SportsGirl

Today is a sad day for me, though it’s one I knew was coming for a few weeks now. Michael Vick has agreed to plead guilty in the dogfighting charges levied against him. I suppose there was a part of me that was hoping that he would stand, steadfast, proclaiming his innocence, co-horts be damned. A co-worker of mine asked me today was I was so passionate about this topic and it took me a second to realize why I care so much.

The answer is that I saw Michael Vick as someone who was in a position to be a great example to all kids that you can change your life if you want to badly enough. Now, I’m someone who doesn’t necessarily believe that one of the tasks required to earn an NFL-sized paycheck is to be a role model to the youth of the nation. That’s what parents are for. But if you’re in a position to show kids from the same set of circumstances you may have come from, that there is a different path than the one most evident, I think you should show them. As I wrote in an earlier post, Michael genuinely seemed disappointed that his brother Marcus squandered an opportunity to change his own life by refusing to give up his immature ways. And really, isn’t that a lesson everyone needs to learn? This isn’t a racial issue; it’s a much bigger issue. If the circle you run with can’t support you when you find a different way of life, then what does that say about the nature of your friendship? I just thought that Michael Vick could be someone who would show those, like his younger brother, that we all reach a point in our lives when you have to do what’s best for you and your family, not necessarily stay true to some idea of your roots that gets you no where. And he failed at that. And that disappoints me.

I read an article by Peter King about Arthur Blank’s reaction to all of this and it made me think that we’re probably only seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of fallout from this. The Falcons as a franchise could be set back 4-5 years from this. I’ve always been a Joey Harrington fan (I know, I’m about the only one!) so I’m really hoping that he can surprise everyone and have a great season. I mean, for goodness sake, the man is a concert pianist! What more could you want from a quarterback?

I suppose it will be interesting to see what sentence is handed down to Vick and how much time he actually serves. But it will always remain a sad day to me because I wanted so badly to believe that Vick would be above this kind of repugnant behavior.