by vivrant thang on makes me wanna holler and the daily news

All that Ive been givin’
Is this pain that I’ve been living
They got me in the system
So why they gotta do me like that
Tried to make it my way
But got sent on up the highway
Why, oh why
Why they gotta do me like that

Micheal Vick is probably bumping this in his cell right now, along with this throwback.

So he gets twenty-three months (or a little less with good behavior) to sit and think about how he has gone from once being the highest paid player in the NFL to a “disgrace.”

Ya’ll already know, unlike most black folks, I take the hard line with these celebs and athletes. I have no sympathy for them at all. Michael Vick was priviliged to make it to the NFL – and play quarterback at that! Black quarterbacks have a much harder road to travel unlike the Tony Romos and Tom Bradys of the league. Entire books have been devoted to the subject (notice Michael’s name in the title).

Of course it’s not fair. We all know this. However, it’s still a privilege for him to play in the league and make millions. Therein lies his inherent responsibility to abide by a different set of rules. When he was called #1 on draft day and signed that monster contract, there are certain things he needed to leave behind. A certain type of lifestyle and associations that he should have dropped right then and there.

Sure, that’s easier said than done. It still needed to be done and Michael failed to do so. In fact, he used that contract money to finance illegal activities. That just can’t be ignored.

A lot of people [read: black people] are calling the sentence excessive. It probably is. Actually, he could have gotten up to five years so he should consider himself lucky. However, if he hadn’t been down with that “stop snitching” bs, he may have avoided this all together. He could have cooperated early, showed extreme remorse, and could have probably gotten off with probation and some fines. Basically a slap on the wrist.

Again, maybe that’s easier said than done.

Not for his boys though.

When facing a long sentence in the slammer, they started singing like canaries and left Michael holding the bag. So then he tried to tap dance and lie about his involvement after promising to be come clean, thinking he can beat the lie detector test. Of course the judge is going to throw the book at your black ass! He should have just accepted responsibility then and there, like a MAN, and he might gotten the same sentence as his “boys.”

Instead, he tried to be slick. Now look at him.

Dude, you can’t go around killing these animals! I hate to say it, but it might have been better if he had raped somebody. These PETA folks get RAW over the treatment of animals. They care more about Fido’s well-being than they care about human lives.

We all know that dogfighting is a criminal offense. Michael Vick knew that dogfighting was a criminal offense.. So, tell me how did he think he could get away with simultaneously being the HNIC of an illegal dog fighting ring called Bad Newz Kennels (ignorant) and a quarterback in the NFL? HOW? Did he really think no one would ever find out about that mess? That’s just it. He didn’t think. Now, he’ll have plenty of time for that.

I know I keep going back to this, but he was blessed to a natural talent. He was at the top of his game and had very lucrative endorsements with some of the top brands. Yet, he still felt the need to have a little criminal activity going on the side with Purnell aka “P-Funk” and them. (As we’ve seen, nothing good comes out of messing with anybody named Purnell.)

My thing is, they don’t want his black ass having all those millions anyway. They are always rubbing their hands together in anticipation of a screw-up. So why give them the ammunition? Keep your nose clean and let them hate. Michael didn’t make the right choice and I think he needs that time away to think about the mess he’s made of his life.

You know who I have sympathy for – his mother, who sat in that courtroom yesterday, weeping, and probably wondering how she could have raised two sons with so much talent that managed to screw up their lives. I am sympathetic towards all the people he was helping in the community and through his foundation because his finances are in ruins, a situation from which he may never recover. I particularly think about the young men from the same streets he grew up in, who looked at him and saw a dream realized. Now they see a horrible nightmare. What message does this send to them?

You know what they say. Once you’ve hit rock bottom, the only place to go is up. God don’t like ugly and He will take you down. However, He’s also forgiving so once he gets out, let’s see what happens.

I just hope we see a much wiser Micheal Vick emerge from that cell in 2009.

Update 12/13: I just may have to rethink some of this after seeing that one of the search terms someone entered that led them to my post was “vick stupid nigger.” Doesn’t surprise me, but it doesn’t sit well with me at all.

Update 12/15: Nah, I’m not re-thinking a thing. Mo Kelly reminded me that Vick’s associates in this “enterprise” was drug dealers and that’s how the feds happened to stumble onto all of this. I had forgotten about that. I stand by everything I said here. Can we say “personal accountability?”