International I Hate Sports Club

Hi everyone,
I wish you all a great new year! I'm not a fan of Fox news but I enjoyed what Tucker Carlson has to say about Michael Vick. Check this out.
http://www.comcast.net/articles/sports- ... k-Carlson/

I did check it out. Very interesting.

As would be expected, Michael Vick has many defenders. I expect Tucker Carlson will get a lot of hate mail for this, not to mention death threats. I must say that this will be one of the few times when Fat Man agrees with what a conservative Republican says.

I didn't even know who Tucker Carlson was until I read about this this morning, but I will say this about Michael Vick:

The man committed a federal crime and served a prison sentence. Granted, he paid his debt to society (at least according to the law) and all that, but honestly, if that were me or any other other ordinary Joe-on-the-street, we'd be hard-pressed to find gainful employment anywhere with a prison record. especially in the current U.S. economic climate. But..Mr. Vick gets essentially the same job back again, making the same millionaire's salary as he did before. Does this sound like preferential treatment for athletes to anyone?

ChrisOH wrote:Does this sound like preferential treatment for athletes to anyone?

Yes. Welcome to the board, by the way.

Your fellow...
...recovering_fan

ChrisOH wrote:The man committed a federal crime and served a prison sentence. Granted, he paid his debt to society (at least according to the law) and all that, but honestly, if that were me or any other other ordinary Joe-on-the-street, we'd be hard-pressed to find gainful employment anywhere with a prison record. especially in the current U.S. economic climate. But..Mr. Vick gets essentially the same job back again, making the same millionaire's salary as he did before. Does this sound like preferential treatment for athletes to anyone?

I don't know what the typical sentence for this kind of thing is, but I am pretty sure you or I would be more likely to still be in jail for this, or if we were out, we wouldn't exactly be worshipped. But you see, Michael Vick is a big important football player, better than everybody else because he can throw a ball and is all rich and everything, so all is forgiven!

I remember something my previous history teacher said who was filling in for my normal history teacher who was on maternity leave for the start of the year. This history teacher was also the school's football coach, although to be honest, he was a fun teacher and while he did go pretty easy on the students, most people in the class were responsible enough to still get everything done. But anyway, I remember what he said word for word, and I was tempted to just stand up and say "WHAT?!?!?" but I remained silent, but he said in a discussion about football with some students that "He may have killed some dogs, but he's a damn good quarter-back". As if his athletic ability means it doesn't matter that he participated in a cruel form of entertainment.

HugeFanOfBadReligion wrote:I remember something my previous history teacher said who was filling in for my normal history teacher who was on maternity leave for the start of the year. This history teacher was also the school's football coach, although to be honest, he was a fun teacher and while he did go pretty easy on the students, most people in the class were responsible enough to still get everything done. But anyway, I remember what he said word for word, and I was tempted to just stand up and say "WHAT?!?!?" but I remained silent, but he said in a discussion about football with some students that "He may have killed some dogs, but he's a damn good quarter-back". As if his athletic ability means it doesn't matter that he participated in a cruel form of entertainment.

I wish I had been in the classroom when he said that, I would have told that moron of a teacher that he belongs in a dumpster along with Vick, what a stupid SOB.

HugeFanOfBadReligion wrote:I was tempted to just stand up and say "WHAT?!?!?" but I remained silent...

Good move. Save it for a forum like this one! Judging by what you've told us, your teacher was rather dumb, or, at the very least, bull-headed. What would have happened if you had told him he was wrong?

... he said in a discussion about football with some students that "He may have killed some dogs, but he's a damn good quarter-back". As if his athletic ability means it doesn't matter that he participated in a cruel form of entertainment.

Yep. Athletic ability excuses nothing, as far as I can see. I agree with your sentiment 100%.

Now if we had been talking about an expert code-breaker for the NSA, there might at least have been grounds for a debate on whether to throw the guy in prison for ages for what he had done, but to let him walk for being an athlete? Pfftt...

--RF

Just so everyone is clear on what I meant.

I realise that an expert code breaker for the NSA who participated in dog-fighting rings would still be completely evil. It's just a question of whether national security would justify letting him out of prison.

Here's a picture to start the new year with:



--RF

PS: I guess Tucker Carlson would kind of be like the dog in this picture.

recovering_fan wrote:What would have happened if you had told him he was wrong?

I don't think he would have reacted negatively to be honest, if I had to imagine exactly what would have happened, I think he would have probably just said sorry and stated that he doesn't think Michael Vick is a good person, but that wouldn't have been his honest opinion and he would still only care about his athletic ability in his mind.

And I love that picture by the way!

recovering_fan wrote:Here's a picture to start the new year with:



--RF

PS: I guess Tucker Carlson would kind of be like the dog in this picture.

Ouch!

(Thanks, RF, for providing my very first laugh of the new year. )

HugeFanOfBadReligion wrote:...he said in a discussion about football with some students that "He may have killed some dogs, but he's a damn good quarter-back". As if his athletic ability means it doesn't matter that he participated in a cruel form of entertainment.

I bet you can't wait until the day you leave that school you go to now. It seems like a real dump that prioritises athletic over academic achievement, and that contradicts the purpose of a school: to educate and bring sense to the masses. We are not meant to be deliberately lowering the magnitude of football player crimes and putting them on a pedestal. I am disappointed. But sadly, it is the way of the world, that football players and other celebrity egoists get away with lighter punishments for even prety heinous crimes like this one. I should know, I've seen many stories along these lines in the news.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

I find this whole situation rather hypocritical.

Yes, Michael Vick deserved getting 18 months in the federal penitentiary for cruelty to animals with his involvement in dog fights. He probably deserved more then 18 months.

But I think Tucker Carlson goes way too far when he said that Michael Vic deserves the death penalty.

I don't believe in the death penalty for cruelty to animals, but I do believe in the death penalty for rape, and the death penalty for pedophiles who molest little children.

Wow! Betting on dog fights and cock fights!

Now that's what I really call, down home, redneck, and trailer trashy!

Yeah, he gets to go to prison for cruelty to animals, which of course, he deserves.

But when some football player commits rape, he gets off with just a slap on the wrist. Sometimes not even that! He gets off Scott free!

Apparently, animal abuse is considered worse then rape!

Yeah! Like, we don't care if you rape our sisters and daughters! That's OK!

Just don't abuse dogs! OK?

Uh huh! We value dogs more than we value our women!

OK! Did I just get off on the wrong train in the wrong town somewhere? What planet am I on?

Like, what's wrong with this picture?

Excuse me! But I got to go up-chuck now!

I am inclined to believe that if Michael Vick had raped a young woman, there wouldn't have been as much outrage. Certainly not on the part of the sports media. I could be wrong, but I remember seeing an online news item once about a sports columnist who had dared to say this. I believe he was fired.