Vick Screws Up

Damn…

What are these young guys doing; reading from the “Maurice Clarett/Tyrell Owens Book of Wasting Talent?”

I’m not judging these guys; it’s just frustrating to see young guys who have more natural talent in their THUMB than I ever had, or ever will, have wasting it…and for what?

Marcus Vick got kicked off the Virginia Tech Fooball team (and obviously is quitting school) for being…stupid…

His response?

“It’s not a big deal,” Vick told the newspaper. “I’ll just move on to the next level, baby.”

Right…a little lesson, Marcus…you obviously haven’t learned a damn thing; have no desire to change the things that got you into trouble in the first place; and will most likely be a bust in the NFL.

Damn…

Mufasa


I sure hope Vince Young isn’t reading that “book”.

Mufasa

[quote]Mufasa wrote:
Damn…

What are these young guys doing; reading from the “Maurice Clarett/Tyrell Owens Book of Wasting Talent?”

I’m not judging these guys; it’s just frustrating to see young guys who have more natural talent in their THUMB than I ever had, or ever will, have wasting it…and for what?

Marcus Vick got kicked off the Virginia Tech Fooball team (and obviously is quitting school) for being…stupid…

His response?

“It’s not a big deal,” Vick told the newspaper. “I’ll just move on to the next level, baby.”

Right…a little lesson, Marcus…you obviously haven’t learned a damn thing; have no desire to change the things that got you into trouble in the first place; and will most likely be a bust in the NFL.

Damn…

Mufasa[/quote]

One of those “legal problems” was a traffic violation for driving 38 in a 25mph zone. Uh, I can think of many worse things to judge someone’s character by. My personal opinion is that these guys are under a microscope. Many of the same people that judge them harshly would look much less pretty themselves if held under the same scrutiny. Having someone nearly video tape your life has to be hard on some of them, especially those still of college age.

I don’t disagee, Prof.

I’ve always felt that I’ve known plenty of “regular folks” lives who were a LOT more screwed up than those that are stars and/or in the Public Eye.

But famous people HAVE to know that they will be under greater scrutiny.

In Vicks case, the speeding thing is just one in a series of missteps (some of which were more serious, like drinking with underaged girls).

My point for these young guys, in the public eye, with amazing talent?

It may not seem fair…but you HAVE to be better than those guys down the hall from you in the dorm who drink and party all night; because you will be a target.

Mufasa

Hey, Prof…

I’m more frustrated than anything else with some of these young guys…

I hope that it didn’t come off as being judgemental.

Mufasa

I have no idea who Vicks is but I come from Australia, the land of Shane Warne and his mobile phone, NRL players groping a 17 year old girl at a charity golf match, half a NRL team facing gang rape charges … the list of sports stars and their escapades never seems to end in this country.

I have often looked at professional athletes with a huge amount of envy. They can get paid ridiculously large amounts of money to do something that will never seem like a job to them because it is what they love.

But having said that I also feel sorry for them at times for the level of scrutiny that their lives will be subjected to.

Granted, the examples that I gave above are not good as they are all disgraceful regardless of occupation but there was a story here recently where a rugby league player was fined by his club after he took his shirt off and did push ups in a bar when he was drunk (at least that is what was reported).

It has to be hard living a life when any indiscretion, however minor, will make the sports pages of all the newspaper.

But I guess it all comes down to choice, they would have known the level of scrutiny that they would be subjected to before they signed their million dollar contracts…

[quote]Mufasa wrote:
I don’t disagee, Prof.

I’ve always felt that I’ve known plenty of “regular folks” lives who were a LOT more screwed up than those that are stars and/or in the Public Eye.

But famous people HAVE to know that they will be under greater scrutiny.

In Vicks case, the speeding thing is just one in a series of missteps (some of which were more serious, like drinking with underaged girls).

My point for these young guys, in the public eye, with amazing talent?

It may not seem fair…but you HAVE to be better than those guys down the hall from you in the dorm who drink and party all night; because you will be a target.

Mufasa [/quote]

That is the same lesson any professional with a higher education that puts them in front of people all day long has to learn. It may not be of the same intensity as it is on these guys (considering absolutely everyone knows who they are and is trying to get a piece of them), but it is there.

The point is, I think people rush to judgement on these guys. I see people daily with much worse tempers who would never get labeled like Vic will. I simply see a different angle to this so I would never jump on the bandwagon, especially as far as some kid still in school.

I mean, shit, I was still trying to figure myself out at that age. How the hell could I expect anyone else to be perfect?

I am actually more concerned about the guys who seem a little too perfect under the spotlight. No one goes their life without screwing up. Everyone, however, won’t get it pasted on prime time tv.

[quote]
One of those “legal problems” was a traffic violation for driving 38 in a 25mph zone. Uh, I can think of many worse things to judge someone’s character by. My personal opinion is that these guys are under a microscope. Many of the same people that judge them harshly would look much less pretty themselves if held under the same scrutiny. Having someone nearly video tape your life has to be hard on some of them, especially those still of college age. [/quote]

Agreed, they do live in the spotlight, but Vick doesn’t seem to be helping himself in any way. The 38 in a 25 was while driving with a suspended license. Making gestures toward an already rowdy crowd never gets you anywhere.

I don’t know what his drug charges were, but drugs of any kind can’t be helping him on the field.

There are also plenty of other guys in the same spotlight that you hear nothing about.

[quote]smallnomore wrote:

One of those “legal problems” was a traffic violation for driving 38 in a 25mph zone. Uh, I can think of many worse things to judge someone’s character by. My personal opinion is that these guys are under a microscope. Many of the same people that judge them harshly would look much less pretty themselves if held under the same scrutiny. Having someone nearly video tape your life has to be hard on some of them, especially those still of college age.

Agreed, they do live in the spotlight, but Vick doesn’t seem to be helping himself in any way. The 38 in a 25 was while driving with a suspended license. Making gestures toward an already rowdy crowd never gets you anywhere.

I don’t know what his drug charges were, but drugs of any kind can’t be helping him on the field.

There are also plenty of other guys in the same spotlight that you hear nothing about.

[/quote]

I would guess there has to be something serious there for them to kick him out. The real question is, how would you convince someone to tone it down if they still get million dollar offers regardless of the circumstances?

It isn’t just the players that lead to some of this. You can also blame sports officials that can’t even wait for these kids to get out of high school before they are trying to grab onto their next possible paycheck.

How “humble” would you be if you were guaranteed to be a millionaire and every gold digging woman’s wet dream before the age of 28?

I thought he got kicked off the team for stomping on that guys calf after he was tackled during a game. (As well as all the other stuff that has been listed.)

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Mufasa

One of those “legal problems” was a traffic violation for driving 38 in a 25mph zone. Uh, I can think of many worse things to judge someone’s character by. My personal opinion is that these guys are under a microscope. Many of the same people that judge them harshly would look much less pretty themselves if held under the same scrutiny. Having someone nearly video tape your life has to be hard on some of them, especially those still of college age. [/quote]

While I agree these guys are under a microscope Marcus made it worse for himself by going to his brother’s former school…that IMHO was his first and biggest mistake.

I like this guy.

All he does is behaving like a normal young male that is a bit on the wild side, and when his girly coaches or university administrators can?t deal with it, he just makes his next move.

[quote]orion wrote:
I like this guy.

All he does is behaving like a normal young male that is a bit on the wild side, and when his girly coaches or university administrators can?t deal with it, he just makes his next move. [/quote]

Why do we expect everyone in the public eye to be model citizens? If this guy can get rich, play ball and succeed while still being himself, does he need to change? Unless the NFL is going to avoid him, he may be making the smartest move.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
orion wrote:
I like this guy.

All he does is behaving like a normal young male that is a bit on the wild side, and when his girly coaches or university administrators can?t deal with it, he just makes his next move.

Why do we expect everyone in the public eye to be model citizens? If this guy can get rich, play ball and succeed while still being himself, does he need to change? Unless the NFL is going to avoid him, he may be making the smartest move.
[/quote]

Because of:" Hey, how come these guys don?t have to follow the rules when I have to!!!"

The correct answer to a person asking that question is:" Because he is strong enough to take what he wants and get away with it and you are not."

That answer tends to make most people a bit uncomfortable.

His father should still kick his ass if only for being stupid and getting caught so often, but that is an entirely different topic.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Why do we expect everyone in the public eye to be model citizens?
[/quote]

I don’t expect them to, but often times the organization that puts these individuals in the public eye expects them to–Viginia Tech, in this case.

The problem is that the college wants to be represented well, and too often the public will see one player act a certain way and assume it is true for the entire football team, or even the entire school. It’s sad, but many people still feel this way.

On the other hand, I don’t feel sorry for him at all. He chose to be a public figure and put himself in the spotlight, now he has to live with what comes with it.

I can’t stand celebrities crying about lack of privacy and double standards. If they can’t handle the scrutiny, they should stay out of the public eye.

[quote]malonetd wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Why do we expect everyone in the public eye to be model citizens?

I don’t expect them to, but often times the organization that puts these individuals in the public eye expects them to–Viginia Tech, in this case.

The problem is that the college wants to be represented well, and too often the public will see one player act a certain way and assume it is true for the entire football team, or even the entire school. It’s sad, but many people still feel this way.

On the other hand, I don’t feel sorry for him at all. He chose to be a public figure and put himself in the spotlight, now he has to live with what comes with it.

I can’t stand celebrities crying about lack of privacy and double standards. If they can’t handle the scrutiny, they should stay out of the public eye.[/quote]

It was more a hypothetical question. I understand that there are rules (especially in college). However, as far as him as an individual, apparently the rules mean little if he can simply bypass the system.

With that in mind, I avoid labeling as “a lost cause” because that would only be the case if he wasn’t talented and wasn’t still going to get into the NFL.

If the NFL was so worried about problem players, or hell, even the players’ educations, they would be the ones setting the standard. Apparently, they don’t care so why should anyone else?

[quote]Professor X wrote:
If this guy can get rich, play ball and succeed while still being himself, does he need to change? Unless the NFL is going to avoid him, he may be making the smartest move.
[/quote]

Also, I only agree with the above if he is only in it for the money. A lot of people play sports to be good, win champioships, and become legends. Now he just lost his chance at any of that at the collegiate level.

I’m not ignorant enough to say that money isn’t important, and part of the lure of professional sports is the life of luxury, but most athletes want to win.

[quote]malonetd wrote:
Professor X wrote:
If this guy can get rich, play ball and succeed while still being himself, does he need to change? Unless the NFL is going to avoid him, he may be making the smartest move.

Also, I only agree with the above if he is only in it for the money. A lot of people play sports to be good, win champioships, and become legends. Now he just lost his chance at any of that at the collegiate level.

I’m not ignorant enough to say that money isn’t important, and part of the lure of professional sports is the life of luxury, but most athletes wnat to win.[/quote]

I think he wants to win but not necessarily on a playing field but in life.

If he could achieve the same with being good at any other activity he would probably do other things.

He allready has one of the most important qualities of someone who succeeds, he does not care that much what other people think about him. That is a good thing, because most of those people spend their life on their knees.

That does not mean that they have nothing intelligent to say, it?s just that they know little about how to succeed and how and when to bend the rules.

Which is why they are ruled by men who know how to do that.

According to the Washington Post,

here’s a list of Vicks’ troubles:

  1. Stomping on Louisville defensive end Elvis Dumervil in last weeks Gator Bowl

  2. Dec. 17, 2005 - Cited for two misdemeanor charges of speeding and driving on a suspended or revoked driver’s license in Hampton, Va. – his ninth driving offense since he enrolled at Virginia Tech in 2002, according to court records.

  3. Making an obscene gesture toward fans and shoving a West Virginia coach during the Hokies’ 34-17 victory in Morgantown, W. Va., on Oct. 1

  4. In September 2004, Vick pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for giving alcohol to underage girls.

  5. In July 2004, Vick was arrested for speeding, and police found marijuana in his car. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving and no contest to possession of marijuana. He was stopped at least seven times for various traffic offenses from July 2002 through Dec. 17, including five speeding offenses and two citations for driving on a suspended or revoked license.


I just don’t think the guy has much motivation to not act like an asshole because even if he doesn’t make it in the pros, his brother will probably still support him. If he does make it in the pros he should probably avoid stomping on defensive lineman.

[quote]orion wrote:
malonetd wrote:
Professor X wrote:
If this guy can get rich, play ball and succeed while still being himself, does he need to change? Unless the NFL is going to avoid him, he may be making the smartest move.

Also, I only agree with the above if he is only in it for the money. A lot of people play sports to be good, win champioships, and become legends. Now he just lost his chance at any of that at the collegiate level.

I’m not ignorant enough to say that money isn’t important, and part of the lure of professional sports is the life of luxury, but most athletes wnat to win.

I think he wants to win but not necessarily on a playing field but in life.

If he could achieve the same with being good at any other activity he would probably do other things.

He allready has one of the most important qualities of someone who succeeds, he does not care that much what other people think about him. That is a good thing, because most of those people spend their life on their knees.

That does not mean that they have nothing intelligent to say, it?s just that they know little about how to succeed and how and when to bend the rules.

Which is why they are ruled by men who know how to do that. [/quote]

I wouldn’t say Vick knows anything about success. Any success he has in life is a result of his talent, not anything else.