we can take a knee and give up our standards
THE MEDIA EAGERLY WAITS TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNER. THE CHOICE IS UP TO YOU.[/b]
As for me, whenever i feel as though my words are just "shouts into a
hurricane"; when I can feel the steps of the radicals getting closer to our
breed standards; when i feel as though the passion in the dog world is being replaced with apathy and complacency, and when it seems we have become so afraid to defend our own from ridicule, it is always a relief to turn on the TV and say "THANK GOD FOR FOOTBALL", where rules are rules, goals are goals and a penalty is a penalty.
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