oh, michael. where art thou?

a lot's been made today of mike vick's choice (or lack thereof) of clothing in yesterday's sentencing. everyone knows the details. i won't rehash them here. the short version is that he got 23 months in jail, and most of the experts think he'll get out of jail and re-enter society around october of 2009. by then, the nfl season will have started, so the hopes of seeing him in any league before 2010 are few and far between.

2010? that's a long time from now. hannah will be in first grade by that time!!! i am not really into judging whether mike got what he "deserved" or not. some think he should've gotten less. some think he should've gotten more. i just know he should've gotten something. quantifying the length of time he should serve just seems pointless. the point that i mourn today is that i'll never see one of my favorite nfl players ever on the field in the same capacity again. he may come back. but he won't come back as a quarterback that has to learn and run a brand new system at age 30. not that 30 is old (at least i hope not), but in nfl terms, youth and potential will always have favor over a guy that most perceived as a pretty crappy "quarterback" anyway. but i do mourn the loss of him on the field. the utter collapse of the falcons because he's gone. the future for vick and his old team looking grim for several years. it's just a shame.

back to the clothes he was wearing, though. why is this weird? he's in jail. what's he supposed to wear? a suit? that would be just as laughable as the black and white striped get-up is humbling. he's not going to be able to afford a suit when he gets out. no reason to pretend he's something that he's not, that being a free citizen with the right to pick his own clothes out.

so, will the heavy sentence mike vick took make any sort of difference to anyone that's currently fighting dogs? i think, absolutely, that it won't. the longer this has dragged on, that mike took a two year hit seems to me to be because he's mike vick more than what i may have gotten if i was into killing dogs for fun. similar to barry bonds, there are always going to be divisive figures in sports/celebrity. if you happen to fall on the side opposite of those with money and power and influence, you better not slip up. because even if you have money and power yourself, "they" will get you when you slip. similar thoughts have been thrown out with regards to the double-standards present here, but let's just say that we find out tomorrow that brett favre (si's sportsman of the year) has a cousin in mississippi that is running the most expansive cock-fighting ring this country's ever seen. let's say brett owns the property. let's say one night, when brett was somewhat influenced by the alcohol he's consumed around the campfire, brett swings a rooster around like it's a lasso and ends the bird's life prematurely. let's say all this hits the fan tomorrow. does brett favre spend any time in jail? do you really think so? maybe dogs and cocks are different. maybe they aren't. maybe blacks and whites are "different". maybe they aren't. but i do know this. "news"papers, sports cable channels and societies on the whole need villains. mike has always been a villain, for whatever reason. i've never gotten it. i never will.

for the last time here, i'll say that dogfighting sucks. absolutely it does. and mike should've gotten something, paid some price for doing something so inhumane. but outside of that, i do hate to think that i'll never get to see mike vick blowing through a hole and up the field like he was the only player allowed to wear rocket-powered cleats. i'll miss that and i'll always think that "the system" took advantage of him in ways that were not entirely fair.