Sunday, January 13, 2013

Ray Lewis

Last week a friend of mine asked, rather humorously and astutely, "have they all forgotten that Ray Lewis did murder?"  He has a pretty valid point.  I know this is going to sound like I'm just a Steeler's homer and people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones (what with Ben raping the girl and all), but seriously, has everyone forgotten that Ray Ray pretty much killed two guys?  I mean....really? Let me google that for you....

Obviously he was never convicted of doing the deed, but a little bit of reading through the links on those pages makes it pretty obvious to me that he was at a minimum present and involved when those guys got killed.  The facts are astonishing.  First of all the limo driver changed his story midway through the trial.  I'm not exactly sure what he changed it to, but I do know what he changed it from;  "Ray Lewis stabbed those dudes!"  Curious.  Eye witnesses saw Ray Ray's limo speed away, and one claims to have seen a garbage bag of some sort thrown out of it into a dumpster.  I don't think the contents of that bag were ever found.  And Ray Ray?  He "lost" the clothing he was wearing that night.  Just up and lost it, you know, can't find it, as if that's something that happens on a routine basis.  I've probably lost like 4 items of clothing in my life, and never an entire outfit that I'd have worn to a Super Bowl party at a night club.  Oh, and the day before?  He and his two friends (more on them in a minute) went to a sporting goods store, and the friends purchased...knives.

So what exactly happened?  Ray Ray plead guilty to obstruction of justice.  In a DOUBLE HOMICIDE.  Then he testified against his two compadres, who somehow beat the rap.  I have no idea how that went down exactly, but as far as I'm concerned Ray Lewis is a murderer and we shouldn't forget that.

5 comments:

Dave said...

I think you're probably right, although humor me here: Let's say he was just present and some sort of accessory and didn't actually commit the murder himself. If he did, it's impossible to justify. But let's say he did a crime and deserves 5-10 years that he never served.

Presuming that the purpose of prison is not just punishment, but also rehabilitation (I know we often forget those things), wouldn't you say the net effect has been accomplished? By all accounts he is now a model citizen - inspiring others to do good, founding charities, more or less taking care of his kids, etc. There's a story (true?) about him confronting a drug dealer on the streets that he saw selling to a kid and getting him to turn his life around.

It doesn't seem like an act, although I admit it could be.

People can change. I think he has. I think he does much more good now than he would in jail.

Once again, if he did commit murder, it's nigh impossible to repay that debt.

So, Ray Lewis: Possible murderer, also a good person.

Dave said...

Also, I think sometimes people confuse him with Rae Carruth, a truly horrible, seemingly unrepentant person. I only mention this so I can point you to this outstanding, very long, and very well-written article:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1206007/index.htm

jesse8888 said...

You really are a dangerous liberal. I thought that the term dangerous really only could be applied to people hanging WAY out there on the right, in Montana, holed up in a bunker with enough artillery to wage war against some smaller foreign countries. But you've shown me the error of my ways, and for that I say thank ya.

Dave said...

I prefer to be thought of as a dangerous Ravens fan, but I'll take what I can get.

Dave said...

Also, this was interesting:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1108943/1/index.htm