Here's the problem with going out on a limb and defending somebody like Allen Iverson or Stephon Marbury: Eventually those guys, like the termites they are, will chew that limb right off.
|
|
| Defend Michael Vick? Sorry, but Gregg Doyel isn't going there. (Getty Images) |
And what was I thinking two weeks ago when I challenged Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni to leave Marbury alone? I came off like Chris Crocker defending Britney Spears, shrieking at D'Antoni to stop picking on poor Stephon Marbury by refusing to let him play. Twice in the days after that column, D'Antoni asked Marbury to play -- practically begged him, considering the Knicks backcourt has been decimated by trades and injuries. Both times Marbury refused. Just when you think he can't get any smaller, Marbury shrinks. By now he's the size of a maggot.
So here I am, unsure of who is the biggest idiot: Iverson or Marbury -- or me, for defending either of them.
Which brings me to Michael Vick.
Fool me once, Allen Iverson, shame on me. Fool me twice, Stephon Marbury, shame on you.
Fool me a third time, Michael Vick?
Not in this lifetime -- not in human years, not in dog years, not in any years. Not ever.
Other people in the media and surely beyond are falling for Michael Vick, taking up his cause. Don't get me wrong. I'm not mocking Terence Moore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution or Tom Knott of the Washington Times, because I've been there. I fell for Iverson. I fell for Marbury. And I have the lumps on my head to prove it.
Not again, certainly not with Vick, who is the most vile professional athlete since Rae Carruth. Vick didn't conspire to kill a person, "just" dogs, but considering I prefer the typical dog to the typical person, that's an unforgivable crime in my opinion.
The question is, how forgivable were Vick's crimes in the eyes of the NFL? He recently pleaded guilty to a state dogfighting charge, a move that apparently will get him out of prison soon enough -- like in the next eight months -- to pursue his playing career.
That's a question for Roger Goodell to answer in the next year or two, but in the meantime Vick is being defended, sort of, by the two columnists mentioned above. Moore says Vick has been humiliated enough and took issue with the image last week of Vick having to arrive at the Sussex County (Va.) Courthouse "shackled at the wrists and ankles." Knott says Vick has suffered enough, that his 23 months in prison combined with his staggering loss of wealth should quell the fury of "the most vitriolic animal rights supporters."
Writes Knott: "It's time ... to move beyond the matter of Michael Vick."
Writes Moore: "Just let it go, people."
All due respect, fellows, but your opinions make me ill. Michael Vick is a slime of nearly the worst order, as last week's plea deal demonstrated (again). According to new court papers, Vick "thought it was funny" to put family pets into the ring with pit bulls and watch the pets get ripped apart. Dogs that didn't fight well enough were drowned, by Vick, in a bucket of water.
I'll never move on from that. I'll never let it go. Let God forgive Vick. Me, I'll hate the man forever -- and I'll urge Goodell to feel the same way.
You have a problem with my anger? Tell someone who cares. I own two dogs. They sleep on my bed. They lick my kids' faces. Their entire goal in life is to make the people around them happy.
Vick's entire goal was to see dogs tear each other to shreds.
Forgive that? You have to be kidding. I'll defend Iverson and Marbury before I'll write a single conciliatory word about Michael Vick.
But don't hold your breath for that, either.
