It’s not a sport often associated with Seattle, where our preferred birds are Seahawks, but the P-I reports that the SPD has a handful of suspects in a cockfighting ring, and sadly, the 36 birds had to be put down, on account of being excessively combative. (Live by the sword…) But it makes me wonder–despite its inherent cruelty (or maybe because of it), cockfighting seems like a tough thing to eradicate. So what ever happened to Oklahoma state senator Frank Shurden’s 2005 proposal to have the birds wear boxing gloves and also protective vests that keep score electronically, like is done in fencing? Said Shurden at the time, ” Who’s going to object to chickens fighting like humans do? Everybody wins. Let the roosters do what they love without getting injured.” Indeed, maybe then the sport would go mainstream.