The coming end of the Michael Vick story has me thinking about another, similar story from the distant past, that of Shoeless Joe Jackson. (Picture from the sport gallery of Andy Amato.)
Like Vick, Jackson was a man with country origins, laid low by a Commissioner who was trying to "send a message." In the Jackson case, however, the hysteria was far more intense, a conspiracy to "fix" the 1919 World Series. Jackson actually hit .373 during the series, but he made some crucial errors, and admitted taking $5,000 from gamblers as part of the conspiracy.
Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis was brought in as Commissioner of Baseball to deal with the mess. The way he dealt with it was to throw Jackson, and the other "Black Sox" out of baseball for life. Without the conspiracy, Jackson was a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame. At the height of the furor a kid reportedly begged the outfielder, "say it ain’t so, Joe." Jackson had no reply.
Vick’s case is different. There is no doubt of his guilt. CNN resident legal idiot Jeffrey Toobin said today that "lots of athletes have come back from wife-beating charges," and this is just dogs, but no athlete ever abused a wife as Michael Vick did his dogs, and the breed in general.
Still, Vick was a hero to many. As an Atlantan, I admired him, and
wanted to like him. But just as Joe Jackson had a demon in his soul, a
need for money, to get back at the Sox’ filthy, stinking, no-account
owner, Charles Comiskey, so Michael Vick had a demon, the adrenaline
rush felt when two well-trained athletes go head-to-head in a
life-or-death struggle. He was an adrenaline junkie. He wanted the
action.
Unfortunately his crime came to light just as a new sheriff was
coming to town in the NFL. Where Landis felt a solemn duty to rid
baseball of gambling, so new NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants to
guarantee that the people who kill one another for our amusement are,
nevertheless, men of impeccable character.
It’s a quixotic quest, much as Landis’ was (Pete Rose proved that).
But it’s a popular quest. Goodell had already come down hard on Adam
"Pacman" Jones for being a thug, even though he hadn’t yet been
convicted of committing a crime. Now he’s going to get a full report
from a federal judge who will have sentenced Vick to, probably, at
least 18 months in jail (with 9 to serve) on a felony rap.
To his credit, Vick yesterday seemed to get a glimmer of what he was
in for, and now pleads for mercy. My guess is Goodell will give him no
more mercy than Vick gave his dogs. Vick will spend his time in jail
and then become a wanderer, trying desperately to get another chance,
and he will be denied, like Jackson, at every turn.
Of course, Vick will also become a legend. He will become an anti-hero, as Jackson was. Maybe someone will make a great movie about him some day. But he’ll be long-dead by then.
Jackson survived for 30 years after his banishment. I give Vick
five. Say it ain’t so, Shoeful Mike. But it is so. And so farewell.
Yeah, yeah, yeah – dogs are cute and precious, blah, blah, blah. PETA, PETA, PETA – puppy dogs, rainbows and unicorns…
Michael Vick didn’t kill a human; they were f@cking dogs – case closed. There have been countless examples of athletes responsible for deaths – Ray Lewis barely avoided murder charges – let alone drunk driving or worse (let’s not even discuss child support).
Now, it has been a long time since junior high but when last I checked, not only were dogs domesticated animals (that fall much lower on the food chain than humans) but we have killed domesticated animals for much lesser crimes. The ASPCA kills tens of thousands of domesticated animals on a weekly basis. Also, when in the hell did PETA become a lobby group in charge of upholding federal policy?
Don’t get me wrong – Pamela Anderson has great tits, but she needs to shut the f@ck up and just sit there and look pretty. Doesn’t she still have hepatitis or AIDS or something she caught from Kid Rock? Go get therapy bitch, and leave Michael Vick alone.
I agree that killing animals for random reasons is cruel; but fine him. Community Service. Any other mundane nonsense that we normally throw at bullsh!t crimes is the categorical reprimand this deserves.
He was making $100M. Can you imagine the good he would have been able to do in the furthering of animals’ rights with his fame and money? Am I on crazy pills or am I the only one who sees this as another step in the wussification of the public perception of justice? Michael Vick should be free – fine him, spank him, cane him, WHATEVER – but jail? WTF! Anyone who thinks this is enough to completely ruin a man’s life, is bat shit insane and should be spayed and neutered because they shouldn’t taint the gene pool.
Michael Vick’s contribution to the game of football is enormously more valuable than the lives of 10,000 dogs and 72 kittens.
I have spoken.
http://coedmagazine.com/sports/1986
Yeah, yeah, yeah – dogs are cute and precious, blah, blah, blah. PETA, PETA, PETA – puppy dogs, rainbows and unicorns…
Michael Vick didn’t kill a human; they were f@cking dogs – case closed. There have been countless examples of athletes responsible for deaths – Ray Lewis barely avoided murder charges – let alone drunk driving or worse (let’s not even discuss child support).
Now, it has been a long time since junior high but when last I checked, not only were dogs domesticated animals (that fall much lower on the food chain than humans) but we have killed domesticated animals for much lesser crimes. The ASPCA kills tens of thousands of domesticated animals on a weekly basis. Also, when in the hell did PETA become a lobby group in charge of upholding federal policy?
Don’t get me wrong – Pamela Anderson has great tits, but she needs to shut the f@ck up and just sit there and look pretty. Doesn’t she still have hepatitis or AIDS or something she caught from Kid Rock? Go get therapy bitch, and leave Michael Vick alone.
I agree that killing animals for random reasons is cruel; but fine him. Community Service. Any other mundane nonsense that we normally throw at bullsh!t crimes is the categorical reprimand this deserves.
He was making $100M. Can you imagine the good he would have been able to do in the furthering of animals’ rights with his fame and money? Am I on crazy pills or am I the only one who sees this as another step in the wussification of the public perception of justice? Michael Vick should be free – fine him, spank him, cane him, WHATEVER – but jail? WTF! Anyone who thinks this is enough to completely ruin a man’s life, is bat shit insane and should be spayed and neutered because they shouldn’t taint the gene pool.
Michael Vick’s contribution to the game of football is enormously more valuable than the lives of 10,000 dogs and 72 kittens.
I have spoken.
http://coedmagazine.com/sports/1986
I say put him in the program where convicts train service dogs, under strict supervision, and let him learn what bonding with a dog is like. He might even come to feel in his gut what was wrong – since not only dogfighting, but executing failing dogs in cruel ways, seems to have been part of the charges.
Wandering? One thing Americans will accept, especially from someone of country background, is repentance, especially sincere repentance. Though we’re very tired of the politicians etc who have faked it, burbled “sorry”, and gone on their merry way. Entry into the dog training program and an honest “I’ve seen the light” will do wonders.
I say put him in the program where convicts train service dogs, under strict supervision, and let him learn what bonding with a dog is like. He might even come to feel in his gut what was wrong – since not only dogfighting, but executing failing dogs in cruel ways, seems to have been part of the charges.
Wandering? One thing Americans will accept, especially from someone of country background, is repentance, especially sincere repentance. Though we’re very tired of the politicians etc who have faked it, burbled “sorry”, and gone on their merry way. Entry into the dog training program and an honest “I’ve seen the light” will do wonders.
There is no “sorry” for this. It is comical that people are wondering whether he’ll be able to return to a career that pays him $10 million/year when he has served his prison time. Mike Vick is now a pariah, right up there with OJ Simpson. To elevate him to sports icon status again is to endorse his actions. To hire him and pay him to play a sport is to endorse his actions. To step on the same field with him as a teammate or opponent is to look the other way.
But I can also see in a country where most people think Bill Clinton was impeached for getting a blow job (he was impeached for lying in a sexual harassment deposition), Mike Vick will be welcomed back after his dogfighting rap is settled. The irrecoverability of Vicks situation does not stem from the dogfights themselves. It stems from he and two of his guys hanging 8 dogs, and drowning or electrocuting the three that survived. That’s the part that pegs the disgusting meter, and a part that we’d all like to conveniently forget.
There is no “sorry” for this. It is comical that people are wondering whether he’ll be able to return to a career that pays him $10 million/year when he has served his prison time. Mike Vick is now a pariah, right up there with OJ Simpson. To elevate him to sports icon status again is to endorse his actions. To hire him and pay him to play a sport is to endorse his actions. To step on the same field with him as a teammate or opponent is to look the other way.
But I can also see in a country where most people think Bill Clinton was impeached for getting a blow job (he was impeached for lying in a sexual harassment deposition), Mike Vick will be welcomed back after his dogfighting rap is settled. The irrecoverability of Vicks situation does not stem from the dogfights themselves. It stems from he and two of his guys hanging 8 dogs, and drowning or electrocuting the three that survived. That’s the part that pegs the disgusting meter, and a part that we’d all like to conveniently forget.