Winning Cures All

Michael Vick is back on the scene, and he’s not just kind of back.  The guy is on top of the world.  Vick was responsible for 6 of the Eagles’ touch downs in last Monday night’s mauling of the Washington Redskins; 59-28.  The man is crazy elusive and he can throw a football farther than anyone else in the league.  The Eagles beat the Skins in Washington like a bunch of dogs, and followed that with another big win on Sunday.  Vick went from orange prison jump suit to “Broadway Joe Namath” faster than a speeding bullet (look out Superman!).  How quickly things can change with a little dose of winning.  Sports fans are becoming all too familiar with this.

Tiger Woods, Bret Favre, and Ben Roethlisberger (formerly Worthlessberger) are three big name athletes within recent memory to fall from grace, and be forgiven, in the blink of an eye.  I’m all for forgive and forget, but the timing and reason for public mercy, is what bothers me.  Can absolution be achieved strictly by putting up good numbers?  Is the Almighty “W” just that; a holy pardon to the former damnification of our hallowed heroes?

There may be no specific time limit on how long a dog abuser or woman beater should be rebuked.  Under the public’s watchful eye the offender may tend to be deceivingly apologetic during their probationary period.  Quite possibly, we have no business judging others at all.  To jump into reprieve mode as soon as a golfer wins a major or a QB has a badass fantasy football week, just seems a tiny bit strange.  There are plenty of athletes breaking the law who will never be forgiven because they’re on a losing team; however, if that same felonious fan favorite were on a winning team, he would be instantly exonerated.  There are athletes that lived checkered pasts on losing teams that have died and are still paying for their sins.  Out of respect for their families and fans, no names will be listed here.  What can be done to even the playing field for athletes in a professional slump and who choose to partake of the devil’s fruit simultaneously?  Winners are not always good guys and losers can be winners.
J.S. Lambert