Now I'm getting ready to head to work soon and hopped on here to check the bus schedule thinking that I have to be out the door immediately, when I open my internet browser and see a sports headline on my homepage about Mike Vick and his "taunting" of a fan in his game against the Atlanta Falcons. The article was written by Chris Chase, and in the article he says:
"For all the improvements Vick and the various sycophants who blindly defend him say he's made, one thing he hasn't changed is that cocksure braggadocio. Pointing to the scoreboard is hardly a capital offense. It's still juvenile and petty and should be beneath most professional athletes, particularly ones who are in the midst of major career rehabilitation. Plenty of stars get booed and don't point up to the scoreboard like a hotshot high school quarterback."
I'm a little bothered by this. First of all, to refer to the people who support him, who include his family, family, close friends and a large percentage of African Americans across the country as "sycophants" is a bit out of line and unprofessional in my opinion. The dictionary defines the word sycophant as
"a self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite." So that's what you think of Mike's fans? Just a bunch of people blindly fawning and admiring Mike, as opposed to a bunch of people who have seen his rise from a phenom at Virginia Tech, watched him take the NFL by storm, as a man who failed his family friends and fans publicly, was given a 2nd chance when no one wanted him and watch him maximize his opportunity? Well tell us how you really feel then Mr. Chase?
Secondly, you decide to take the Skip Bayless route and nitpick at a fan who was heckling him as he's leaving the field because what is a serious head injury and decides to point to the scoreboard to show the fan that he should be concerned about what the Falcons aren't doing as opposed to him going to get medically evaluated. And you call that "juvenile and petty" and say that it should be beneath him? Who died and made you the judge on NFL decorum. You even acknowledged the fact that the action, would nonetheless go unnoticed.
Finally you say that "Plenty of stars get booed and don't point up to the scoreboard like a hotshot high school quarterback." Well Chris, your story make it obvious that in high school, you weren't the hotshot quarterback. You were probably the little guy in school, that spent his spare time dreaming of being the hot shot high school quarterback. Next time find something of more relevance to talk about..
Peace and Love..
I would argue that your estimate of the number of Vick supporters among the African American culture is grossly exagerated. Or at least I would hope that it is. For one person to support another simply based on luck of the genetic draw (i.e. race, culture etc) is pure ignorance; especially when the supported has committed crimes as horrendous as Vick's. "Oh its just a dog"... Aside from the horrendousness of that kind of thought process and its implications for the current state of ethics, morals and compassion and empathy within our nation, it is a well known fact that doing harm to animals is a very accurate predictor of violence toward humans (as if their lives are more important than another species'). Futher, add in Vick's position as an athlete who is repeatedly experiencing small head-traumas from countless tackles and the problem is even more serious. Repeated small injuries to the outer part of the brain (which is what occurs during a tackle) increases aggression and reduces inhibition. So you have a man who has repeatedly shown an inability to act his age, has committed violent crimes, manipulated and lied to people and then even tried to double-dip in a recent promotional deal with 2 nutritional companies... and you want to support him or at least say he is unfairly criticized ? What about the dogs he tortured, hung from trees, whos genitals he hooked to batteries and electrocuted. What about those he held under water, or wrapped in carpet and beat. Or those he threw down stairs, starved or whose necks he broke. What about those dogs? When they were finally rescued they were put through more scrutiny that Vick - are they dangerous, are they blood thirsty. No, they arent. A majority of them are now therapy dogs with canine good citizen certificates or family pets. All of them are good ambassadors of their breed. I cannot say the same for Vick. He and his supporters disgust me. I am proud to say that if I did anything as morally void as he did, my family and friends would NOT support me. I wanted to attend the game, simply to throw a bag of my own pitbulls' shit at his helmet at he walked onto the field. I believe in second chances, but he has made it clear that he is not interested in taking responsibility or even feeling legitimate remorse for his actions. Signed - J. Owens, aka sitting back and waiting for Vick's next moral pitfall.
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