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This guy is a classic example of a Falcon-hater and suggests the Falcons,...pffft,...just read what this guy wrote,...

Hypocrisy, thy name is `fan'

Let's all vilify Vick, until we want to watch him play again

WILLIAM BLACKBURN
Special to the Observer

Atlanta Falcons football star Michael Vick is in the doghouse. The feds have indicted him, the NFL has sidelined him, companies whose products he endorses have abandoned him and the public has already convicted him. That's a bad situation for a man smart and talented enough to parlay his skills into a $120 million payday. Unfortunately, he was not bright enough to cut his ties with lowlifes.

If he is guilty of what he is accused of -- and remember, he hasn't been convicted -- let the cards play out accordingly. But however it ends, Vick will eventually win out. They always do.

The blame for that, though, isn't Vick's alone. Society gives athletes sizeable leeway that doesn't apply to everyone else.

Remember Kobe Bryant? Once charged with rape, he is the fancy of the NBA and will represent the U.S. in the 2008 Olympic Games. Ray Lewis? Once charged with murder, he has a Super Bowl ring, and all's forgiven. What about Jayson Williams? Drunk and playing with guns, he killed his limo driver and staged the scene to look like a suicide. Again, all is forgiven, because Americans are fanatic about sports and idolize their stars to a fault.

Who cares what they do?

It's as though beating your wife, driving drunk and shooting a gun in public are all right as long as you're performing well in your sport. We work all week to earn the right to sit on the couch on Saturday and Sunday. Who cares what the athlete did during the week. Is he going to play in the game?Tennessee Titan football player Adam "Pacman" Jones had six arrests before he was suspended by the league. His employer knew about each offense. You and I would probably be looking for a new job if our employer knew we were arrested, and no way we'd last past a second arrest.

Yet there was little public outcry. You can't blame only the athletes. Their exalted status exists because of our unwavering support.

You may think Barry Bonds is a cheater, but he fills the stands. We're hypocritical when we place entertainers and athletes in an elite group, expect them to be pure and then cry "traitor" when they fall below our expectations.

What did Falcons know?

You think the Falcons didn't know Vick was involved in dogfighting before signing him? People who apply for jobs as grocery baggers have to undergo extensive background checks for minimum-wage jobs. An employer about to pay some $100 million-plus will know what that employee does morning, noon and night. The indictment says Vick was deeply involved in dogfighting. No one in the Falcons' executive office was aware of this? Pleeeeze!

But the fans' hypocrisy isn't the only hypocrisy involved in this case. I recently visited a Bass Pro Shop for the first time. I was stunned by all the stuffed animal carcasses adorning the store. . It's OK to kill deer, moose and bears, but fighting dogs is unacceptable?

Animal abuse is all around

We take animals out of their natural habitats and place them in cages, call it a zoo and charge people to see them. Scores of horses are euthanized each year from racing-related injuries, yet the Kentucky Derby is "the most exciting two minutes in sports." Who is outraged?

I'm not saying what Vick is accused of is acceptable. But where's the outrage with the circus, fishing tournaments and meat-slaughtering facilities? What about dogtracks, where dogs are trained day and night to race for the amusement and financial gain of the public? As usual, society and the news media pick and choose whom to vilify.

We are hypocrites. We love our athletes enough to pay big bucks to wear jerseys with their names on the backs. And we get upset when they mess up. But despite the fuss, Michael Vick will play football again, thousands will cheer his game, and we'll all move on.

We always do. History shows we are very forgiving.

William Blackburn

Observer community columnist William Blackburn works for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Write him c/o The Observer, P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, NC 28230-0308, or at williamhblackburn@yahoo.com.

It's people like this that are responsible for environmental laws which hamstring this country. Hunting is NOT dog fighting IDIOT! Fishing is NOT dog fighting IDIOT! And this IDIOT is WRONG! The NBA is losing fanship because of Kobe-I-can't-keep-my-pecker-in-my-pants Bryant,...at least in this region. I do suppose those up North must still watch basketball because they have nothing better to do during the cold months. No,...we are NOT very forgiving but people like this nut are!

And then he suggests the Falcons knew Vick was into fighting dogs??? Did the Broncos also know Shannon Sharpe was fighting dogs you IDIOT? Sharpe's picture was among several NBA, NFL and boxing personalities on Vick's website you IDIOT. So another Panthers troll has to try to slam the Falcons franchise as far back as 2001? Man oh man, these pasty-face SHRUB nibblers are really the HYPOCRITES! First he reminds us Vick hasn't been convicted of anything and then he makes an absolutley wild accusation about the Falcons?:pound: What a complete fool.

PB, I agree with most of what you're saying. I think it would have been hard for the Falcons to know that Vick was fighting dogs before they drafted him. According to the indictment, Vick and his boys started their "conspiracy" early in 2001, which could probably be dated to around the time in which Vick declared for the draft, knowing he was going to get a big chunk of money to finance it.

The Falcons really only became interested in Vick a month before the draft. The extensive background check that goes on through the 3-month long courtship that usually occurs between a team and a #1 pick didn't occur in Atlanta. In all probability, Vick is the least researched #1 pick in recent history, if not ever in the modern draft age.

And frankly, this is America. If this guy doesn't like how the system works, I hear communist countries like China and North Korea and Cuba are looking for American defectors all the time. In a capitalist society, money, and thus fame buys you everything. Ohh, boo hoo that some athletes have gotten off with slaps on their wrist. Boo hoo that CEOs at a Fortune 500 countries get the same treatment.

It sucks, but that's just the way it is. If life was supposed to be fair, we'd all be communists.

At the risk of being accused of stroking the administrator,...that was the best damned post I've ever read from you man.

Reeves was the head coach/GM at that time. There's no way in Hell he knew what was going on. The guy was already, how can I say this,...he was already seperated from the things going on, so to speak. Am at a loss to explain right now, but hope you know what I mean. As much as I knew about dog fighting, he knew twice a less, lemme put it that way back in 2001.

Good gawd,...Vick was fishing and got fined,...fishing now makes him a double murderer/abuser. We got people of all colors down here that love to deer hunt and they actually eat the animals they shoot. Ever had venicin(sp?),...it's quite good. Ever had fried fish?

People that USE this for their political agenda and in an attempt to further their twisted politcal means are just sick.

But I will not stand by and let some salty, elitist, rich little Carolinian suggest the Falcons knew all about the dog fighting in the Spring of 2001.

And no Panthers fans on several other sites are coming near this post! Steroid abuse anyone?

When Fox first became head coach in Carolina, they had a team full of drunkards. I don't know what the exact number was, but it seemed like half a dozen players had DUIs in his first 12-18 months on the job. At the time, the Panthers were the pre-Bengals "bad boys" of the NFL, in that their players couldn't avoid the law. Now granted, DUIs aren't seen as cardinal sins by many, particularly when it comes to professional athletes, but in my book a DUI is far higher on the "scale of evil" than dogfighting. Perhaps it's just me and my zany liberal mindset, but for every human life that is taken by another person, I'll take the deaths of thousands of dogs as a fair tradeoff. Because guess what? Thousands of dogs already die in this country needlessly, simply because they are a burden.

As I said, I'm a liberal, so hunting and stuff like that isn't exactly my cup of tea. But if people want to go out and blow the brains out of a squirrel, deer, or bear, then so be it, who am I and to tell people what's entertainment and sport. Now I certainly agree with hunting when it comes to population control. I have no clue how much of hunting is related to that, I imagine very little actually, although I'm sure it's justified in many places as such. My biggest and pretty much only beef with hunting comes when somebody gets their head blown off because someone mistook them for a deer or something. That has to be the dumbest and most pointless way for someone to die. The only thing that might be worst is something catching on fire or blowing up because they lit up at a gas station.

But even though I'm not on the same page with hunters for the most part, I agree that to compare it to dogfighting is a rather big leap. In hunting, you're shooting something whether it's to eat it, mount it, or keep it from breeding, it can serve a functional purpose for society. Dogfighting is different because you're killing a dog for the sole purpose of bragging rights and money. You're turning an animal wrongly into a vicious, aggressive, killing machine. The only way someone can call hunting cruel and not be a hypocrite is if they are a vegan.

And I reread the indictment. According to the Feds, the "conspirators" didn't identify the property in Smithfield until May 2001. Vick didn't put down the money until June. Vick was signed by the Falcons on May 9, 2001. And if anything occurred prior to that date, it would have been perhaps Vick purchasing some pit bulls, which is not at all suspicious because it was not exactly a secret that Vick planned on breeding pit bulls when he came into the league.

Clearly this Mr. Blackburn didn't read the indictment. I would suggest to anybody that is thinking of forming an opinion about Vick, that they should at the very least take 10-15 minutes out of their day to read the 18-page indictment.

EXfreakingACTLY!

As I've said all along,...Vick knew what was going on there, whether he was involved or no,...but Vick will walk away from all this but will never be a Falcon again.

I'm oh so hoping he hooks up in New England,...anywhere up North where the fans up there have been deriding the man. He could beat out Losman easily,...surplant Pennington.

You and I both know the difference in "people" up there than the way we are down here,...as they call this area,...Mayberry.

Being liberal is being who you are. I am more conservative as you've probably known and I do not hunt,...I do not kill anything for sport,...although I have fished and will still fish in the future. Man, I got this brother that is a freak about deer hunting. He's funny as hell actually. His name is Dip and the dude is just a nut about deer. One day at lunch, he offered me some turtle his wife made,...I took a bite and the more I chewed, the bigger it got in my mouth so I took a big gulp of coke to get it down,...ahem, being the man i am see.lol

When we accept that the World takes all kinds, and we accept we are the Masters of this World, above the animals, we'll be better off as you so well pointed out that HUMAN lives and our needs outweigh some animals, however cruel that may seem to sound. That is a definite philosophy of some free and accepted sorts to be sure.

So much to say and so off base. Leaving the country because you don't like what's going on doesn't make one a communist. It just means that a search for a better quality of life sans all the crime, poor infrastructure, slow traffic, and "American culture".

The situation that Vick finds himself in is his own fault. Not the Hunters, the people at PETA , his teammates,management or the fans.Trying to whittle his alleged crime down to a "Humans v.s Animals scenario is both reckless and ignorant. Some may think that killing dogs for fun and profit is no big deal, that they are just here for our pleasure anyway. What Vick and his cronies are accused of isn't just about dogfighting. It is about the mindset.

The mindset that is is somehow acceptable to buy dogs, mate them, feed them, raise them and then watch as they tear each other to pieces. The same animals that Vick had told people that he "loved". Trying to make ANY comparison between a human life and the life of a dog isn't fair to either.I have known many humans that weren't worth the spit that drooled down the sides of their mouths. Likewise I have known some Dogs who were mean as hell, and had to be put down as a result. Usually they were dogs who were mistreated and abused. Making the comparison between domesticated animals and socially adjusted humans is much closer than you think. It all depends on your exposure to each group.

The major problem with Vick is he has been the poster boy for stupidity. "Teflon Vick".......the guy who was told many times to "get it together...or else"...yet simmering in the background of these minor incidents was a situation that was becoming more and more out of control with each dogfight.Vick set himself up for his own fall as most out of control people do sooner or later. I'm reasonably sure that management didn't know of his hobby, but I'm sure some of his teammates did. No big deal, they're just dogs. And that is the problem. The denial, the secrecy...the culture.

There are mounds and mounds of research that show that animal cruelty and psychological problems usually go hand in hand.All this talk , such as the statement that "thousands of dogs aren't worth one human life" is an example of the misrepresentation of the issue. Again this isn't a "human vs Dogs" issue. It is about accountability and responsibility.It isn't a huge leap from giving someone permission to kill a few hundred dogs and to pulling the trigger on a human being. Vick was running a criminal enterprise, much like a mafia boss runs his cadre. His hobby had turned his life into a mess that left very little room for measure had someone come forward to threaten to blow the whistle on him.He, like most gamblers weighed the odds that any discovery would impact his football empire. He chose to ignore it. With each instance of "getting away with something", the denial grew.....this made him appear invincible....and careless. This isn't a racial issue, nor a Darwinesque survival of the fittest bedtime story. This is a very serious crime, and from a dogs point of view....."The Masters of the World" really screwed up.

You tend to make what someone else say, mean something you want it to sound like. When I said we are Masters of the World, I meant that we are above the animals. As Masters of the World it is also our responsibility to ensure the future of the World for our children and the animals too, to be a positive!

Psychological problems? As Marcus gets 15 year old girls alcohol and sex then stomps some guy in a football game,...as Mike shoots birds and is photographed in a limo with a prostitute,...ya think there's a pattern here??? The boys have been spoiled to the point of no return! Where's the Father figure?,...Arthur???

You are right, it is all about responsibility. And know this,...Vick is NO Master of the World,...rather, he's a THUG on this World even if he's found totally innocent of dog fighting/gambling. No Man would ever shoot birds wearing any uniform in a public forum at people. He's a spoiled, over paid, self consumed little BOY that has a dark, dark, insidious side that some of us, whom notice such things, have been watching since 2002. Would I accept him back as a Falcons QB? Nope,...as an opponent one day playing for another team,...OH HELL YES!

My Grand Daddy once said,..."running with the big dawgs boy, is like running with sheep."

BB, don't be so defensive. I'm not saying every American expatriate is a communist. I'm saying that the American legal system is the way it is (which is unfair) because of our capitalist society. If one would prefer to live in a society where this is not the case, then I would suggest that someone defect to a communist country, where (in theory) people should be treated equal regardless of their financial and public status.

And Mr. Blackburn's article really isn't about Vick, it's more about how society is and how Vick's situation reflects upon it.

And if you read Mr. Blackburn's article, he is clearly stating that there should be protests held outside zoos, circuses, fishing tournaments, and meat slaughtering facilities. And I won't deny that there is cruel treatment at circuses and meat slaughtering facilities. But at least in the latter case, they are electrocuting pigs for our entertainment. And I won't pretend that catching a fish and letting it suffocate to death or at least for a minute before you put it back in the water is humane. But zoos? When did zoos become inhumane? Maybe I'm just ignorant, but most of those animals were either bred in captivity or were orphaned in the wild, to the point that it would be more inhumane to put them back in the wild where they would be killed within 72 hours.

Mr. Blackburn makes the argument that anytime an animal is killed by human hand or not allowed to be in its natural environment it's cruelty or abuse. That is an idea I don't agree with. And IMO, that does make it a human vs. animal argument, and therefore humans vs. dogs. I don't really believe that men are the "masters of the world." I believe that humans, animals, plants, fungi, dirt, and whatever are all in it together, all part of nature. And I think mankind is mistaken when it starts treating itself as if it functions outside of nature. But I do know the diff. between humans and everything else is that we have reason, while everything else acts on instinct (or not at all). And I think with the pronounced difference, men have a certain responsibility to take care of the world, because unlike a deer or raccoon or pine tree, we have a much greater impact on what occurs within nature.

Me and PB were simply discussing the merits of Mr. Blackburn's views. You on the other hand, have decided that his view was unfocused and should have been focusing on Vick himself. But to me that's tired. All that was discussed to death by posters here and the media at large 2 weeks ago.

But I don't disagree with you that Vick has only himself to blame for his current predicament. At most, he should not have gotten involved in dogfighting, an illegal activity. And at the very least, he should have been more responsible for what was occurring at his property.

You used Vick's name 5 times in your initial response...i think that deems it as "focused" as well.