Sunday, May 20, 2007
Opinion
Role model gone wrong
This week, I dedicate this column to something local—something egregious and shameful which I can no longer ignore
GOP presidential frontrunner Rudy Giuliani shares a laugh with the press at Oglethorpe University last week.
CREDIT: Courtesy of Michael Vick |
By Eric Von Haessler
I usually reserve this space for commentary on our current political and cultural state, and most of my ranting is nationally-focused. But, this week, I dedicate this column to something local—something egregious and shameful which I can no longer ignore.
I will not root for the Atlanta Falcons so long as Michael Vick remains their quarterback. As a die-hard football fan, that's a tough thing to say, but there it is. I don't care if he embarks on the best season an on-field general has ever had in the National Football League and carries the city through the playoffs to deliver a Super Bowl championship—accepting a championship from Vick is like accepting candy from Al Capone. I like candy but I don't want it from criminals.
Why? Because Vick has a criminal mentality and deserves to be ostracized for it. Moreover, while one can at least grudgingly admire a smart thug, Vick is the worst of the worst: He's both dumb and morally bankrupt.
For all of the questionable incidents—suspicious water bottles in a Miami airport, shooting the middle finger at paying fans, missing appearances with members of Congress and now the allegation that a dog-fighting ring was being run out of one of his properties in Virginia—what good has the city of Atlanta gotten out of Vick? Think about it. The man has given us maybe 15 to 20 minutes of spectacular play to balance out all of the negative energy he's brought to the franchise.
The number of chances that American society is willing to give a talented athlete says more about us than the athlete in question. What father wants his son to emulate Vick's behavior? Yet we teach our children to root for people we would never want them to become when we should be teaching them that championships pale in comparison to achieving good character. Is it too much to take the time to think about what message you're delivering when you buy your child a No. 7 Falcons jersey? It's simply not possible to be a good parent and make that purchase.
Thankfully, new NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is cracking down on the generation of creepy thugs that have infested the league of late, and I frankly hope he'll knock Vick out of the game before anyone else is forced to make that decision. But it shouldn't take the power of the commissioner to do what's right. It is owner Arthur Blank's responsibility to field a team worthy of fan appreciation. It is his job to do the right thing.
By all accounts, Blank is a good man. But he is allowing his love of winning to cloud his moral judgment. OK, so there's also the matter of some $130 million dollars that has been guaranteed to this quarterback whether he stays or goes. My take? Doesn't matter. Do the right thing. Eat the contract, consider it a lesson learned and move on. It's more rewarding to watch a decent person lose than cheer a thug to victory.
Because, truth be told, Vick has been giving us the finger since he arrived in Atlanta, and it's high time Falcons fans emerge from their battered-wife syndrome and start giving the finger back. SP
Eric Von Haessler, formerly of the Regular Guys, is a frequent radio commentator in Atlanta.