Friday, August 14, 2009
Tony Award Winner
He's a trailblazer. The first African-American to take the top prize in his chosen profession. And, despite a rather understated demeanor, he's proven that he may be the most formidable politician in the game.
Barack Obama?
Oh, please.
No, we're talking about Tony Dungy.
The political skills of the former Indianapolis Colts head coach -- and first black coach to win the Super Bowl -- were demonstrated this week by his ability to help get the most hated football player ever back in the NFL The Philadelphia Eagles' signing of Michael Vick Thursday completely came out of nowhere. Nearly all of the NFL teams had said that they had no interest in signing Vick. That list included Philadelphia. Most analysts predicted that Vick would be signing with the neophyte United Football League which would start its six-game schedule in October.
Guess again.
Apparently it helps to have -- if not God -- at least a "Godly" man on your side. That's a perfect description of Dungy. He's respected as a straight-talking man of faith. While he doesn't discuss politics much, he doesn't avoid it either. Two years ago, he raised a bit of controversy over his support of "traditional marriage" -- i.e., between a man and a woman.
To get back into football, Vick had to get Dungy to trust him, because, for Dungy trust is everything. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made it pretty clear that he was furious at Vick for lying to him back in 2007 about the level of Vick's involvement in dog-fighting. Vick realized that Goodell wouldn't take Vick's word alone that he was contrite over his misdeeds. But Goodell would take Dungy's. The freshly retired coach took on combined roles mentor to Vick/adviser to Goodell on Vick -- and general intermediary between Vick and the broader League. As one writer put it, Dungy has become, "the athlete whisperer."
Yet, it's also the case that Dungy wasn't acting like a sleazy agent when he said on Wednesday "I think something [on a signing]l will happen this week." Vick signed the next day.
Friday, at the big press conference, Dungy wasn't just right there, practically was the press conference:
Andy Reid, the actual coach of the Eagles, turned the proceedings over to "Coach Dungy," who did most of the talking. It seems clear that he was the broker of this deal, not because Vick needed an agent, but because he needed a stamp of approval from a respected private citizen. He didn't have to make a pitch. The league's coaches came to Dungy for answers. Can he play? Can we trust him? Will you vouch for him? The Tony Dungy Rehabilitation Program has done a tremendous service to Michael Vick, one that few other athletes have ever been given.
[snip]
If this works—and really, it already has—this could be the path to respectability that more and more athletes choose, for both honest and cynical reasons. Will Dungy become like the Jesse Jackson or Bill Clinton of sports, rushing to the scenes of crimes to give voice to the voiceless? (The difference being that Dungy sincerely wants to help other people, not just Tony Dungy's Ego..)
It's hardly likely that Dungy would avail himself of every "troubled" athlete who came. This was a unique situation (pro athletes get into trouble with the law over substance abuse, significant-other situations and so on all the time. Dog-fighting? Now, that's a bit different.). Besides crisis management is hardly something that fits Dungy's character, as a man of character.
Somebody like Dungy can only put his reputation on the line in this manner very rarely. Which is why to be American' Greatest Politician, it's pretty much a one-shot deal.
Labels: Michael Vick, Roger Goodell, Tony Dungy
Eagles get big Vick-tory
That is the primary reason Vick-to-Philly is a good move. Playing Vick on a part-time basis should actually be good for both the Eagles and Vick, because it forces opposing defenses to prepare for Vick in addition to the rest of the Eagles' offense. Frankly, I don't envy opposing defensive coordinators trying to prepare for the Eagles this year.
Having watched Vick for many years in Atlanta, I can tell the Philly fans: Vick can make your day or break your heart with his performances. However, if the Eagles play him on a limited basis, he should be much more effective. In addition, the rest of the offense should benefit from his presence, especially Donovan McNabb. Just don't get the idea that Vick can replace McNabb, because it ain't happening.
As for Vick himself, landing anywhere would have been good, but landing in Philadelphia has the most upside. Philly fans would love a Nazi-sympathizing mass murderer if he could play a great game of football. If Vick brings them a Super Bowl win, the city of Philadelphia might legalize dogfighting in his honor. You could say the Philly fans are just that rabid.
Labels: Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Pigskin Pick'em - NFL Week 14 Results & Mike Vick
I know a lot of people want to see Vick out of football forever, but I personally hope Vick can learn from this mistake, get his head on straight, and come back better than ever in a few years. Although if he doesn't play well, I am sure the fans will have him on a "short leash".
Seriously though, in our weekly picks, I win!
EdMcGon - 13
David Stefanini - 12
FunkyPundit - 12
Audio Dave - 12
Robert A. George - 10
Bill Barker - 7
J. Mark English - 6
In the YTD standings, David Stefanini returns to sole possession of the top spot, but with only two games separating him from Robert George and me:
David Stefanini(2) - 118
EdMcGon(3) - 116
Robert A. George(2) - 116
J. Mark English(1) - 98
Bill Barker - 92
FunkyPundit(0.5) - 76
BL(2) - 74
Audio Dave(2.5) - 60
SoloD(1) - 53
Dave O'Leary - 21
Rigel - 17
Snave - 8
Mike - 8
Moose - 2
UPDATE: Originally, I had Bill Barker with the weekly win. WRONG! Barker posted his picks after 1:00 pm on Sunday, so I had to take away all his 1:00 games, leaving him with 7 games. Sorry Bill.
Labels: Michael Vick, NFL
Friday, August 24, 2007
What We Should Learn from the Vick Saga
The National Football League has decided to suspend Michael Vick indefinitely. NFL CommishGoodell declared that Vick's actions were "not only illegal but also cruel and reprehensible" and regardless whether he personally placed bets, "your actions in funding the betting and your association with illegal gambling both violate the terms of your NFL player contract and expose you to corrupting influences in derogation of one of the most fundamental responsibilities of an NFL player."
Then Vick came out with yet another confession. Vick admits to killing dogs in his plea bargain. According to The Smoking Gun's website, the following was released from his deal with the Feds:
As part of a plea deal, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback admitted that his Bad Newz Kennels operation wagered money--which he provided--in pit bull fights. However, "Vick did not gamble by placing side bets on any of the fights," according to a "summary of the facts" that was filed today in court. That document, a copy of which you'll find below, also notes that Vick "was aware" that three of his cohorts killed several dogs that performed poorly in test fighting sessions in mid-2002. The summary reports that "Vick did not kill any dogs at this time." Earlier this year, Vick, and two cronies "agreed to the killing of approximately 6-8 dogs" that fared poorly in testing sessions at his Smithfield, Virginia property. Some of the animals were drowned or hanged, and Vick "stipulated" that the animals died via the "collected efforts" of himself, and codefendants Quanis Phillips and Purnell Peace.
There you have it... Vick can say adios to his career. My, how the mighty fall.
Let us not over look the real story here: race. It is an issue of race because of the way variant elements within our country's culture look upon animals.
I love dogs, and have always welcomed a dog into my family since I was a little kid. My family currently owns a boxer, who is a light in our lives. But still, a dog is a dog is a dog.
What separates the status of a dog from say a deer? At what one point in our existence did man decree that a dog has a higher place in the chain of animals then a deer? When the "white" man hunts deer, that is not an act of cruelty. Rather, it is a sport, a sport which is used as a way to keep the deer population down.
What of horses? Surely, are not horses are just as a part of our human existence as dogs? Yet, we look down on those who participate in grey hound racing, while we cheer the horses used in the Derby racing. To make things worse, horses that are injured because we raced them, are euthanized, many times right on the race track.
But horses and deer are animals that amuse the "white" man.
What is done to horses and deer is not considered torture. Surely though there are degrees of torture. We do not drown or electrocute the horses, but we do whip them, and force them to race against their will.
As Vick is condemned for committing a federal crime, for torturing an animal that our society has selectively given lawful protection too, let us not forget what some of the more serious sins against human beings that are committed against humanity that go unpunished every day.
When the former Chiefs linebacker, Derrick Thomas, passed away in 2000, he left behind a great amount of wealth earned from playing football. Most remember him as a great linebacker. But few remember him as a terrible father. The following is Herb London of the Hudson Institute:
Derrick Thomas, the nine-time Pro-Bowl linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs, died of a massive blood clot Feb. 8, a little more than two weeks after he was paralyzed in a car accident. There has been an extended period of grieving for the 33-year-old fallen football hero. Roger
One eulogy after another mentioned Thomas' tireless money-raising efforts for a reading club that assisted urban kids with reading deficiency and a variety of other charitable causes. He was a poster boy for the United Way and a recipient of the Boy Scouts' Role Model Award, the Sports Illustrated for Kids Good Sport Award, the President George Bush Point of Light Award, National Football League Man of the Year Award, the Byron "Whizzer" White Humanitarian Award and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Man of the Year Award...
...What Peterson neglected to point out was what kind of decisions Thomas made in the last 15 years. He did not point out that Thomas has seven children with five different women, none of whom was his wife. His children live in Miami, Kansas City and Lawrence, Kan. In praising Thomas's many charitable acts, the eulogies omitted the personal discipline that should accompany bringing life into the world.
Thomas was a surrogate father to many children but was not a father to his own children. He spent Christmas handing out gifts to poor kids, but he wasn't around to offer solace for his own kids. Yet this is the man who was given a trunk-load of awards, praised as a man to be emulated.
Mr. London goes on to state:
However, these are unusual times. In some American subcultures there is status in producing babies, even if they aren't nurtured by their fathers. Professional sport has become a haven for such activity. One National Basketball Association team of 12 players had 32 illegitimate children, and that may be closer to the norm than the league office would like to admit.In the United States at the moment -- with the rate of illegitimacy leveling off -- two-thirds of the black population and one-quarter of the total population are born out of wedlock. More than 80 percent of those in prison were born as illegitimate children. This is a national disgrace.
Yet, remarkably, Thomas is held up as a model. It is models like Thomas that represent the problem. If elites believe fathering children outside of marriage without responsibility is appropriate, why shouldn't young men searching for ways to assert their manhood adopt the same method? Instead of moral rectitude, elites now offer depravity.
This is far worse of a sin then any amount of dog killing could ever compare too. Players who live as if they are invincible tarnish the lives of those around them. This is not a race issue because white players are just as guilty. Even this past Spring it came out that Tom Brady had fathered an illegitimate child.As far as I'm concerned, Vick should go to jail because he broke the law. However, there are worse things a person can do, and there are plenty of people with greater sin on their plate then Vick, and they get to play in the NFL, but not Vick.
This is a scenario where a dogs life in many ways is given more weight then a persons life. What of the children that are ignored and left without a father to look after them? What of the mothers that receive little help from the men who took advantage of them? Are these people not more human then dogs? The answer is obvious. Yet this underground problem will remain, and no federal statutes are being used to end this abuse of the human condition.
Labels: Derrick Thomas, Dog Fighting, Herb London, Hudson Institute, Michael Vick, NFL, Roger Goodell
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
More "Vick"-timization?
Oh, and, yes, black folks have long memories; we sympathize with those awful Bull Connor days with the hoses and the police dogs ("payback is a bitch"), but for the local NAACP to continue going to bat for Vick is a lose-lose situation.
Trust me on this.
Labels: Michael Vick, NAACP
Friday, July 27, 2007
Vick and Ninnies
My final word (well, almost) on the whole Vick-dogfighting thing. I find it amusing that two African-Americans (just so's y'all don't think I just beat up on white folk) that have made their fortunes by basically treating black people like dogs through cultural pollution, have joined forces with PETA and are jumping on the anti-Vick bandwagon.
Of course, jack legs like Sharpton and Simmons are thankfully on the decline thanks to the presence of men like Barak Obama, Cory Booker, Patrick Deval and others. I like how Sharpton has gone from black nationalist race hustler to ... multicultural race hustler by jumping on the PETA bandwagon ("Coming this fall to ABC, Al Sharpton starring in the new western, 'Have Camera, Will Travel'"). A progressive!!
No-talents like Sharpton and Simmons realize that black thought has surpassed (and is too diverse to ultimately submit to) the skin-fascist appeals of Sharpton types. Of course, the pimping game has gotten so tough that even Sharpton's brother-in-fascist-alms, Louis Farrakhan, is letting white people join his Nation of Islam (guess black folks got tired of being the only ones paying for the luxury cars and homes of Screwy Louis and his family).
All that to say, this is Vick's Maurice Clarett moment. The Virginia Code is explicit on dogfighting as an infraction, and there's allegedly too much evidence for Vick to play dumb about the whole matter (a felony in that state). The law is the law, no matter how stupid we think any state or federal law is (and laws protecting animals outside of a private property context are massively stupid to me).
Hopefully, in addition to good defense counsel and unlike Clarett, Vick stays the hell away from Jim Brown types and has a parent or morally significant other to whack him over the head for continuing to associate with bad crowds after finding professional success.
Advice to Vick: Do the white Democratic-Republican politician thing, give back the "dirty" money you made to a "clean" charity, go to "rehab" where you find Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, or Deepak Chopra; convert to vegetarianism, and tell the world you "changed." The American people love the publicly penitent, even if most Americans are moral hypocrites in their own damned private lives.
Finally, in response to those who thought I was too harsh in calling PETA (exactly what it is) an enabler of domestic terrorism (go look up the legal definition of "terrorism" in just about any federal or state code), I'll let you enjoy this little expose below from my favorite atheist, libertarian, meat-eating (but drug free) raconteur. Teach on, my white brothers!
Parts Two and Three, here and here ...
Update: My Ombudsman, EdMcGon has spoken and smacked me on the wet nose with a rolled newspaper. Change of venue, duly noted ...
Labels: Al Sharpton, Domestic Terrorism, Michael Vick, PETA, Stupid Animal Rights and Dog Loving Idiots
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Animal Whites Movement
Sorry, but I couldn't let Ed's piling on the "Evil Vick" bandwagon go without rebuttal this morning.
I know it might be hard for millions of sports-loving, white male Republican types like Ed to fathom that many black athletes and folk have minds of their own and don't necessarily see eye-to-eye on issues of great import, such as the rights of animals (re: property) over those of black men, or that some of us don't consider homophobic, right-wing good l'il "behavin'" negroes like Tony Dungy to be the be all and end all of black male thought. I find it quite amusing, however, that an avid consumer of "jock culture" (fueled by the labor of black men like Vick) should all of sudden find that same culture which has brought him and others many hours of amusement to be the cause of American's Downfall. What other kind of culture other than "jock culture" IS THERE in organized sports?
For an independent black---and more intelligent---perspective on the whole Vick NON-controversy, I recommend this article by Dr. Boyce Watkins, a regular ESPN guest, who apparently has come to the same conclusion about (chiefly) white animal right activists and black athletes that I have.
Now to the degree that Vick has broken any federal or state laws on dogfighting, he has to pay the legal price. However, the whole moral superiority and smugness of some white journalists and politicians (and their negro sycophantic imps), including idiots like former black-male-lyching-Klan-member Robert Byrd, acting as if Vick is the equivalent of Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Hitler, and Stalin all rolled into one disgusts the hell out of me.
Apparently, to many white folk even in this day and age, blacks are not only sub-human, but now sub-animal, as well. To paraphrase a character in The Godfather, Part II, "they're animals anyway, they have no souls to lose."
And to any of you black-hating, misanthropic thugs at PETA (a domestic terrorist organization in my opinion) who might read this, I wish YOU WOULD even THINK about throwing some red paint on my leather coat. If you do, I'll gladly remind you that this is one vegan that's also a combat vet and has a lead pipe with your name on it ...
Labels: Black Athletes, Michael Vick, So-called Jock Culture, Stupid Animal Rights and Dog Loving Idiots
Vick and the Jock Culture
"Until Monday, when [NFL Commissioner Roger] Goodell ordered [Falsons quarterback Mike] Vick to stay away from the team's training camp while the league reviews the federal dogfighting charges against him, at least one person close to Vick felt he didn't fully grasp the ramifications of his circumstances.
"I wouldn't say he's delusional about the problem, but I don't think he sees it as being as big a deal as everybody else," the associate said. "He thinks it's going to blow over eventually … He doesn't know how deep this goes.""
Mike Vick...just...doesn't...get it.
Vick doesn't think think the allegations are a big deal. By extension, is it safe to assume he doesn't think dog fighting is a big deal? If he doesn't think being accused of fighting dogs is important, then how far of a stretch is it to believe he would actually do it?
While this may not be damning evidence, it certainly lends credence to the charges. But there is another side to Vick's state of mind: the jock culture.
We all have seen how jocks rarely have to face consequences for their off-the-field activities. We have all seen the DUI's, and speeding charges, and wife/girlfriend beatings, but how many times do jocks ACTUALLY get caught? I suspect it is a lot more times than we have been led to believe, but we will never know for certain if the police won't hold these kids accountable.
And childhood is where it starts. A kid is good at a specific sport in high school. But kids being kids, he does something wrong at school. The principal finds out, and covers it up, because the school's team is winning, thanks to this kid.
Maybe the kid is failing a class, so the principal puts a little pressure on the teacher to give the kid a passing grade.
By the time the kid is out of high school, he has only learned one thing: Do well at sports, and all other things will be forgiven.
In college, this lesson is only reinforced. Money, dinners, and gifts from alumni boosters only serve to ingrain the lesson. Of course, the campus police are always there to escort a star player back to his dorm room after he gets drunk and rapes some poor girl at a frat party.
On top of all this, the jocks all look after each other. That is part of the team mentality. Unfortunately, the jock culture almost elevates it to mafia-like similarities.
Consider all the current and former players who have come out in defense of Mike Vick:
Clinton Portis (RB, Redskins): "It’s his property, it’s his dog. People should mind their business."
Joe Horn (WR, Falcons, from an interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution): "What upsets me is if you don't know Michael Vick or haven't talked to him about how he feels, you shouldn't talk about the man until he's proven guilty or exonerated. Let the system take care of itself and take its course...
I've spoken to him several times. Mike is saddened about the tension this is going to cause the team. I assured him I support him, the rest of the guys support him and the team supports him. Whether he's guilty or innocent or whether you believe he is, time will tell...
I think he should be around. The more he's around his family, his football family, his teammates playing football; it's what might help Michael Vick. I respect our commissioner but I don't think suspending him is going to help him. Michael wants to play football. He told me that over and over again. "I know what's going on but I need to be there playing and going through training camp to try and get through this." I told him over and over that good times will come again. Right now you're going through something and it's something you're going to have to go through."
Deion Sanders (former NFL cornerback, in an editorial on news-press.com): "What a dog means to Vick might be a lot different than what he means to you or I. Hold on, don’t start shaking your head just yet. Listen to me.
Some people kiss their dogs on the mouth. Some people let their dogs eat from their plate. Some people dress their dogs in suits more expensive than mine, if you can believe that.
And some people enjoy proving they have the biggest, toughest dog on the street. You’re probably not going to believe this, but I bet Vick loves the dogs that were the biggest and the baddest. Maybe, he identified with them in some way.
You can still choose to condemn him, but I’m trying to take you inside his mind so you can understand where he might be coming from."
Emmitt Smith (former NFL running back): "He's the biggest fish in the whole doggone pond so they're putting the squeeze on him to get to everyone else...Now, granted he might have been to a dogfight a time or two . . . but he's not the one you're after, he's just the one whose going to take the fall -- publicly."
Does anyone wonder where the phrase "dumb jock" comes from? Logic goes out the window when they have to defend one of their kind. Portis was downright defensive, Horn completely ignored the PR ramifications because he wants his teammate on the field, Sanders sounds like Oprah, and Smith is paranoid.
But why would great players like these reduce themselves to stupidity in order to defend the indefensible? Just as Vick doesn't see his own problems, neither do other players.
Labels: Michael Vick
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Sports (Self) Center
ESPN's lucrative partnerships with the NFL, the NBA, MLB and NASCAR, among others, have put its news operation, and "SportsCenter" in particular, in a unique bind. "Imagine The New York Times owning half of the Broadway theaters whose plays it reviews. Or imagine CNN paying billions of dollars for exclusive ... rights to cover the War in Iraq," wrote ESPN's own ombudsman, Le Anne Schreiber, in a May 10 Web column titled "At ESPN, Conflict of Interest Is Business as Usual." It has led to the occasional gaffe, like ESPN's decision to cancel its well-regarded drama "Playmakers" after the NFL complained about the show."Playmakers" ran for one 12-episode season four years ago. Unfortunately, the NFL pressured the network to kill it, charging that the fictional show reflected poorly on the real NFL. It featured players engaged in illict affairs, spousal abuse, drugs -- and one of them came out as gay too (sort of "Footballers Wives" without the accents).
Of course, in just the last year, there have 13 arrests of Cincinnati Bengals players (admittedly, Chris Henry was nabbed four times); over a two-year period, Tennessee Titan "Pacman" Jones has been arrested multiple times and has been suspended for half of next season, Chicago Bears' Tank Johnson spent time in jail on weapons charges (and subsequently got released by the team after speeding) -- and now Michael Vick is under indictment for dogfighting.
Bring back "Playmakers", ESPN! It's far tamer than anything that's really happening in the National Football League.
On the other hand, maybe the network thinks such a show would only be redundant at this point.
Labels: Cincinnati Bengals, ESPN, Michael Vick
Dog's in the Kennel
(Thanks to Profootballtalk.com for the YouTube link)
Labels: Michael Vick
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Mike Vick's Waterbottle-gate
And in case you missed the story, this Saturday Night Live skit should help explain what Vick did wrong.
(hat tip to Youtube)
Labels: Michael Vick, SNL, waterbottle
