There has been a lot of controversy over Michael Vick's involvement in dog-fighting.
For those who don't know Vick, he was a quarterback for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons. He was known for running ability, his ability to dodge tackles, and sometimes making a great play when he was in danger of getting tackled. He wasn't a consistent passer, but wasn't someone to be over-looked.
In college, he brought Virginia Tech to major bowl games, though they lost the "championship game" to Florida State. (to non-sports fans: as long as Division 1-A college football don't have a playoff system, the words "championship game" will be surrounded by quotation marks)
His style and his #7 jerseys were popular among the hip-hop generation. However, the more conservative football fans couldn't relate to him.
Vick's involvement in dog-fighting created a strong backlash! There have been protests, the NFL suspended him from training camp, and he lost his endorsements
Now, Vick is about to enter a guilty plea, and could face jail time for his involvement in dog-fighting.
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1) A lot of mainstream sports editorial writers have been writing "How could Vick be so stupid! He had a multi-million dollar contract, and he throw it all away"
What the sports editorialists didn't take into account was this --- Vick probably didn't realize how offended mainstream, middle class America would be offended by dogfighting.
Mainstream, middle class America view dogs as "very adorable pets". They don't understand how anyone can hurt those adorable animals.
However, in other cultures, dogs are considered "food". It is eaten by some in the Phillipines, but not all Filipinos eat dogs, and many Filipinos hate the stereotype of "Filipinos eating dogs"
In low-income areas of the South (where Vick was from), dogfighting is considered a past-time. Participation in dog-fighting is a sign of masculinity. They view any outrage against dofighting as "political correctness run amok"
It is popular among low-income European-American communities (especially the descendants of Scottish settlers that are common in the South) and low-income African-American communities.
Vick probably noticed other athletes getting in trouble for assaults, sexual harrasment, drunk driving, and noticed those athletes only get mild outrage. So he most likely assumed that any outrage against dog-fighting would be very minor and would likely last in the newspapers for only a few days.
He probably didn't expect the controversy that be so strong and to last that long.
He's probably thinking "why am I getting more bad publicity than those other athletes busted for rape, domestic violence or drunk-driving?"
2) Some say Vick ought to be banned from the NFL forever.
I say he should get a 2nd chance.
Though, if he spends time in jail, by the time he's released, he might be past his athletic prime. It will be so long since he last practiced, that the teams rather have someone else be their quarterback.
