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You may have heard of Marcus Vick from his most recent display of class. After a play towards the end of the first half of the Gator Bowl and after getting up from a tackle, he maliciously stomped on the calf of a Louisville player still on the ground. Listed below are links to 2 news articles illustrating his exemplary character on and off the field.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sport ... 8vick.html
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?sec ... id=2283440

After being kicked off the team for his poor behavior at the Gator Bowl he said he would simply go pro instead of finishing his degree. The sad thing is that some NFL team will probably hire this shmuck. He will most likely be rewarded for his bad behavior with a multimillion dollar NFL contract.
How sad and pathetic is a society that rewards these low lifes with wealth and fame (infamy more like it). If he does get picked up by an NFL team, I hope some more enlightened fans of that team take some effective course of action to protest his hiring. Any thoughts on this matter out there? The direction society has taken with the worship of sports and winning at any cost has made it quite difficult for us teachers out there to teach the ideas of good character and the rewards that lie within.

He could always be as successful as Maurice Clarette

I agree with you, Kevin. It is sad that this behavior is tolerated, but remember that the NFL is all about money. And money comes from winning. So if they think he can help them win, that is pretty much all that matters to them. In general, people who attend the games only care about the team winning games. If his behavior is bad and he plays well, that is what matters. If his behavior is good and he plays poorly, he's gone. It's as simple as that.

Around our house, we make our own TV: Two X-Boxes, two Playstation 2s, two Gamecubes, and one Playstation 1 ('cause the old games are still good games). That Cloud, Yuffie, and Cid in my signature are well known -- Yea, even legendary -- in the video game world where 'FF7' shares title with Gleason as "The Great One".

I say, legalize the steroids and whatever else, let 'em live rich and die young. Brass knuckles boxing, now we're talking SPORTS!

I'm pretty sure that NFL team owners will jump at the chance to get this guy on their team. Fans, for the most part, don't really care how the players act as long as they are productive. T.O. was a horrible person but he led the league in yardage and touchdowns and the fans didn't seem to mind his antics (I think that's spelled right). Many players act out but they put up impressive stats like Randy Moss, Joe Horn, Chad Johnson and many others...they only get a fine from the league. I don't think it's necessarily a good idea to protest a player for a stupid move on their part...yeah what Marcus Vick did was one of the worst things I've seen in college football but, it is part of the game to be agressive and be the "alpha male" and as long as you're a great player you're pretty much garanteed a job. What he did was wrong, but shouldn't he still have a shot at a job? Maybe he can tone it down.

bloke wrote:... he might be offered a recording deal as a rap artist.

Thought that was an oxymoron?

This has been a very big story in Central VA, where I live, because of the number of rabid Tech fans. Most of them agree with the decision to kick Vick off the team. For those who don't remember, this wasn't his first "incident." He was off the team last year due to some 'legal' problems including a speeding ticket and accusations of sexual assault. It's a shame that he was ever let back on the team. His actions even before this incident don't reflect what I would hope would be the principles of a college with Tech's reputation.

It's a shame that he will probably become a sports millionaire and never learn the difference between right and wrong until he is bankrupt and possibly in jail after squandering whatever earnings he does get from the NFL.

Lew wrote: It's a shame that he will probably become a sports millionaire and never learn the difference between right and wrong until he is bankrupt and possibly in jail after squandering whatever earnings he does get from the NFL.

A shame? Or justice?

TubaRay wrote:

Lew wrote: It's a shame that he will probably become a sports millionaire and never learn the difference between right and wrong until he is bankrupt and possibly in jail after squandering whatever earnings he does get from the NFL.

A shame? Or justice?

The first part is the shame, the second part would be justice.

Lew wrote:

TubaRay wrote:

Lew wrote: It's a shame that he will probably become a sports millionaire and never learn the difference between right and wrong until he is bankrupt and possibly in jail after squandering whatever earnings he does get from the NFL.

A shame? Or justice?

The first part is the shame, the second part would be justice.

I agree completely.

When it rains, it pours:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10777702/

bloke wrote:

Tubaryan12 wrote:When it rains, it pours:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10777702/

I still say he is working on a career change over to "rap star".

He's certainly building an appropriate resume.

TubaRay wrote:

bloke wrote:

Tubaryan12 wrote:When it rains, it pours:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10777702/

I still say he is working on a career change over to "rap star".

He's certainly building an appropriate resume.

Maybe that's what he meant by "turning pro"?

Henry wrote:If you're putting together a sports team talent that helps the team win games is what counts. Mr Owens had talent but became a detractor rather than asset in the primary goal of a team- to win games. The "driven by profit" part most clearly at odds with a sports franchise is the perceived need for the team members to be 'positive role models". They're todays gladiators, and those were recruited largely from criminals and retained life and achieved fame through skills, not through being nice guys. There are, of course, limits to this line of thought and team owners are driven largely by the bottom line. Winning is a really big factor in that bottom line though and many owners are rabid fans themselves and want victory even if there is some potential hit to the Pat Robertson factor. I would submit that Richard Wagner was a scmuck but I still am find much of his music brilliant. Personal conduct and pure talent in a narrow field of endeavour are largely separate issues.

I really like your comparison to gladiators....I think that "sports" today have a lot in common with "sports" back in Roman times. There seems to always be a certain element of humanity that is drawn to blood sports, and while some of it is driven underground (cock fighting and similar things) some of it becomes a national pastime, with a lot of the audience not really realizing how close what they are watching is to a blood sport.

On the Wagner comment.....I was always surprised, when I was a violinist, at the assumptions people made about me because I played in a symphony, that I was a certain kind of artsy-fartsy personality. In the extremely talented people I've known, there was a cross section of personalities that was across the entire distribution curve....from really nice people to really nasty people, with most being somewhere near average in many ways. Maybe not average in intelligence or talent, but average in altruism, charity, selfishness, greed, and wanting to do the dishes when they got home from work.

MA

Men playing boys' games. And it seems the more they act like little boys, the more we like it.

Or does someone want to show how pro football has improved the human condition?

I am glad these types find employment in the N.F.L.. They are too busy and too rich to ambush people in dark alleys.

Henry wrote:

Chuck(G) wrote:Men playing boys' games.

As opposed to intensely concentrated efforts at making farty noises into a large wrapped up metal cone?

Not a sports fan myself but not willing to espouse my personal chosen passion (music) as intrinsically "superior".....

Agreed--both "professions" think themselves far too important. The latter in particular is having its nose rubbed in this truth in this 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth.

The big difference between the two being that the former can defend itself in a barfight.

It would be interesting to see how long in the pros it would take for this guy to have a career ending injury. There are a little too many fast, mean, huge guys in the NFL to go around stomping on people and expecting to play.



T