vickuilty
Matt has been wondering when I was going to post about Michael Vick. Now that he has admitted guilt, I guess it’s time.
Let me preface…
My heart bleeds orange and maroon, and I love college football. But, I cringe each and every time I hear of yet another college football player being charged with some crime, no matter where they went to school. It’s become obscene. Why is it that so many of these talented men constantly find themselves in trouble with the law? I hate to be pointing fingers at the men here, but my unofficial statistical analysis shows that of college athletes, football players place first with men’s basketball players a close second when it comes to arrests and court room appearances, as well as the lowest G.P.A.’s. Try to count on your fingers how many female college athletes (or professional athletes for that matter) you have seen negatively in the news. Or, take a look at all of the NCAA sports and tell me the last time a squash player got caught with dope. Something is going on with the football and basketball players. Here’s my take.
If you have been on a college campus when the football season is in full swing, you are well aware of the energy that is circulating. If the team is winning games, it’s electrifying. The entire campus becomes unified to support “their team”. Male students rosters so they can rattle off names and statistics to impress their friends, while the female students swoon whenever they see a player on campus. For half of the year, football players are gods and football is a religion.
I think all this attention affects the players on multiple levels. The pressure to play well (especially now that you have been nationally televised, not just on the local news) and be eligible to compete at the professional level must be overwhelming. But, what about performing well in the classroom? Grades, shmades. Players just want to get through college so they can “take it to the next level”. Well, who can blame them, really? More than likely they’ve been performing since they were little tykes and their athleticism has been the focus. It’s no different from children who show academic promise and are pressured to do well in order to get into an Ivy League school. But, off the playing field, it’s a different ballgame. The turf completely changes on campus for a player second semester. In my non-professional opinion, this is a roller coaster ride for an athlete and when you add heartbreaking national losses in the mix, it can be devastating.
Because the men’s sports are the money makers for the universities, and a huge recruitment tool, the exposure is completely different from other sports, especially the women’s sports. Even when UConn and Tennessee women’s basketball teams have season after season of winning streaks, you don’t see the players headlining the news…negatively or positively. Which is unfair, but maybe better that way? Do we really want all our athletic girls to be aspiring professional athletes? I don’t think so. We would be over saturated with “Athletes Gone Bad” on reality television. For right now, I’m happy with the media making a heyday of Brandi Chastain taking off her jersey (therefore exposing her sports bra! Gasp!) when she kicked the winning goal at the Olympics. If that’s bad press for women athletes, I’ll take it.
I’m not stating that all of these reasons are excuses for behavior. Quite the opposite, actually. I think something needs to be done about it. In order to make positive changes, it’s going to take a unified effort from parents, coaches, the media and lastly, the general public to make the change. And as much as I hate to say this, I don’t think it will happen in our lifetime. Our society now is all about money and fame…and the lottery mentality. People want to get rich quick. They want something for nothing. But, that’s for another blog post.
Back to Michael Vick. So, here’s my take. The kid has been a superstar athlete ever since he could walk. He’s had legal troubles since who knows when. And money didn’t seem to make things better for him. It made things worse. A lot worse. He probably won’t play in the NFL again, won’t be making gazillions of dollars and his talent will waste away in a solitary jail cell. Does this make me sad? Not at all. It’s not like he accidentally fell into the wrong crowd. He’s been in it for a long time. He just never CHOSE to escape. I just hope that somehow, someway, we can teach the little boys out there to do your best on and off the field. And that “being like Mike” is not the answer.
August 28th, 2007 at 9:05 am
Well, people were fine with him when all he was doing was sexually assaulting women (at least in Montgomery County — no surprise there, as they are well-known for this). I’m just glad the asshole is going down on something.
August 28th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
> I’m just glad the asshole is going down on something.
And that it’s not an intoxicated 14 year old girl — oh wait, that’s Marcus.
September 2nd, 2007 at 9:54 am
I am also glad to see Michael Vick get what he “deserves.” When his brother was going though this legal issues, I took a look at Michael Vick and said–he is the classy Vick–Marcus can never be his brother. Now, I am disgusted by the whole thing. First, the largest of the charges is over the gambling–not the fact that he killed 8 dogs. I am an animal lover. It has been very difficult to learn about this dog fighting culture and to see how the animals are treated. What kind of man can hang dogs from trees and drown them? These dogs were mean, but still defenseless against the torture. Disposable lives–just how we want our role models behaving. Thank you.
I was talking with a mom after all of this was in the news. She said that her son didn’t know about all of this and simply admired him for how he performs on the field. No doubt, Michael Vick did rise to every media challenge and physical challenge out there. She said that as far as a role model, he should be looking at her for that. Simple truth–it doesn’t happen. It’s not until we are older that we look at our parents as role models and heroes. So as a mom, how do you handle this situation? How long will the child stay oblivious to the off the field/court antics?
The radio stations around here have been running this story into the ground. I listen to a lot of talk radio to and from work. Did Michael get what he deserves? Not for us to say. Plea deals and such will take care of that. But what I will say is that the biggest punishment (and best in my opinion) would be to deprive him of his passion in life–football. I think he should be finished in the NFL. But perhaps the Cowboys will pick him up–just like TO. Hey, he plays good ball, right?
I think Michael Vick is only sorry over this because he got caught. I’m disgusted.