Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Vick

I've deliberately waited to write anything about Michael freaking Vick because I wanted to get over my frothing-at-the-mouth-ragefest before writing something that could be read by anyone who happened to stumble upon my blog.  For those of you who have been reading my blog, I don't think that you have to try very hard to guess that I am...  not happy... with Michael Vick.

I'm not happy with the Philadelphia Eagles for signing him, either.  Nor am I happy with the NFL for allowing him to be signed.  Nor am I happy with his fans, who seem perfectly content to forgive him a lifetime of wrongs against animals just because he's having a good football season.  But when I heard about his dramatic entrance onto the field surrounded by fireworks and hailed as a hero, I'm pretty sure that my head exploded.

Michael Vick is NO HERO.  Sure, he might be able to play football, but that does not mean that he's a freaking hero, it does NOT mean that he has redeemed himself, and it does NOT mean that he's changed one little bit.  Yes, I believe that he isn't involved with dog fighting anymore, but for more self-serving reasons than "I just one big happy dog lover now and would never hurt a sweet innocent pup."  No, he's just smart enough to know that getting caught a second time would be very, very bad for him personally.

I have a tough time believing that his little tiny prison sentence made him realize the error of his ways, as he is claiming.  I'm pretty sure he sat there behind bars wondering why everyone was picking on him, and why we were all so meeeeeean to him.   I do not have a tough time believing that he felt some regret, but only regret that he got caught.  Because if he hadn't gotten caught... you'd better believe that he'd still be fighting dogs, and yes, killing dogs.  And he wouldn't be feeling any remorse for it.

I find myself appalled at the numbers of people that will defend him.  Granted, I think I put one or two of them off by my foaming at the mouth last month,  and maybe they felt compelled to defend him against someone who was obviously crazy.  I've heard lots of arguments for why I shouldn't hate Vick, and that I should forgive him.

1.  They're just animals.  You eat animals, so you're no different from Vick.   I will admit that I am very conflicted about this.  In some ways, I have to agree with the argument.  I do eat meat.  I feel horribly guilty about it, and try to keep that to a minimum.   Setting that aside for the moment (something like that could take up an entire blog post by itself)  I still do not believe that eating meat = torturing and killing dogs.

2.  He's served his time, so leave him alone.  Yeah, he's served his prison sentence, which I don't think was nearly long enough, or harsh enough.   All this  means that he has satisfied the LAW, and does not have to be incarcerated for his crimes anymore.  This does not oblige every manjack one of us to forgive him as well.  And it certainly doesn't oblige us to be happy that he's making an ass-ton of money and getting treated like he's the only guy who's ever been able to play football.

3.  He's working hard to redeem himself.  Even the Humane Society has forgiven him!  And for the life of me, I do not know why they have.  I'm not saying that it's a bad thing that he's going around warning people away from dog fighting, but the cynic in me thinks that he's just doing it to repair his public image. I don't think that he is truly remorseful for his actions, but I do think that he's sorry that he lost favor with the public.

4.  He's not the only public figure who ever did something bad!  Don't hate!  Um...  there is plenty of hate to go around.  I hate Vick, I hate every public figure who ever abused their fame to be able to hurt someone else.  Whether that's hurting and killing dogs, raping women, killing to cover something up.  I can surely state that I hate Michael Vick without listing every single other person that's ever done something equally bad or worse, right?  Because that would be completely stupid, and none of us could ever have a conversation about ANYTHING without having to list out every single conflicting factor first.

I find it terribly sad that we are so starved for heroes that we are willing to embrace anyone who shows any modicum of talent playing a game.  I lost a lot of respect for the NFL over this and other recent incidents with other players, and am really struggling to be able to sit there and smile blandly when people are cheering and exultant over football games.  (In the interest of full disclosure, I have never been a gigantic football fan.  I watch it sometimes when I feel like it, or when my city's team makes it to the Superbowl, but you're never going to see me hurrying home just so that I can turn on the t.v.)  That being said, I haven't been able to make myself even want to watch a game this year.  I think that I've gone from bemusedly indifferent to feeling nothing but contempt and animosity.

So...  even though I live in a huge football town, and even though I doubt very much that the NFL gives a crap about little me, I refuse to watch a game this year.  I especially refuse to watch any game that includes the Eagles.  Will it make a difference?  I doubt it very much - I'm not exactly going to be trying to convince people to go along with me.  I don't have anything against anyone else who likes to watch football, I don't have anything against any Philadelphia Eagles fans out there.  But this little boycott of mine is the only way that I can feel at ease with my own conscience.  I will not support an industry that supports the likes of Michael Vick.

That is all.  Rant off.

8 comments:

  1. We couldn't have said it better ourselves!!!!!!!

    It is strange that people seem to have forgotten and forgiven everything he has done. We are sure those dogs he owned will never forget.

    How he is being hailed as a hero is beyond us. Mom & Dad are Chicago Bears fans and they did watch the game against the Eagles on Sunday. They were hoping that Vick would get hit hard and often - not just because the Eagles were playing the Bears but because they despise everything Vick represents.

    We don't believe for a minute that he is remorseful for what he did. The only thing that he is remorseful about is that he got caught.

    Pugs & Kisses,

    Yoda & Brutus

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have to agree with you! I am amazed that so much money is spent on the people who play sports in our society. It's sad on so many levels!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Totally agree. He got caught and that's all he's sorry about. If given the chance he would do it all over again. He still has hero fame no matter what he did and unfortunetly that won't leave anytime soon. Sports are all about money and if he's helping to bring it in, they are going to keep on hailing him. Very sad. I think the worse excuse is when people say, they are just animals, as if they have no meaning or purpose.

    I doubt he actually served any time, he was probably a celebrity in prison and everyone loved him. Just makes ya want to puke, doesn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for this rant. In my opinion, there are not enough people talking about the subject. There isn't enough anger, enough ranting, enough soap-boxing. Vick is not a hero and never will be. The fact that some people actually feel sorry for him makes me ill.

    I've never watched an NFL game before so they are not going to notice if I continue that streak, but I agree. Boycotting everything to do with a league that stands up for people like Vick is really the only power we have.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We agree - and THANKS for the rant. Our mom got to see some of the vicktory dogs out at Best Friends. They are pretty amazing. I think if the NFL wanted to show they were all over it, then say 1/2 of his pay has to go to support those dogs he tortured. I am sure he could figure out how to survive on even half of the ton of money he is being paid. He gets the fame and pit bulls still get the short end...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good for you! Completely agree here. It's a shame.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That was a pretty well reasoned "rant." I'm prone to them myself. I agree.

    Here's what I believe. I believe we shouldn't make heroes out of sports figures at all. Wow, he caught the ball... Ooooh, I am so impressed (NOT). Let's honor real heroes -- Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Dr. Jonas Salk.. the list is endless. What about the firemen who pulled people out burning buildings in NY and everywhere? The nameless man who pulls a child out of the way of an oncoming car?

    Bottom Line: Vick is just a flawed human being who has done nothing heroic. If he overcame anything, he wiped it out with his cruelty. Personally, he scares me. Doesn't anybody watch television -- seen any good FBI profiler movies lately. It always starts with the torture of an animal.

    I am not a Vick fan. I am a fan of true heroes who do things that benefit mankind, the animal kingdom and the environment.

    And that is not Michael Vick.

    Opie's Mom

    ReplyDelete
  8. Well, I give you credit for holding off as long as you did with your rant; I had mine on my blog some time ago;-)You'll also find a "No Vick" button on my sidebar with a comment for my friend Paula who said if she ever came across him she'd like to attach some jumper cables to him and see how he likes it?!?

    I refuse to support anything that relates to Vick, but I do watch football....I don't live in Philadelphia and I don't root for them.

    On the other hand, I know that Vick doesn't know who I am or care what I think, and I refuse to give him any of my energy or emotions...anger or otherwise (I actually gave him plenty of both already...I'm just not giving him anymore!) I give my energy and emotions all to the animals at the shelter that I volunteer with...;-)

    I'm sure that'll change if I ever have the opportunity to face him in reality... I'll be looking for jumper cables....

    Great Post!
    Kelly
    angelpupscreations.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete