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Michael Vick: Starting QB

There has been a lot of talk about ex-dog trainer/breeder/killer becoming the starting quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles. A local newspaper wrote a headline stating Dog Electrocuter Named Starting Quarterback.  Is this really that big a deal?  The man did his time and while I don't condone cruelty to animals, this was a dog, not a person and he paid his price.

Why didn't people picket Matthew Broderick films and plays when they were going on?  You do know he killed two people in Ireland and his defense was "I don't remember."  He received a $175 fine and a slap on the wrist.  What about Kobe Bryant telling three cops that he had consensual sex, but admitting the girl asked him to stop when he tried to go somewhere normally used as an exit and he admitted he didn't stop.  Isn't that rape?  Kobe's sentence?  A huge diamond ring for his wife and an NBA championship.  What about the media men on FOXNews who make stuff up that is slanderous and destroys peoples lives, only to use "we're an entertainment show, not news, so it's OK?"  What about Michael Jackson admitting to sleeping with young boys and giving them wine? People were so outraged they made him the #11 selling artist posthumously.  What about A-Rod using steroids, basically admitting he got them from someone who brought them across the country's border (a felony) and walking away. His punishment?  A shiny diamond championship ring.

The reason why people are so up in arms about Vick and not the others is very simple.  People, especially those in the sports world, really don't think he's that good of a quarterback.  Do you think the NFL was ready to make Ray Lewis the face of the league when he was in trouble with the law?  Of course not, but then he won, so it's OK.  If Michael Vick can bring Philly to the promised land, all will be forgiven. Trust me, it's just the way it is. Antonio Cromartie has eight kids with six different women in five states and people call him a piece of shit deadbeat father.  Larry Bird had seven kids with seven different women and he's labeled the greatest white basketball player to ever live.  That conversation might have a little more to do with just winning, so I'll leave it alone for now.

Winning and success do funny things to us.  Last year when Michael Jackson died, thousands sobbed.  Was he a wonderful entertainer with classic tunes?  Of course.  But, was he a low-life pedophile who used his notoriety to dodge the law.  Absolutely!  If anyone has ever known anyone who has been abused, it's very easy to see why they took the money and ran.  In their minds and the minds of their parents, they only wanted to make it go away.  It's odd, but understandable.  So why is dog fighting bothering so many?  Why is it that this man has been made such a menace? Isn't punching another human being in the face, because they looked at your girlfriend in her skin tight jeans and cleavage revealing blouse a little worse?  I know a lot more people who have done that and walked away unscathed without any legal repercussions.  The difference is that Vick is a celebrity, albeit a minor celebrity.  The same way people hope and pray for the demise of Paris, Kim and Lindsay, they cried for the deaths of River, Kurt and Heath.  When in actuality they all shared the same trait.  They have destructive personalities and beneath the polished exterior they were, at the end of the day, just like you an me. Flawed.

It's funny.  I remember as a kid, going into a butcher shop and you could watch them do their craft.  Aprons covered in blood, parts scatter about the massive butcher block.  It was riveting.  A neighbor a few blocks away bred rabbits and would sell them, freshly skinned out of his garage.  I remember walking through Chinatown in the seventies and early eighties and watching children and adults putting quarters in a machine that would electrify the grate a chicken was standing on.  I remember people with the heads of animals adorning their walls.  Proud of their conquest.  That doesn't fly today and maybe it should never have been the norm.  For thousands of years man has been killing animals for food and for sport.  It has always been the way and it always will.  That's why, every once in a while, when a coyote attacks, or the pit bull strikes back or even an unsuspecting surfer gets eaten, you have to wonder.  Should we feel bad?  Maybe that coyote was the king of his pack.  Maybe that pit bull was beaten. Maybe that shark really is the champion, not only of the sea, but of the planet.  It's been around longer than us, so maybe we should give it a pass and not go after it. 

I'm not condoning what Michael Vick did.  I do like dogs and all animals.  I just think people should either hold everyone to the same standard or shut up.  When he starts Sunday, pat your dog on his head and be thankful that Michael Vick isn't his owner.  But the next time, you or one of your loved ones gets in trouble for something stupid, just remember.  They don't have any rings, titles or awards.  They don't throw a ball or grace the silver screen. So they deserve what they get.  Right?

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  1. I Love this Hop, you speak the truth.

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