Adidas dropped him. The Washington Wizards, if you believe NBA analysts, are likely to follow suit. So who will stand by the man known as Gilbert Arenas who's currently facing felony gun charges and possible incarceration? Aw, yes, entering from stage left: the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Why are we not surprised? After all, both Gilbert and the zealots at PETA are known for taking things a little too far sometimes. So it makes sense that Gilbert's involvement in PETA's "Ink, Not Mink" campaign is continuing without as much as a hiccup. "We are standing by Gilbert," said PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk in a recent statement. "There was no violence involved in his actions, which is more than we can say about the fur trade, which electrocutes, drowns and skins animals alive for their pelts. If there is a conviction, things might be different, but for now we are proceeding with Gilbert's campaign against fur."

This is PETA raising the bar, baiting us to react to the extrastank they put on the situation. And it's working, as I sit here and write about it, I continue to be amazed at the myopic manner in which this organization carries out its mission. Its position indicates that it's not okay to take an instrument of death into the wild habitat for ill intent? But it is okay to take said instrument of death, four of them in fact, into an NBA locker room? Personally, I think carrying a gun anywhere, from the woods to the hood and all points in between, is a regrettable idea.

Let's turns this around for a moment. Anyone following the antics of Gilbert Arenas in recent years surely knows he's cut from a different cloth. His statements and actions leave us with few options to think otherwise. He's been described as odd, at times, and a tad eccentric. This is not a knock, however. He appears to be his own man -- sometimes for the better and sometimes, as of late, to his peril. With all this in mind, it's not far-fetched to imagine Gilbert owning a pet mink. And, again, if you're familiar with his peculiar behavior, you know it's entirely plausible that Gilbert could get into an altercation with said pet leading him to draw heat on the furry little bastard. I'm guessing PETA would take exception to such hostilities. Conversely, if it's just a bunch humans affected by the gun play, all is well in the minds of the animal activists.

PETA will be PETA; we know this. Its intentions are admirable, but its actual body of work is tattooed with a lot of colorful language and hyperbolic imagery. Gilbert, on the other hand, is far more prankster than he is gangster. In fact, he looks better appearing in a campaign called "Think, Not Ink." I don't have anything against tattoos, but you get where I'm coming from.