What Do You Think About Mike Vick

About a year ago a friend of mine who coaches basketball at the high school level had a fundraiser foe his program which involved buying subscriptions to ESPN magazine. It was a worthy cause so I did not expecting much from the magazine. For the last year I have been correct, it was not a great magazine, it surely was written for a younger audience. This last issue featured several articles about Micheal Vick. Vick is one of the most polarizing people in the culture today.

There are those that say he should not be allows to play football after what he did. He cannot appear anywhere without PETA protesting him. I am not a big football fan. I am not a Vick fan. I love dogs, we have two and if my wife would let me I would get more. The Mike Vick story is in some ways a showcase for what is wrong with sports, the perils of success as a young minority athlete and the ever present chasm between black and white America.

Vick raised poor in a tough, to put it gently area of Newport News, Virginia made his way out of hardship on the strength of his arm. Blessed with raw physical gifts unmatched he was good, at times great, but as time went on everything came so easy there were doubts about his work ethic.

DOgfighting and his involvement in it brought him down. It was cruel and some terribly inhumane practices took place. Vick cannot deny culpability and knowledge of what was going on. Still it is easy to see wjy black Americans think his 18 months in jail was a little extreme. I would tend to ageee that was a bit much but still a crime was committed.

I do think te PETA folks need to get a life however. Vick served his time. He deserves a chance like anyone else to start anew. He certainly received no benefits from his atletic ability in the court system and thus to me shuld not be faced with more now. I think Mike Vick has done his time. I hopemhe does not fall again. He says all the right things and has made real efforts to be a better person. I hope he succeeds. If the folks at PETA think they are doing anything to help the cause of animals by chasing vick around two years later they are sadly mistaken.