How about that Mike Vick, huh? Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. I guess there was no SI cover curse for him. Anyone read the piece from last week's (11/29) issue? Kind of a fluff piece of reporting. Through the course of the article, I found myself wondering if the guy had really changed all that much. I detected some attitude - perhaps he's justified. A black man gets caught killing and mistreating dogs and actually has to do Federal time; a white man is caught injuring and sexually assaulting more than one woman (at the very least, The Big Rapist put his hands on another person without consent - a battery or simple assault offense) and sits for 4 games.
Tell me that's fair. You won't convince me so perhaps you shouldn't try. Prison is not a fun place to spend an afternoon, let alone over a year (I know, I've been in quite a few of them - only as a visitor but still.....it's prison). To sit in jail for hurting dogs while another man skates for hurting people is an anathema, a travesty. And- to make it all the worse - the vast idiot public seems to vilify Vick for his crimes far far more than The Big Rapist. I love dogs, too, but at the end of the day they're property - not people. I know a few Steeler fans who aren't particularly proud of supporting their team while this guy's still behind center.
Now, to set up a hypothetical straw man.... if the Big Rapist had been found guilty and done his time I'd say that he would've served his debt and that forgiveness is the better part of the human condition. Since Vick has served actual time I don't see any purpose to the hate. He's apparently speaking out publicly about his errors, making good on a bad situation he helped create. Maybe he's simply paying lip-service to this - the payday's worth it and it beats working I'm sure. Or maybe that new leaf was really turned over. Like everything, time will tell. But a man stands up and takes the heat he's got coming, a boy hides behind Momma Goodell's skirts.
Hate Vick for being an Eagle, or beating the crap outta your team on Sunday. Fine. That's fandom. But forgive the man. There but for God's grace.....
Sheesh. All that makes me sound like an optimist. I'm not, not really. I can't even pray for myself anymore - I know I don't deserve it. I pray for other folks. Happy Bleak Friday. Must be winter. Oh, it's close.
In the same issue of SI there was a requiem for a woman named Jill Costello, the coxswain (laugh about the title, go ahead....get it outta your system....) of the Cal Crew Team who was diagnosed with lung cancer and died shortly after steering her team to a 2nd place finish earlier this year. The story's heartbreaking - when you think you've had a bad day it won't compare with being 21 years old and hearing that you've got nine weeks to live. I think she beat the nine weeks, but not by that much. The only problem I've got with these stories is that they canonize a human being, make her an almost magical creature of will and moxie. It strips her of her humanity, makes her almost a mascot. I'm sure she was as human as any one of us, with faults and irritating idiosyncracies. But that gets sanitized in the canonization process, the brightness blurs the rougher edges and makes everything seem smooth and....perfect.
I know nothing about Jill Costello besides what was reported. I'm not kicking dirt on her, I'm simply flying my flag that says CYNIC. Hell, for all I know she was a saint. Poor kid, her untimely death was tragic.
Hmmm... I'm looking back through all the stuff I've written here and I'm having trouble seeing the funny. Guess there's not any to be found.
How about LeBron James rolling back through Cleveland? What is it with Ohio and pro sports? The Reds won the Series in 1990, the Indians played for it in 1995 but lost. Since then, there was LeBron's Cavaliers.....but no titles. No need to mention the Browns or Bengals, or the Blue Jackets (yes, Ohio, you have a hockey team that Rick Nash plays on and he is an awesome player). My grandfather was born in Martin's Ferry, my great-grandfather founded the hospital in that EXTREMELY small and rather depressed Eastern Ohio town. I kinda feel bad for the fans up there, as I do for Detroit fans....a sports team is pretty small potatoes in this world but a few wins help uplift the spirits of the folks who live in these more depressed areas of our country (yes, I realize this is a bit condescending and simplistic, and I'll bet the populations of these places would prefer good jobs to good sports teams).
Anyways, the Cav fans let Mr. Miami have it last night and he scored 38 points---so bad move Cleveland. The guy's still an a-hole for leaving town, hope he enjoys paying 50 times as much for a Delmonico steak down at South Beach. Watch out for the herpes down there in FLA, pal, those pills are an f'in hassle.
Not that funny....huh? There's some kind of motif running through all these stories I'm mentioning....I'm thinking it's all about perception vs. reality. I dunno. I'm out. Enjoy Cheech and Chong.
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