Joe Honick, GMA International Ltd (7/21):
All that proposed counseling falls on deaf ears in this corner of the world. I saw no columns in these pages when one of baseball's greatest record holders, Pete Rose, wound up in the clink without ever having caused the death of a human being or domestic animal.
Vick did what he did. Kids emulate star athletes, and we do not need Vick as one of those to emulate. There is a huge amount of hypocrisy in professional sports as well as in big-time college athletics. It may be that Vick was immature, but if he could not pass or run with a football and was just a simple kid out of the 'hood, he would not have had all this huff and puff PR running interference.
There are plenty kids of all races who have made it out of poverty and discrimination and gone on to not only productive lives but sustained success as well ... the kinds of lives kids should emulate.
Vick does deserve the right to clean up his life but there is question as to whether high rolling PR should be part of it. On the other hand, baseball did not blink by allowing a fearsom racist name Ty Cobb in to the Hall of Fame while suddenly finding "religion and morals" with good guys Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and Rose who were ostracized.
Veep (7/21):
The NFL Commissioner (as well as the judge in Vick's case) have said that Vick hasn't shown enough remorse for what he did. It's going to take a helluva a PR effort to position this guy as "sorry," even if he actually regrets what he did as opposed to simply regretting that he lost all his money and two years of his life.
It's a challenging PR assignment -- and make no mistake, only PR and a desperate NFL franchise can save Michael Vick now.
What surprised me about this whole fiasco, was the tens of of millions thrown at him by sponsors which never really vetted the guy's lifestyle. Nike and the others should be as much of a target in this case as Vick himself is, and they got off easy.
Belichick (7/21):
This young man deserves a chance to resurrect his career. He's paid his debt to society as dicatated by the courts. The commissioner of the NFL has no right to keep him out of the league, especially considering the criminal records of many star players who are active.
The PR fallout he will face will be huge, but in the scope of professional sports, all he has to do is get a job, keep his mouth shut and win. But his own PR effort is likely dwarfed by the poor PR director of the team that signs him. Maybe that could be your follow-up column, Mr. Foley!
Wes Pedersen (7/22):
The basic truth is that baseball players and fans cannot abide players who cheat on their teams. The eight players in the Chicago "Black Sox" scandal were acquitted of criminal charges, but the public would have none of them.
As Joe Honick notes, the glaring current example is Pete Rose. The question, then, is an outside-baseball sentence-serving crime against human sensibilities and animal life enough to turn fans against him. Don't be surprised if he gets a nod from a team, scores well and is forgiven by idiot fans.
I was a sports columnist in my first time at bat on a daily paper and, no, I did not know any of the Black Sox players, thank you very much.
Joe Honick, GMA International Ltd (7/28):
Well, it's turning out as many of us figured it would. Vick, if he can find a team to take him (and he will because money counts and QB's are not plentiful) he can do pre-season workouts and perhaps start playing in October.
PETA, I'm just as sure, will demonstrate strongly wherever he shows up, and he will deserve it. He does indeed deserve to find constructive work to earn a living and become a productive citizen. Whether that includes just stepping back into the PR hyped stardom of the NFL as an example to American youth, quite another concept. |