Whitlock: We Must Learn From Vick's Fall
Jason Whitlock: We Must Learn From Vick's Fall
MSN.com
We've been here before. It was November 7, 1991, Magic Johnson stood before hundreds of cameras and told the world that he was HIV positive.
His announcement rocked the sports world. Allegedly Magic's johnson taught us all a lesson about irresponsible sex, groupies and the pitfalls of a celebrity lifestyle. We vowed to do better.
Nothing changed.
Last week we learned that 28-year-old Travis Henry, a decent NFL running back, has fathered nine children by nine different women in four different states. In America, especially among superstar athletes, sex is still mostly thoughtless and unprotected.
Worse, 16 years after Magic's announcement, there are far more average Americans chasing the lifestyle that nearly killed Magic, incarcerated Paris and drugged Lindsey Lohan.
So, forgive me, I'm not all that hopeful that we will implement anything we've gleaned from Michael Vick's reality TV show.
As I watched Monday as Vick contritely apologized for the actions that will seemingly land him in jail and cost him more than $100 million, I thought of Earvin Johnson, who, like Vick, performed magic with a ball.
Vick's comeuppance and remorseful, four-minute, post-guilty-plea mea culpa shook the sports world to the same degree as Magic's tear-provoking press conference. Obviously, there were few tears shed for Vick. Unlike Magic's misdeeds, many of us cannot see ourselves making the same mistakes as Vick.
But the bottom-line reaction is the same: We hope that young people, particularly young athletes - and, in the Vick case, most particularly young black athletes - will choose a different course of action based on lessons learned from Vick's fall.
To Read More: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7160334?MSNHPHMA
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7160334?MSNHPHMA
MSN.com
We've been here before. It was November 7, 1991, Magic Johnson stood before hundreds of cameras and told the world that he was HIV positive.
His announcement rocked the sports world. Allegedly Magic's johnson taught us all a lesson about irresponsible sex, groupies and the pitfalls of a celebrity lifestyle. We vowed to do better.
Nothing changed.
Last week we learned that 28-year-old Travis Henry, a decent NFL running back, has fathered nine children by nine different women in four different states. In America, especially among superstar athletes, sex is still mostly thoughtless and unprotected.
Worse, 16 years after Magic's announcement, there are far more average Americans chasing the lifestyle that nearly killed Magic, incarcerated Paris and drugged Lindsey Lohan.
So, forgive me, I'm not all that hopeful that we will implement anything we've gleaned from Michael Vick's reality TV show.
As I watched Monday as Vick contritely apologized for the actions that will seemingly land him in jail and cost him more than $100 million, I thought of Earvin Johnson, who, like Vick, performed magic with a ball.
Vick's comeuppance and remorseful, four-minute, post-guilty-plea mea culpa shook the sports world to the same degree as Magic's tear-provoking press conference. Obviously, there were few tears shed for Vick. Unlike Magic's misdeeds, many of us cannot see ourselves making the same mistakes as Vick.
But the bottom-line reaction is the same: We hope that young people, particularly young athletes - and, in the Vick case, most particularly young black athletes - will choose a different course of action based on lessons learned from Vick's fall.
To Read More: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7160334?MSNHPHMA
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7160334?MSNHPHMA
posted by J.C. "Fanz23" Lewis, Jr | 2:40 PM
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