In defense of Michael Vick. (I am going to leave this post up today and tomorrow to get feedback of anyone who can stomach the comments that I am making)
Warning this is going to offend a lot of you.
I know it is going to be wildly unpopular to do this but I am a huge fan of doing wildly unpopular things.
If anything just for the sake of discussion I think it is worthwhile.
1.) We have to admit this is a US Cultural issue. Several first world cultures have events that are considered cruel by American standards. Bull fighting, Cock fighting, Bull riding, Snake and Alligator wrangling etc.
2.) All animals fight in some capacity for dominance including humans. It is not an accident that cocks will fight if you put them in a ring. They do this in the wild in a displays of violence that are used to court females. Animals clash with antlers, teeth, hooves, tusks in displays of manhood across the animal kingdom...yes even dogs do this battle for dominance. Even men!! (If you doubt this watch the discovery or national geographic channel instead of the teen choice awards once and a while)
3.) Dogs are special here...but they are on the menu in other countries and treated like cattle. Our reverence for the dog is more of a cultural aspect then a divine trait that they exhibit.
4.) If people do the time the should be absolved having paid their debt to society. He should be allowed to try out for the team once his sentence is done.
5.) Athletes are poor role models in general as are movie stars. We should be ashamed that these are the people we let our young people emulate. This is our cultural failing and not Michael Vicks fault. If anything a flawed role model is good in teaching that we are all human, that people have faults and that we should forgive and acknowledge others differences. This is a global world and to judge through an American looking glass needs to be examined. Here is an article that disproves that high school athletes are less likely to be criminals.
6.) We allow people to be bread to fight for entertainment in boxing, ultimate fighting championship, karate etc.. If we allow people why not and I will tread lightly here allow a less evolved species do what they do for our enjoyment. We pay millions of dollars to watch Whales mate and journey along (Even Whales in captivity for our enjoyment) So why be against cock fighting when it is just as natural? P.S Yes even in the wild animals are wounded and die during these rituals.
7.) Why bar him for gambling? It is not like he was betting on his team and taking dives to beat the spread.
8.) If you think it is cruel that is fine but you should have to justify it from a moral standpoint then that does not have an exclusionary list. Do you also eat at KFC? McDonalds? Eat rice that is cultivated by oxen plowing fields? Bet at the horse races?
I guess this just seems like a morally self righteous witch hunt in some respects and the ramifications people are calling for such as making certain breeds of dogs illegal just seems ridiculous....if I were to lobby for something I would say make all little dogs that bark constantly extinct. Its seems silly to terminate dogs that were breed to protect people too... I would even wager that more people are bitten by the little shits then the big shits every year as well and that this is a witch hunt being waged on a social economic factors and fear as much as anything...
12 comments:
My opinion? This whole mess could be avoided if professional athletes were not paid so highly.
you make some good points!
Brian I am not really offended by your opinion. I was expecting to be shocked even more. You are absoloutely right when you say it is a "cultural" thing regarding the way we view dog fighting.
When I was in Indonesia, I was witness to cock fighting and while it was offensive at first I found myself desensatized after the 4th week. I would never admit to actually participating in placing a bet but when it's the cultural norm, it's hard to not want too.
As far as Vick goes, he won't be required to "try out" again. That is not the issue. The issue lies with whether or not he deserves to be apart of the NFL, after commiting a crime. I think the NFL has to preserve it's name because so many people find what he did to be appaling. I am a huge football fan and while I hate to see the talent such a Vick's take a back seat, that is life. You can't get a corportate job if you have a felony so why she he be allowed to be a "role model" and play in the NFL. If we let Vick back, where does the NFL draw that line? Woudld you feel the same way about letting him play if he rapped someone??
It's not just Vick I feel this way about. I think the same things about Tank Johnson who formerly played for the Bears and was released from the Seahawks for his criminal offenses. I even believe this way about Barry Bonds!!
That's it. I refuse to read any more of this garbage. You are OFF my blogroll buddy....
hehe... had you going didn't I? No? Ok, you got me. You'll have to do something worse than be honest to offend me.
Vick...issue has more to do with him being athlete than dog-fighting....That sh*t is every-where...specific in poor rural areas....
Saying that, does mean I endorse what he and his cohorts have done, they should go jail for it...but still is being taken out-of this world..people need to chill. City of Detroit have had 200 deaths(all killed) in the last few months...and all over this country...we are gun huhuuuu about what NFL rat has done.
I agree all that U wrote.
I didn't find your post offensive. You do make some legitimate points. That said, as to #1-3, sure it's a cultural issue to some extent. But I saw a very interesting presentation yesterday which set forth in stunning detail the link between cruelty to pets (most often dogs, I think) and physical and sexual abuse and murder of humans. Perhaps that's an American trait, but it's a scary one. And I don't see why the fact that other countries allow bullfighting and cockfighting, for example, is a defense for dogfighting. They could all be equally wrong.
As to allowing Vick to return to the NFL, it's a decision that each owner will have to make as a businessperson. But if the owners feel that having Vick around would hurt their bottom line, I have no problem with him not getting another shot. Likewise with the commissioner potentially suspending or banning him: there's no right to play football, and if he determines that having Vick around would hurt the league, I'd certainly understand why.
great post, i think you are right on.
1.) Russia has a dog fighting league, but they don't allow it to go to the death.
4) He will be allowed to re-enter the NFl, most likely. The Commish has not yet decided.
7.) Why bar him for gambling? --- Professional sports needs to make sure that there is not even an iota of a possibility that players gamble on their sport, so they outlaw it all together to be safe.
This post reminds me of a Bad Religion lyric speaking of American attitudes:
" They can copy our morality,
They can visit,
But they can not stay"
1. I think they're all wrong.
2. If they're not taken out of their natural environments and forced to its natural. Put them in a ring, and it's not natural?
3. They are special here, but it happened here.
4. Absolutely agree.
5. Absolutely agree.
6. People have a choice, these animals didn't have a choice
7. I don't really care.
8. I don't have a moral standpoint on it, I just think it's stupid.
Brian, excellent post. Maybe one of your most intriguing ones to me yet.
What I didn't see mentioned in your post or any of the comments is how some of those dogs were laid to rest. I aggree with everything else, but if you look at the manner that they killed those dogs, that was NOT natural.
I do not think he should return to the NFL, not because of his slack as a "role model" because I COMPLETELY aggree with you about athletes and movie starts, but because of the actual crime. He knew what he was doing was illegal, and he had to have known what he was doing was cruel. He gets paid millions to do what he "loves" and then shits all over it knowing the whole time what he's doing is wrong.
I for one do not think his talent overrides the crimes. I'm going to go out on a limb, but he can electrocute, drown, and hang a dog, what would/could he do to a person?..and had he done it to a person he would have been facing a much harsher sentence with less of a deal, much less several people...just a thought.
ps-I'm with you about the little shits vs. big shits too. I used to have a rotweiler/pit mix. He was awesome!
To be honest, I am probably one of the only people that has not been following the stories....so I have no idea what happened...but I guess that is a good thing?
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-vick-chewedcards&prov=ap&type=lgns
Did you see that. At least there is so good coming out of all this.
BTW- we live in America. What he did was illegal. Your opinion and your support of inhumane treatment of animals do not matter. THANK GOD! Oh wait, I see you don't believe in that either!
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