PR spin can't hide the truth about Vick
Michael's Vick's mouthpiece spoke up Monday, saying the NFL star will admit the crime and do the time. Exactly which crimes and how much time will be determined soon, but it's clear that the only reason he will come clean is that the feds have him dead to rights.
Much of the media has already switched to spin cycle. How soon can Vick get back on the field? What's the best way to worm his way back into the public's good graces? How long before Nike comes calling?
Monday Night Football commentators Tony Kornheiser and Ron Jaworski, usually two solid guys, talked about the issue during Monday night's game. They said Vick should hold a press conference and apologize. They said his PR people should craft a conciliatory statement. He could say he actually loves dogs. They even suggested he could do some work for PETA!
But is that really the issue? If Vick reads a well-crafted PR statement, sheds a tear or two and poses for a few photo ops with a schnauzer are we supposed to forgive and forget? Or do a man's actions speak louder than his PR people's words.
I know all I need to know about Michael Vick. This is a guy who funded an operation where dogs were trained to kill each other for the profit and entertainment of Vick and his friends. This is a guy who participated in the torture and killing of animals. This is a guy who ran an illegal and gruesome enterprise over a period of years, and would still be running it today if he didn't get caught.
This is a bad guy, a man lacking in basic humanity, a guy who has forfeited his right to play in the NFL... and no amount of PR spin is going to change that.
---Howard J. Smith, Managing Editor
Amen, Howard! No amount of spin can change the basic fact that this man is a born loser...I don't care how talented a football player he is, I don't care how much money his accountants give to charity, I don't care what his ethnic background is. Evil is evil. The facts come down to this: this man deliberately--DELIBERATELY--caused pain and death to living creatures that were in his power. Just because they were animals does not make it one bit less serious. Why should anyone have the least sympathy for him? He CHOSE to do these things. He had everything going for him and threw it away because, apparently, he got something--enjoyment? thrills?--out of these actions. Lock him up and throw away the key.
Posted by: maxine | August 21, 2007 at 11:24 AM
I agree, and this is true of the way mainstream media outlets cover all types of stories nowadays. "Process stories" dominate our news landscape. How will Clinton's camp react to Obama's statements? How will the White House spin bad news from Iraq? Substance is lost, and we are now told how to feel about what we are hearing. In the world of sports, where the goal is to entertain, the negative impact of this practice is limited. However, as the 2008 election approaches, this brand of coverage will serve to distract voters from the substantive issues that affect us all.
Posted by: Matthew H. Smith | August 21, 2007 at 11:29 AM
Matthew H. Smith makes a good point about process stories, but there's one other key factor to consider about them: the speed with which they enter, and exit, both the news cycle and our collective consciousness.
Vick's pathetic excuse for a life is dominating headlines right now, but once he is eventually sentenced and the talking heads have all had their say, the story will disappear from the landscape. We'll move on to the next outrage and the next start athlete, and then the next, and then the next. And then in about a year and a half or so, after Vick was a model citizen in prison and the Oakland Raiders are desperate for a franchise savior, Michael Vick will be back, and we'll be scratching our heads, wondering what the fuss was all about in the first place.
Posted by: Adam Z. | August 21, 2007 at 11:42 AM
I certainly hope there is a God because people on this earth are an extremely unforgiving lot. I constantly strive to conduct myself properly in spite of my many imperfections and regrettably fall short almost daily in one way or another. I suggest that we all, rather than cast stones and judge others, look inward at our own imperfections and attempt to make ourself better each day. Society, I submit, would be far better off if we all did so.
Let the legal system perform its' role in our democracy.
Vick will pay his debt to society and having done so should be entitled to pursue his career.
Posted by: hoopster | August 22, 2007 at 12:56 AM
It amazes me that people get all bent out of shape over using animals for blood sport and yet they insist on having the right to pull all but the head of a human child out of the mother's womb, poke a hole in the bottom back of the head and suck the brains out. They're so upset over someone betting on two dogs fighting yet they insist on the right to subject an unborn human child to the equivalent of being dunked into a vat of acid or of being shoved into a meat grinder.
Posted by: Chancellor Carlyle Roberts, II | August 22, 2007 at 04:35 PM
Chancellor:
How nice to see that those in the pro-life movement are so firmly in the camp of the pro-dog fighting movement. Who knew that all the contributions you folks raise actually go towards making bets on two dogs fighting. Put me down for a parlay on the dogs making more coherent discussion than you.
I'd write more, but it's time for my morning swim in the vat of acid. I'd ask you to join me, but you've got a fight to watch.
Posted by: Adam Z. | August 23, 2007 at 12:36 PM
Hey Adam, let's not forget that the "pro-life" crowd is usually pro-death penalty, too. We don't want to accuse them of being a "one-issue" group.
As for you, "chancellor" just because you have a baby fetish doesn't mean the rest of us have to. I wonder how much time, effort and money you give to helping children after they leave the womb. Or is it only the "pre-born" that catch your interest?
I still say Vick should be dropped from the NFL. Let him go crawl back under whatever rock he came from.
Posted by: maxine | August 23, 2007 at 03:39 PM
Vick said "I will redeam myself". Well, just saying that and finding God will not make it happen. A good long stint in prison will be a good start.
I hope they burn his uniform. He is a pathetic overpaid excuse for an athlete.
Posted by: Karen | August 28, 2007 at 01:25 PM
My heavens, hoopster. You want to let the legal system perform its role in our democracy????
You mean like it did with OJ; Robert Blake; Paris Hilton and many others?
Remove your head and look around! With money and fame come many perks. Plus the American public has an unnaturally short attention span.
Posted by: Karen | August 28, 2007 at 01:33 PM