Michael Vick - This Is All I Got

Well, it's been about a week now and it seems like everything that could be said about Michael Vick joining the Eagles has been said. I wanted to avoid this topic for no other reason than to keep this blog from spending too much time on sports. I mean, I grew up playing sports and it's one of a number of things that I'm pretty knowledgeable. However, in the grand scheme of things, it's not something I care deeply about, nor do I like to spend a whole lot of time talking about (unless, of course the sport is golf...but that's a subject for different evening). But the more I read what people are saying about Vick or the Eagles and the more I thought about what my feelings were on the subject, I figured, "What the hell." So here we go...

Let's begin by saying that Michael Vick is an abhorrent human being. He took part in some of the most heinous acts that a human being can inflict upon another living creature. The man took part in the drowning, hanging, and fatally slamming to the ground of dogs that didn't meet his "cultural" standards of toughness. Some of this reality is slowly fading from the public consciousness (it's amazing that it only took a week) but forgive me for letting it intrude again. Now, we've heard a lot about that word "culture" with regard to what Vick and his friends did. Please. If there is a culture that condones this type of behavior, then it is a culture that is not worthy of continuation. I'll get into the obscene moral relativism that seems to look the other way at this type of thing at a later date, but suffice it to say, if you're holding a dog over your head and slamming it to the ground, you're an evil human being.

Now, after we heard the cultural excuse, we then heard from noted sociologists, like Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, that Vick was just carrying the same "baggage" as noted humanitarians like Terrell Owens was. Are you kidding me? Owens' so-called baggage - big ego, big mouth, self-absorbed egomaniac - is the same as Vick's? McNabb said that as long as Vick plays well and helps the team win, everything will fall into place. However, the last time I checked, Owens never killed anyone, nor did he kill the neighbor's pet. So spare me the "everybody has issues" refrain. McNabb has enough insecurities that he doesn't need to be going Freud on Vick.

We now turn our attention to the Eagles. Their line is, "We just want to give him a second chance. It's the right thing to do. Everyone has a right to a second chance and to pursue their profession." Stop it. What are you guys, a halfway house now? If you're going to sign this shrub to a multi-million dollar contract, at least have the decency to be honest and tell your fans that "we think he gives us a chance to win the Super Bowl that our current players (Donovan McNabb comes to mine) haven't been able to deliver." Not to mention the fact that, as my best friend Man About Town Feats McGee said, "Why would you throw this guy into the jaws of the worst fans in the history of sports unless you thought you might get a championship out of it." Now, Feats is from Boston and he has a jaded view of all things Philadelphia (except our golf courses, but that's another story). But he has a point. Next to the ancient Romans, Philly fans are the most brutal fans in the world. If you're looking to ease this guy back into society, the City of Brotherly Love is not the place to do it.

Lastly, let's take a shot at the NFL, specifically commissioner Roger Goodell. Now, I love this guy's no bullshit attitude when it comes to the thugs that he has to put up with. I mean, the guy has to put with morons who get behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated and proceed to run over and kill people. But where is the line? At what point does somebody like Goodell say to Vick or Donte Stallworth (the idiot convicted of manslaughter) that "we don't want you in our league." That's what this whole blog is leading up to. Why can't Goodell say, "Don't come back. do what you have to do; go dig ditches; go play in the CFL; go back to school and become an accountant. Just don't come back and be a lightning rod for us." These are the people who take the biggest hits here. Goodell and the Eagles. Goodell for letting this pre-human back into the league, and the Eagles for putting their fans into the position where they have to root for this dope!!!

Not everyone deserves a second chance. Or at least not a second chance in their chosen profession. When lawyers commit a felony they can no longer practice law. That's just one of many examples. And don't talk to me about the Christian, Pauline, Augustinian concepts of forgiveness. I've actually had family members look at me and say, "Well, as long as he looks at you, says he (or she) is sorry and asks for forgiveness, you should grant that forgiveness." I won't go into the all-out family war that immediately ensues, but suffice it to say, misreadings of the New Testament aside, whatever forgiveness may or may not be granted to Mr. Vick, it does not have to include allowing him to don a uniform to the tune of $1 to $6 million for two years.

I'll end my diatribe with this. I know that everyone has their idea of civility. We may disagree on certain fringe aspects of our definitions (should men tip their hat if a lady walks by, etc.) but I believe that for most people the basic laws of civility are universal. What Michael Vick took part in was the antithesis of civility; it was barbaric. According to our justice system, he did his time. He paid his price, as it were. However, we need not let him rest.