-
Recently seen by The Samurai
More Photos
Daily Archives: 2009/07/30
No “Vick”tory for animal rights.
I am not even sure, really, where I want to start with this whole Michael Vick thing. I am no expert on football. I could not tell you anything about Vick’s football career or about his lifetime averages during play. If he has any MVP awards in his name or if he has his own fan club.
What I can tell you is that I think that Goodell made a huge mistake reinstating Vick into the NFL. Letting him into the league does nothing more than prove that as a famous sports star, you do not have to be made an example of. If you do something monumentally wrong, you will still be allowed to go back to try for your old job, like nothing is wrong.
I know that there are many of you out there that will look at what happened to this person and say, “What’s the big deal… they were only dogs!â€Â And, technically, you would be right. They were dogs… living, breathing creatures that feel fear, pain, remorse and in some cases are willing to give their own lives to save that of their people.
What Michael Vick did was an atrocity, and do not try to give me that “he served his time, let him be.†crap. When you torture, maim and kill living creature for the sake of entertainment, you are a sick sick person and need to be treated as such. Not allowed to return to play like it was no big deal.
You see… this is the whole Daryl Strawberry thing all over again. Granted… Vick in not using drugs, to the best of my knowledge, but the point I am making is that he has been convicted… CONVICTED… of a crime that demonstrates intentional acts of cruelty, served a light “hand-slap†sentence, has to pay some money, and then, once back out, good ole Roger says “Come on back!â€Â In the case of Strawberry and Vick… it is not so much about the crime itself, but the effect that the criminal has on the sport itself.
Now… look at what Strawberry and Vick have done… The scope of the crimes themselves. Then look at Pete Rose who, as we all know, was handed down a lifetime ban from playing baseball because he was gambling. Yes, I know, against his own team… but how many dogs, or animals in general, died because of that? Does gambling even come close to the drug issues that Strawberry had or the scope of the crimes that Vick committed?
Seriously… I have no problem with the fact that Rose was banned from baseball, but as long as the rules apply equally to all sports and all players. There needs to be parity in how these people are punished and the punishment should not be based on the popularity of the person being punished. If anything, the courts should go HARDER on the celebrities because they are in the public eye and, supposedly, roll models.
Vick did not get the punishment that he deserved. In MY opinion, we should have brought back public flogging or caning just for him and this scenario.
Posted in Sports
Leave a comment
Entertainment News and Gossip.
Now that I am closing out this month of musical memories, I feel compelled to talk about something that has always bugged me.
This need people have to live through the lives of stars by watching shows like Entertainment Tonight, TMZ, Extra and the others, amazes me. Do people really have that little to look forward to in their own lives that they need to follow people this religiously?
Take, most recently, the death of Michael Jackson as an example. It is sad that he died, he did leave his mark on the world, but why were people camping out for hours just to see what??? his body? This mooching family? What were they hoping to gain by sitting out in front of the house or the hospital?
Go back a few years and you see the same thing happening with Elvis. Elvis was, in my personal opinion, a much better overall performer than MJ, yet when he died, I was not really moved except to think that my hopes of ever going to a concert to see him.
When Pink Floyd split up the last time, I was upset because I knew that I would never see them in concert, but I did not lose sleep over it! I bought more of the CDs and moved on.
I do understand that there is a need to follow the people that we idolize or respect. There is a desire that we all have to be a part of that success or that life. But can’t you see that spending your life following that closely only causes you to lose track of your own life? I would have to think that the James Browns, Michael Jacksons and Elvis Presley’s throughout time would not have wanted people to be so infatuated with them that they dismiss the lives that they could have.
I know that there are varying levels of fanatics and followers… so not all of you that went to the funeral or watched it on TV are in the category that I have suggested above. But you who are reading this now, know that there are those out there whose entire world revolves around the objects of their obsessions. People that spend their lives to become as much a part of their Idols as they can. In some cases losing all that they love or desire.
Follow your own dreams and desires. Be what you are meant to be and allow what you have experienced from these stars and singers to complement you and add to your uniqueness. Be the best person you can be without trying to be someone else, you will like yourself better for that and so will others.
Posted in Music and Entertainment
Leave a comment
