Crime Rant Trickey Award Winner: Sports Criminal 2007
Michael Vick should win this one hands down, you’d think, for his role in torturing and fighting dogs like cocks. Or maybe, you’re thinking, Barry Bonds, the recently indicted baseball slugger, steroid abuser, liar, whatever else you want call this asterisk of a man.
But the winner at Crime Rant, without argument, is Chris Benoit, who murdered his wife and son, and then took the coward’s way out and killed himself. This story drew our largest ever audience and caused literal 
chaos here on Crime Rant, when the wrestling crowd got wind of us calling Benoit a coward and took us to task. Our four major posts on this story drew a whopping 1,000 comments, the most of any story we’ve ever had.
December 13th, 2007 at 5:23 am
Michael Vick is forever no dog’s best friend and justly deserves his time in the clink, but they are after all dogs, not people. “Say it ain’t so, Barry!” He and the rest of the steroid junkies in sports bring shame on the industry and don’t hold a candle to those that went before them who set the records without the juice. Finally, Benoit, is no hero regardless of his past accomplishments in the UFC. He threw all of that out the window when he murdered his wife and his child and then snuffed himself. Yes, he takes the cake.
December 13th, 2007 at 5:48 am
This was a tough one for me. I had a hard time dealing with all the whacked out supporters of Chris Benoit. There were so many that had all this sympathy for Benoit, and not much for his victims. Excuses were made for his actions. It was a very sad case, not because of the loss of this pumped up wrestler, but because of the loss of a mother and her young son.
December 13th, 2007 at 9:45 am
I have to object to this one. Chris Benoit was not involved in sports. He had no connection of any kind to sports that I am aware of or can find. A “Sports Criminal” award should go to a criminal who was involved in some kind of “sport,” like O.J. Simpson and football.
December 13th, 2007 at 11:05 am
I suppose Mike has a point – that Wrestling is questionable being labeled a “sport”, but I think you definitely chose the right winner here.
December 13th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
I was only kidding. I don’t know how to put emoticons in these comment threads.
December 13th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Oh wow, I just figured it out by accident. (8)
December 13th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Mike S., I knew you were kidding
December 13th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
I didnt, and I agree with his kidding post. Wrestling known in the tv form as in Benoit is NOT a sport, its bad acting from guys all pumped up.
December 14th, 2007 at 11:48 am
Yeah, but “the bad acting steroid driven pseudo sports criminal award” doesn’t fit on the page as well.
December 14th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Saddest one is certainly Beniot. The deaths of his wife and son are horrible losses…innocent victims no doubt. That said, I read up on the autopsy of his brain (handed over by his father) and learned Benoit DID have an incredible amount of damage similar to alzheimers patients. Apparently, having the snot knocked out of his skull (multiple concussions) for so many years DID contribute to the fact he didn’t think straight, not to mention his prolonged use of steroids and other drugs.
NOT EXCUSING him in any way, but his lifestyle of physically abusing himself with drugs and the physically demanding “sport” of wrestling itself certainly had quite a bit to do with what he did. He needed help and it was the kind of help no one could know he needed. Even his wife could never have known his mood swings were truly physical. Such a needless waste of 3 lives.
Here’s the link and a cut/paste of some of what the doctors found:
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/14047066/detail.html
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Dr. Julian Bailes, head of neurosurgery at WVU, said the results of tests on Chris Benoit’s brain were striking.
Showing a slide of Benoit’s brain tissue Wednesday morning on ABC’s Good Morning America Bailes pointed out what he called abnormalities.
When asked how much of that he found Bailes replied, “It was extensive, throughout Chris’s brain. It was striking and maybe shocking in the extent.”
“These are dead brain cells,” said Bailes. The researcher said Benoit’s brain scan looked similar to those of Alzheimer’s patients.
He described Benoit’s brain as “very abnormal, something you should never see in a 40-year old.”
Bailes has done similar research on the brains of former professional football players who committed suicide. He said he found similar brain damage in their cases. In the case of the former NFL players he said he found a recurring “theme of failure in their personal lives and their business lives, depression and then ultimate suicide.”
Benoit’s father suggests that brain damage could have lead his son to murder his family.
**************
YIKES! I suppose when we joke about people being dropped on their heads and weirdos because of it…it may ring more true than we realize.
December 14th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
I like to touch myself
December 14th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Interesting that you would post that here ty.
December 15th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Maybe Ty has been dropped on HIS head too many times….
December 15th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
ty must be the Internet’s version of a flasher. We’re not impressed.
December 16th, 2007 at 9:27 am
I understand how people feel about the Benoit case, it just so happens that I feel a little differently.
I don’t think he’s a hero, I know & fully comprehend what he did. My whole argument was trying to understand WHY he did what he did. He was a very depressed man.
I don’t think it was the damage on his brain, because if it’s true he wouldn’t have been able to walk, feed himself, anything.
And wrestling is a sport, maybe not in the same category as football, basketball, baseball, or soccer. But they have to train really well to do what they do in the ring.
God Bless Nancy & Daniel
December 16th, 2007 at 9:49 am
“I don’t think it was the damage on his brain, because if it’s true he wouldn’t have been able to walk, feed himself, anything.”
Not quite accurate. It depends on which parts of the brain were affected, and how they were affected.
People with brain damage, or with defaults in their brains, manage to walk, feed themselves, live productive lives every single day. But, damage to the brain can lead to paranoia, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder-any number of things-and steroids are NOT the medication to help.
And WWE wrestling is not a sport. It’s an act. There are actors everywhere who train for their roles, but acting isn’t a sport. And taking steroids to buff up isn’t “training really well”.
Stop defending the man. If Chris Benoit was having that many problems, including depression, then he should have sought legitimate help, not gobbled more steroids and taken it out on his wife and son.
December 16th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Kristina says:
“I don’t think it was the damage on his brain, because if it’s true he wouldn’t have been able to walk, feed himself, anything.”
??? Certainly you have a wider scope of logic than this Kristina.
December 16th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
We’ve already debated this. My opinion hasn’t changed, I’m not defending the act that Chris committed. I’m sorry if it’s coming across that way.
Rae, I saw a show on CNN about the autopsy that they did on Benoit’s brain. And they said his brain looked like he had alzheimer’s of someone alot older than he was. Sorry if I screwed up the comment. I didn’t mean any disrespect towards anyone.
And your right, Chris was extremely upset over the death of his friend. Why didn’t he get help?
A., I’m not sure what you mean by your comment.
Thanks for letting me rant. Even if it is a broken record.
December 16th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
what I mean Kristina, is that you have an extremely narrow understanding of brain damage, or how it can alter the behavior or thought process of a person.
I don’t want to debate Benoit with you. I’m commenting on the logic of your statement.
December 16th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
I like to touch other people too!
December 16th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
A., I was just commenting on what I saw and heard on a television program. Sorry it sounded so lame. I meant no disrespect.
December 16th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
ty– I don’t think so. Maybe it’s the exclamation point on the end of your sentence, but something about you sounds more stupid than sick.
December 17th, 2007 at 6:29 am
Dear Kristina,
you clearly need to learn a few things about brain injury (i.e. levels of such a thing) before making a comment against a fully, accredited doctor’s findings.
I made no excuses per se, but have you ever cared for an Alzhiemer’s patient? My husband and I did for nearly 3 years (my husband’s grandmother). She could walk, talk, feed herself…read until distracted…and anyone who did not know her well could not tell she was ill until the disease had reached its final stage. We knew for a number of years before she needed full-time care. The last year of her life, this very poised and humble woman would curse and see things…she wanted us to let her sleep with a GUN!!! (she thought a little boy was coming into her room and stealing from her at night) At times, she didn’t know she was in her own house, would wake up in the middle of the night to make coffee, or go out to get mail from the box at 2am and then wonder where she was.
Yes, the brain injury could have had much to do with the horrific tragedy for that family. Add the steroid use to an already damaged brain and we all see what happened.
December 17th, 2007 at 6:31 am
Dear Rae, you made a good point up to where you mentioned:
“Stop defending the man. If Chris Benoit was having that many problems, including depression, then he should have sought legitimate help, not gobbled more steroids and taken it out on his wife and son.”
Personally, I’m not defending him. He chose a career that banged the crap out of his head day in and day out…and chose to do the steroids too. But since it’s proven he had brain damage, how could he have even KNOWN he was depressed or needed help? You mentioned yourself brain damage can created psychosis…name me one truly psychotic person who realizes they are “out there”?
December 17th, 2007 at 6:34 am
I’d like to see Ty try to touch me. Would be the last thing he touched until his wounds healed….
December 17th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Brenda,
Please don’t jump on my back, I was just quoting on something that I heard on CNN. I’m not trying to pass myself off as a expert on brain injury. Maybe I screwed up the comment, but it wasn’t my intention.
As to your comment to Rae. Benoit was depressed after Eddie G. died. He was writing to him in a journal that his wife gave to him. From what his father said, Benoit wrote some disturbing things in there.
December 17th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Kristina, wasn’t jumping on your back…but hey, it’s a forum and we are just posting our thoughts on whatever.
Agreed. Chris was acting very, weird for a while, but as I said..if he was already having mental issues due to physical issues, he didn’t realize he needed help. At least all of us in here are in agreement he DID NEED HELP. As with most of these horrible happenings, being able to critic what should have been done after the fact helps nothing.
Kinda like Cho and the VA Tech thing. Living so close to Tech (my son will comute after next year and a number of people I know work there..one witnessed the bodies being removed from Norris Hall, another was in the building working on the construction crew behind it), mental health issues are a very, hot topic (i.e. how to handle and still have some form of confidentiality for the patients). There is a vast difference between someone who is angry, and one who is both angry and irrational. Chris was depressed and totally irrational. If in fact he did have reason to believe he had problems, maybe his ego prevented him from doing anything about it.
Hey, we all have egos. Who wants to be labeled as “crazy” or weak? Apparently, would have been better had Chris been able to realize that in advance.
December 17th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
“how could he have even KNOWN he was depressed or needed help? You mentioned yourself brain damage can created psychosis…name me one truly psychotic person who realizes they are “out there”?”
How about all the people that are currently seeking treatment for clinical depression, paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, etc, etc? You think those people don’t know there is something wrong?
Chris Benoit was not a child, and he did not always have brain damage. He was presumably capable of knowing that he was feeling depressed. He’s just lost a good friend, as Kristina pointed out, and depression often accompanies grief. Since he did not always have brain damage, he did have some normal perspective on “good” and “bad” feelings. He had enough grasp that he was depressed to write some of his feelings down in a journal, so, it follows that he had enough of a grasp to seek professional help.
Perhaps you are right, and his ego prevented him from seeking treatment. In which case, I have even less sympathy for him, if that’s possible. He did KNOW he was depressed-he just elected not to seek treatment.
It also follows that he didn’t seek psychiatric treatment because he would have had to divulge (and likely give up) his use of steroids and other medications in order for any treatment to really succeed. So, he catered to his own desires-and it cost his family their lives.
December 17th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Good point about the steroids Rae.
December 18th, 2007 at 6:24 am
Rae,
I can see your side of it too. How I explain those with “clinical depression, paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, etc, etc?” is this…if they do not have brain damage along with their condition, they do know they are depressed.
Upon further thought on this, I believe Chris had to know he was depressed early on, but once the brain damage and drug abuse took their toll to the point he could no longer differenciate this, that is when he became truly dangerous.
Hey, if the doctors themselves understood mental illness…wouldn’t be such a problem. Can’t really expect the laymen (like us) who have not studies for many years re: such a thing to grasp the dangers that can be faced.
I have stuggled with depression myself over losses in my own family. Seems that stuff comes one after another (grandpa, grandma, aunt and uncle in car wreck, father-in-law, father…all within 3 years). Never easy. At least I’ve cone to grips and don’t dwell in the past any more. Chris’s friend wouldn’t have wanted him to stay in pain so long, but he did…obviously.
Have also read that celebrities live very, secluded and lonely lives all too often. I mean, makes lots of sense since it is hard to find true friends as most people only want to know them due to their fame. I wouldn’t want fame myself, but alot of people think it would be wonderful. I prefer a much, more anonymous life.
December 18th, 2007 at 7:43 am
“if they do not have brain damage along with their condition, they do know they are depressed.”
Once again, it depends on the amount of brain damage, where it is located, and what part of the brain is affected by it.
Yes, he had brain damage, and yes, he amplified that damage with steroids and other medications-but, judging by his actions, there was some clear awareness in Benoit’s mind as to what he was doing, and what he was feeling. That’s my opinion, and rehashing it all yet again is pointless. We’ll never know for sure.
December 19th, 2007 at 7:51 am
Rae…true, we will never know for sure.