Michael Vick

• Michael Vick
• The constructs of family (continued)
• The Dead Weather - Horehound
• The Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away
• The Fiery Furnaces in general...
• Universal Health Care
• The Death of Paper

Good news: I'm done with my school project so I should have more time outside of work to post and catch up. I'm currently seven posts behind which is no good. We'll see how this weekend goes, maybe I'll bust through some of those.

I am going to talk about Michael Vick though. So as we all know, he was heavily involved with a dog fighting ring and participated in killing dogs who didn't fight well. This is such a heinous, evil crime...it's barely a felony in the US, or at least in Virginia. He spent two years in jail because the ring existed in many states, so it was conspiracy across state lines. So now he was reinstated back into the NFL and after serving a conditional additional suspension, will be allowed to play in the NFL again. Since this first announcement, which was met with some angry cries from dog lovers, etc...he was signed by the Eagles. This created an outrage, particularly in the city of Philadelphia and here's where I'm going to surprise you.

I'm glad he's back. What he did was so terrible, so awful that I can't even imagine doing it myself, it's not in my mind to be even capable of it. That being said, as part of his upbringing, it was actually a usual occurrence for him and that's an even bigger problem. Michael Vick is now working with the Humane Society to help combat inner city dog fighting and it's going to help the cause that he's back in the NFL and on a team. What would have a bigger impact, speaking at schools or to the inner city groups where this would be most prominent - having Michael Vick come in and tell you it's wrong? You're just going to say to yourself...he has to do this, because he got caught. Or, would it be a stronger message to say Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles, or Michael Vick and the NFL are working towards stamping out animal cruelty? He's been made an example of, so now it's time to step forward with him and say - this is wrong. The message is stronger when it's not just the guilty party telling you it's wrong.

The biggest thing about Vick is that three years ago, he was one of the faces of the NFL. You had Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Michael Vick. Then this came out and it reflects terribly on the NFL, which is an entertainment first so image is everything. They quickly tried to push him away from the league as fast as possible, but the damage was done. By bringing him back in, yes - initially - it hurts the image of the league, but over time this may prove to be a great move as it will strengthen the ties of the NFL and the many charities they work with, saying...we messed up, we enabled this guy, and he's working to fix it as are we. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe this is the beginning of the end of the reign of the NFL as America's premiere sport, but I hope not because I love the game. I don't know how Vick will do on the field, frankly I don't care, it's more important that he's able to stay in the spotlight as a football player and then be an animal activist on the side.

Your thoughts?