Let’s get the obvious out of the way.  Immediately upon reading the title you’re probably expecting me to be a dog lover who still hasn't forgiven Michael Vick for his deplorable actions.

Part of that statement may be accurate, but I’m not a dog lover.  I love my dog and that’s it.  In fact I can’t stand dog lovers.

When I visit home, I sometimes take my dog to a dog park that is located on an old 9-hole golf course.  There are trails through the woods for my dog to roam; agility courses and ponds for her to play in.  Most importantly there are other dogs there for her to play with.

My parents don’t pay for a $30 per month dog park membership so that I can mingle with other dog owners while I’m there.  I don’t care about your dog.  I don’t want to hear about how beautiful the spots are on my dog.  I want my dog to enjoy her time for the hour and a half that I’m there and that’s it.  If she’s having a good time, then leave me alone.

Now I may sound harsh or anti-social; I’m really not.  I’ll put a facade on, smile, and act like I’m going to remember your dog’s name the next time I come.  I have to since you repeatedly tell me the name, breed, and bloodline of your dog like I’m supposed to be jotting down notes.  Talk to me about sports, talk to me about politics, talk to me about anything except dogs.

I think you get the picture.

The point is that this isn't some sort of PETA inspired rant against Michael Vick.  This is a wake up call to a society that forgives and forgets and believes prison time evens out the playing field.

It doesn't.

I’m 26 years old.  I've had Atari 2600, Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Sega Saturn, Sega Channel, Sega 32X, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox Kinect throughout the years.  Pretty safe to say I've been a fan of video games for a long time.  Every single year since Madden football has come out I've purchased it.  This year may be a different story.

This year, Electronic Arts, the creator of Madden football games, decided to self-promote themselves even more by staging a Madden cover tournament.  Within this tournament, every NFL team had one representative that was selected for a chance to appear on the Madden cover.  After four rounds of voting two finalists have surfaced; Michael Vick and Peyton Hillis.

Some people believe that EA made a fatal mistake now that these two contrasting players are the finalists, but I don’t think it matters one bit.  Madden is perennially the biggest selling sports game for all platforms and the NFL is so popular that even if Peyton Hillis gets the cover, everyone that will be buying knows who he is even if the rest of the country doesn't.

EA’s biggest fault is even having Mike Vick in the running in the first place.

A company that would attempt to have a felon who committed such an inhumane act as their spokesperson should be condemned.  One of their values is to act with integrity and to do the right ting.  Hopefully they follow their values.

The problem with our society is that if you don’t follow the majority then you are perceived as the bad guy.  Since Michael Vick has been released from prison the negativity towards him has faded away.  People believe prison changed him and that he’s remorseful for his actions.  That may be the case, but I’m not changing my opinion after two years.

Nowadays if you’re part of the group that hasn't forgiven him, like me, then you’re the bad guy.

Where’s my compassion?  Haven’t I ever made a mistake?  Didn't he pay his time in prison?

Question after question is directed toward an individual like me, instead of people still questioning the person who committed the crime.

Did you know that 61% of felons are repeated offenders?  Maybe I’m not so sure that Michael Vick is part of the 39% that won’t repeat a crime.  This is a guy who when asked if he would change anything in his life responded with, “Nothing.”

If you did something inhumane and understood how evil it was, wouldn't you want to go back and change it?

Just because someone’s rich, famous and skilled at a high athletic level doesn't mean they’re a great person.  Saying the right things over and over doesn't mean they are either.

Hopefully EA Sports will do the right thing by letting Michael Vick know that they won’t tolerate the wrong thing.

You forgave Michael Vick already for slaughtering dogs, but did you already forgive me for not caring about your dog?

Barry Bonds fate was finally put into a jury of his peers' hands yesterday after 11 trial days and 7 and 1/2 years of persecution by the United States Government.

I know most of you are probably on the edge of your seat just waiting for the verdict in such a integral case in our country's history.  This case could be pivotal in setting precedence in exactly how to waste millions of our tax dollars in the pursuit of a high-profile athlete who may have lived in an effort to either protect himself or protect a childhood friend.

If you haven't noticed yet I'm a little biased.  Being a Barry Bonds fan since I was six, I can only keep rooting for my childhood idol to topple another obstacle on his way to being considered the greatest baseball player of all-time.

I never thought one his obstacles would include United States prosecutors Jeff Nedrow and Matthew Perrella in a courtroom talking about his testicle size though.

Who cares?

That's the question that always gets mentioned when Barry Bonds name is mentioned these days.  Who cares?

The trial is almost eight years old, everyone knows Barry used performance enhancing drugs and the majority of us believe that the perjury trial against Mr. Bonds is ridiculous, no matter what side you sit on.

I've cared.  Everyday, since the beginning of the trial, I have been following the Twitter feeds of Sports Illustrated senior writer George Dohrmann and ESPN investigations reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada.  They both have done a remarkable job bringing live reporting to the forefront of the social media world.  

What has been so great about the reporting is the unbiased nature of it.  

Both feeds have delivered objective reporting where both the prosecution and defense statements throughout the trial have been quoted to let us see what exactly has been stated.  Witness questioning has been transcribed without either reporter's own opinions involved and they've created a 140 character text-based reality to a trial that I've never experienced before.

It made me feel like I was one of jurors.

The ironic part of the entire situation is that while I'm reading hundreds of tweets everyday, experiencing the truth of the trial, I still have to look for the lies.  I've realized now that the real subtext of this trial isn't about perjury, it's about corruption, and every party involved in this trial is guilty.

Corruption is everywhere.  If someone can find someway to benefit them self and they think they can get away with it than corruption will be involved.

I don't need to go into the details of the trial and try to persuade your thinking one way or another.  What I will do is display the corruption that is right in front of our eyes that we seem to miss everyday.

First we have Barry Bonds.  The homerun king that never "knowingly" took steroids.  Clearly he knew what he was doing and he was corrupt in lying or however he distinguishes his exaggerated truth when he spoke in the BALCO case.

Next we have the US Government who are corrupt in their own right.  The government offered immunity to all players who testified in the BALCO case and a year later Barry was targeted.  During the trial they have had so many inconsistencies and odd rumblings, including having two of their star witnesses, Steve Hoskins and Kathy Hoskins, in the same room together while Kathy testified.  They neglected to pursue an FBI investigation into Steve Hoskins for forging Barry's signature and instead gave Steve Hoskins immunity in return for his testimony in the trial.

Most importantly, they've clearly selected Barry as the poster boy for their investigation and perjury trial when you have someone like Rafael Palmeiro, who sat in front of congress pointing his finger and admonishing steroids saying he never used them and a year later he was suspended by Major League Baseball for doing so.

Where's Raffy's trial?

Lastly, the corruption lies in the reporters that I talked so highly of earlier.

Mark Fainaru-Wada, an "investigative reporter" for ESPN is better known for co-writing the book Game of Shadows with fellow San Francisco Chronicle reporter Lance Williams.  The book broke open the BALCO doping scandal and showcased how Barry Bonds was involved.  Yet, ESPN still believes that their lead reporter on this trial should be Mark Fainaru-Wada, whose bias is displayed throughout Game of Shadows.  It's even more apparent with his most recent article on ESPN, What The Jury Wasn't Told.

Society wants to act like social classes act differently based on income levels or popularity.  In actuality we all act the same just in different disciplines.

You can have the star baseball player who lies to protect himself, the US Government who neglects protocol to protect them self and reporters who use their media power to display their own agenda to protect their credibility.

It doesn't matter who makes the most money or who gains the most from it. The President can be as corrupt as the person on welfare.

Corruption isn't always the easiest thing to see.  Usually when a little bit is found a much bigger pile is underneath it.

Earlier this week, HBO Real Sports aired a piece about four former Auburn football players who spoke about receiving cash handshakes during their recruitment and throughout their football careers.  The unlawful conduct spoken about  from these former athletes paints a very clear picture of what NCAA sports are all about--Money.

I get it; I've always gotten it.  The NCAA is about money.  It's a business that capitalizes on the success of NCAA athletes and in turn puts a hefty profit into many old mens' tailored suit pockets.  It's a system that is far from perfect in one sense, but profitability wise, it's an unbelievable business model.

Since this HBO special we've had numerous people in an uproar about the NCAA.  Myron Rolle, a Rhodes Scholar, interviewed with ESPN Insider on why he thinks college athletes should get paid.  Jason Whitlock, a Fox Sports Columnist, has written a column and performed a podcast ranting about having a revolution for the upheaval the NCAA due to their greedy exploit of NCAA athletes.

I respect both of their opinions, but their both wrong.  Utterly wrong.

I guess during this unprecedented news about how athletes are receiving improper benefits we forgot one thing--the athletes are the guilty parties.

Twist and turn the story all you want.  Claim the NCAA is profiting off these kids, say that you would do the same thing if you were in their shoes, talk about how they lived a rough life going up and they need the money.  Hell, tell me their grandma is dying from cancer.  Do I care about their story?  No, and you shouldn't either.

Instead of accepting blame, learning from the mistake and trying to move on from it, we continuously try to justify the guilty side.  There's no more onus for doing anything wrong, there's getting caught and apologizing.  That's it.

Lets have a little rationale here.

If you're driving 80 mph in a 55mph zone and get caught speeding is it the cities fault for not making the speed limit faster?

What if you get caught cheating on a test and score a zero is it the teacher's fault because the test was too hard?

Should neglecting to pay your taxes because you think Uncle Sam takes enough of your money be a legitimate excuse?

If you do something illegal and know its illegal then the case should be closed.  Go and fight your revolution against the NCAA, but for the time being, while it's still standing, accepting handouts is against the law.

I'm not going to deny that there isn't any problems with the NCAA, but opening it up to pay athletes would be like ending the drug war.

Have you ever asked yourself why there's a drug war?

Most people think that it's because illegal drugs are trying to be smuggled into our country.  In actuality, there's a drug war because millions of people in this country want those illegal drugs.

The drug policy isn't the problem.  The people are.

People think that allowing free reign of drugs in our country would end our drug problem.  No longer would kids be enticed by the thought of doing something illegal.  Prisons wouldn't be filled with convicts who are serving time due to drug dealing or using.  The government could tax the drugs and make millions or billions of dollars off of it.

Now remember what I just told you.  The policy isn't the problem.  The people are.

Drug use wouldn't diminish because it's legal, it would increase due to the availability.  Kids would be even more curious about these drugs because they'd be much more accessible in a free market.  Prisons may reduce occupancy, but it would probably just fill right back up due to crimes people commit while on the drugs.

So if letting all drugs to be legal isn't the correct solution then what is?  How about legalizing marijuana?

Here's a typical example of cleaning up one problem by creating another.  You legalize marijuana and now pot dealers are out of a job.  The only thing they can do now is start selling harder drugs.  Larger quantities and more potent harder drugs would invade the country and we'd have a worse problem than we had before.

You can try and fix the policy, but the best way to fix a problem is going after the root of the source--the people.

Lets take the drug war and now look at the NCAA.

Have you ever asked yourself why college athletes don't get paid?

Most people think that it's because the NCAA is greedy and wants to keep all the money.  In actuality, college athletes don't get paid because it creates a system that is even more filled corruption than it is now.

The NCAA policy isn't the problem.  The athletes are.

What would paying NCAA athletes do?  Is a star football player going to be happy when he's receiving the same stipend as a scholarship field hockey player? Do you think everyone is just going to jump for joy and praise the NCAA for giving athletes $1,000 a month?

All paying athletes would do is open up more loopholes for larger handouts to be given to the best athletes in hopes of recruiting them to your school.  Nothing will change.  People will still complain about the NCAA receiving too much revenue and athletes will still complain that the NCAA is using them to make money.

There is not a single viable solution that involves paying athletes because again, I reiterate, the NCAA policy isn't the problem, the athletes are.

If an athlete wants $200k to attend a school and schools think he's worth it then the payouts are still going to go down.  The student-athlete knows what they're doing is wrong, the people giving them the money secretively knows they are doing something wrong, but for reason, we as sports fans, either don't care or make it seem justified.

There's a difference between greed and a difference between success and most people get them confused.

Greed are the athletes, parents of the athletes, boosters, coaches, representatives, or anyone else that knowingly involves them self in a wrongdoing to benefit the NCAA athlete.

Success is the NCAA who has built an incredible system that is extremely profitable and popular across the country.  Success are the athletes that do it the proper, legal way and get their money once they get to the professional league in their sport.

There's a big difference between the two.

People think the NCAA wouldn't exist without the athletes.  Wrong.  The athletes wouldn't exist without the NCAA.

The NCAA has created a product, with the help of the athletes, coaches, media, fans and schools that is one of a kind.  If you don't like the NCAA policies when you're an athlete and enter school then go someplace else.  

Where's another league that you will get the same notoriety, television exposure, scouting exposure. coach experience or training staff and facilities like the NCAA offers while getting paid at the same time?

There isn't one.

Hate the NCAA all you want.  Dissect them for being greedy or corrupt in their own ways, but stop trying to make guilty people innocent by doing so.

Wrong is wrong and the players who accept improper benefits are wrong and you're wrong if you think they're right for doing so.

It’s amazing how much can change in one single year.

Last year my Dad and I were first row upper deck for the NCAA Tournament.

This year we were first row from the court.

If you got a chance to read my tournament trip column from last year then you’ll understand how much has actually changed in my life.

I’ve got a new job and a new state of residence.  I’m living in my own place without my family or best friends around.

Though it’s been a big change, everything has been positive.

Not that I wouldn’t want to live closer to my friends or family, but I understand that with new changes come new opportunities.  Change can always be unnerving.

Sometimes it’s good, or should I say great, when things change.

After my father and I traveled to Buffalo last year for the NCAA tournament I was already planning the next trip the following year.  Last April I received a presale offer from Ticketmaster to get first dibs on NCAA tournament tickets in Cleveland.  I jumped right on the offer.

I purchased two tickets for all three sessions, added $500 to my credit card and I waited nearly 11 full months to find out what seats I was going to get.

When the tickets arrived my parents called me to let me know the seats were in Section 113, Row 10.

I’ve sat in The Q plenty of times so I knew that lower level seats in the corner would be great.

Wednesday, March 16^th, I left work around 2pm en route to Erie, PA; a solid 500 mile drive that I’ve been able to master in a little less than 7 hours.  Thursday I worked from home so then I’d be able to watch the games all day, while attending all my meetings of course.

When I finally went to bed on Thursday night it felt like I was eight years old again, going to sleep and knowing that the next day I’d be headed to Disney World.

Cleveland…Disney World…they’re pretty much the same place.

My Dad and I left Erie around 10:30am to head to our hotel in downtown Cleveland.  We got pre-checked in and parked atop the parking garage around 12:30pm.  I had plans to go out to lunch to catch the earlier games on TV, but every place we stopped was extremely crowded.

Our best bet was to enter the arena and pay the inflated prices for food inside.  Once in, we decided to go to our seats first.  I wanted to check them out, my Dad probably just wanted to take his coat off.  We walk through Section 113 and start heading down the stairs and the last row there was 11.  Very odd considering that my tickets said Row 10.

We asked the usher who instructed us to sit in row 10.  Of course this was row 10 in Section 114 and an entire family would embark upon us nearly 50 minutes later once the game had already started.

Again we spoke to an usher.  This one at least understood the mishap going on and decided to call his supervisor.  We waited another 20 minutes for the supervisor to arrive and we watched the game from some nearby empty seats.

I didn’t know what was going happen.  I was just ready to get some actual seats because I didn’t want this musical chairs fiasco to keep reoccurring in the upcoming sessions.

It didn’t.

Instead we were moved to the front row, seats 1 and 2, right on the court behind the two rows of media members.

I was in awe.  I’m still in awe.

The seats were pretty solid before, but now….amazing!  I’m 10 feet from the court and can hear the players talking to one another.  Gus Johnson is walking by me at every halftime and before and after every game.  I even had the Ohio State Buck-I-Guy sit a row behind me.

I guess dreams do come true.

If the seats weren’t already great enough, I got to experience one of the best games of the tournament when George Mason came back 10 points down with less then four minutes left to defeat Villanova in a thriller.

The game was exhilarating.  My Dad, who I assume still hasn’t watched another college basketball game since last year in Buffalo, was actually yelling at players for taking bad shots and cheering raucously like everyone else in the crowd.

Those types of moments are exactly what the NCAA Tournament is all about.

During halftime of the Ohio State/University of Texas – San Antonio game I decided it would be a good time to get my picture take with the Buck-I-Guy.

Wrong decision.

Everything was going well to start out; the Buck-I-Guy, decked in his cape, cowboy hat and usual red mustache was gracious and posed for a picture.  I handed my Dad my phone and instructed him exactly what to do.

Hold up phone, look on screen to what you’re taking a picture of, and then click the gold button on the side and it will take the picture.  Simple….I thought.

Fifteen seconds later and I have the first five rows of the Ohio State Family and Friends section watching my Dad somehow flip the phone around as he snaps pictures of himself while we’re all watching from the phone’s screen, which is now facing me and the Buck-I-Guy.

I’m laughing so much at this point over the memorable miscue that I dismiss getting my picture taken again with the Buck-I-Guy.  No more cameras for my father for the rest of the weekend.

Later that night I still had two more games to attend.  This time I asked my best friend James, who lives in Cleveland, to join me.  It was difficult, but the entire day I didn’t let him know that 

the seats would be front row.

I texted him after the first session and told him I had a surprise for him.

James showed up to the arena right around 8pm and I went and delivered him his ticket.  We’re walking towards my section entrance and I tell him to just flip the ticket and tell them Leo sent you.  I could tell he was a little puzzled from this.

We got down to the front row for the night session and I could see the amazement on his face, the same that was on mine earlier.  I explain the entire story to him as the game is beginning.

The funniest part of sitting in the front row was that it is actually reserved for media members, but all the media members sit at the tables on the court.  Anybody who would try to sit in the row would immediately get questioned by security and forced to leave.

Speaking of the media members there…why are they there?  Literally 85% of reporters sitting in front of me were on Twitter or Facebook the entire weekend.  I mean I know how necessary it is to sit on the court so I’m able to tweet the whole time.

Back to the story.

For both night games it was just

 the two of us sitting back and relaxing as others were shunned away and told it was for media members only.

A lady behind us from the Indiana State friends and family section asked us if we were media members, which I of course said “yes” to.

I then told her the real story.  She then asked who I was there to see.

This was the surprising thing for me over the weekend.  I had at least 10 different people ask me who I was there to see.

My answer every time – no team.

Am I really the only college basketball fan who goes to the tournament just to enjoy the tournament experience every year?

I don’t know, but people were definitely puzzled when I told them I just loved college basketball.

As James and I enjoyed the games I asked him what he thought my surprise was.

He said, “A big bag of peanuts.”

The answer was hilarious.  I probably would have no clue either if my friend said he had a surprise for me.  I guess a bag of peanuts could be conceivable.

We stayed throughout both games and finally left around 12:30am and headed to his apartment to hang out a little.

The next morning I woke up and walked the few blocks to hotel.  On the way there I was just contemplating how unbelievable day Friday was.

Front row seats, great games, amazing endings.  What could be better than that?

It was then that I realized that the day wasn’t great for the things above, but more that I got to experience the front row seats and amazing endings with my Dad and my best friend.  They would’ve been great on their own, but being able to share them means a lot more than if I would’ve been by myself.

It was the moments like the “peanuts surprise” or the “Buck-I-Guy Snafu” that I cherished the most from the day and will always remember.

The random looks at one another that signified we saw something amazing, but we didn’t have to say it.

Having the security guard kick everyone else out of the row, knowing what was going to happen as someone new sat down.

Those are the things I will remember.

There were 21,000 other people in the crowd that will remember the spectacular games, but there are only 3 of us who will remember our experience.

The best part of it all….My Dad and I got to relive the experience on Sunday for two more great games.

You just graduated college.  Lucky for you no debt exists because you were able to earn a scholarship in high school.  A stipulation of the scholarship was that you'd have to give up the majority of your free time and spend at least 30 hours a week studying if you wanted any chance of being successful at your career.

Around the country there are 2,550 seniors that have a received a scholarship for the same major you have.  Of those 2,550 seniors like yourself, only 10 percent are offered a job upon graduation.

Would you accept the scholarship offer and take that risk?

Before you answer the question then you should probably hear the rewards of this career path first.

If you're the top graduate within your major you would be guaranteed $50 million with the chance for $28 million more, depending on how you do during the first few years at the company.  

Even if you're the 255th best person offered a job, your base salary would be $325,000.  Still a remarkable salary right out of college.

I forgot a few more risks though.  

There are only 32 companies that are offering positions.  Each company has 58 employees and even if you are one of the select 255 offered a contract, only about 200 of you will actually obtain a job with one of these companies.  

Don't be discouraged.

If you're one of the Top 100 then you're more than likely guaranteed to be one of the 58 employees, but if you're part of the latter 155, probably only 100 of you will actually get the job.

Another negative.  

The average career length is only 3.3 years.  Also, it's very demanding on your body.  There are very good chances of you facing some long-term injuries and you may experience a concussion on the job once or twice.  All the companies have professional medical staffs though, so they'll take good care of you.

Enough with the pessimism.  

If you're one of the lucky ones that make it to year four then there can be some amazing benefits.  Your base salary would be around $750,000 and if you're one of the top earners in the company then you could be making 10s of millions of dollars per year.  Not only that, but you could also earn extra money outside of the company doing commercials for the business or being a consultant for another business to help try to sell their stuff.  The possibilities are limitless.

There has to be some more positives.  Let me think...

Oh yeah.  People might recognize you.  Fame is a good thing, right? You might have people asking you for autographs, which is kind of cool.

I did  forget to mention that this occupation is in the U.S. only.  If it doesn't work out then I'm not sure what you're going to do.  Actually there are few companies in Canada that offer a knockoff version of the products we make.

Also, I wouldn't get too settled wherever you land.  Chances are you won't stay with the same company year in and year out.  

However, if you do land with an exceptional company one year, then you could get a chance to win the company of the year award where you get this big, expensive, fancy ring that everyone will be jealous of.  

This ring really does mean a lot in and outside of our business.  If you get a ring you're considered a success forever.  If you fail to get one then most people will think you didn't live up to your potential.

So with all this information in front of you would you take that scholarship out of high school?