Awards, What Do They Count For Anymore?
Posted: Saturday, December 26, 2009
by Kenny St.pierre
First Barack, then Tiger, and most recently Michael Vick. Awards, what do they count for anymore I wonder?
President O'bama won the Nobel PEACE prize in early 2009, and only months later he added 30,000 more troops in Afghanistan. Tiger Woods recently won ATHLETE of the Year in a sport where no real physical training or "athleticism" is required. This week Michael Vick won the Ed Block COURAGE Award after the once-disgraced star quarterback returned to the league subsequently spending 18 months in a federal prison for his role in a dog-fighting ring.
I wonder if Hitler were still alive and now spoke of peace, if he would be considered for the Nobel? I'm curious if one day an archer will be our Athlete of the Year, or if Barney Fife will someday be considered for an award in courage. What have we become I muse? Have we Americans lost our conscientious and ethical measuring stick?
The Ed Block Award honors players who exemplify commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage. Each of the 32 NFL teams selects a recipient.
I'm interested to know what "commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage" did Vick carry out. What deeds has he done that express courage besides returning to football and admitting he made a mistake? Did not the league do him a favor when they gave him another opportunity to save face from his embarrassment? Wasn't that enough? Are they now telling us that to do inhuman acts, serve time, and then return to work is a foundation for courage?
"I've overcome a lot, more than probably one single individual can handle or bear," Vick said. "You ask certain people to walk through my shoes, they probably couldn't do it. Probably 95 percent of the people in this world because nobody had to endure what I've been through, situations I've been put in, situations I put myself in and decisions I have made, whether they have been good or bad."
"YOUR SHOES" Michael?! Think of Charles Manson. Imagine what he has endured. Deliberate on what Mark David Chapman has suffered. Now ask yourself, does either one of them deserve consideration for an award in courage for such cold-blooded and pitiless situations THEY put themselves in and the decisions THEY made?
Or envision an ordinary Joe coming out of prison for the same crime as yours and looking for a job. Imagine them seeking work in a social setting where they would work with people or animals. I'm sure if an employer looked over their criminal record and saw such a mark of brutality they'd immediately say, "No thank you." However, because you are who you are, YOU got a second chance Mr. Vick. And that I am cool with, but to win an award for sportsmanship and courage after YOUR actions displayed anything but courage is ridiculous, especially when you consider that while you were training dogs to fight and kill, and later serving time, some of your teammates were out in their communities doing volunteer service work. Those are the real men of courage. They are the ones more deserving of the award
"There's always consequences behind certain things and repercussions behind them, too. And then you have to wake up every day and face the world, whether they perceive you in the right perspective, it's a totally different outlook on you. You have to be strong, believe in yourself, be optimistic. That's what I've been able to do. That's what I display."
What you exhibit Michael is a man who has gotten a second chance to play a "game" you love, where people will easily forget a player's off the field shortcomings if he performs well enough on the field. The rest of us don't have that luxury.
According to the Associated Press, The Eagles were criticized by animal rights activists for signing Vick less than a month after he was released from prison. Dozens of protesters voiced their outrage outside the team's practice facility the day after Vick was signed, and many fans threatened to give up their tickets. Animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, issued a statement reprimanding the Eagles for giving Vick the award.
Now here are the people who spoil it for the rest of us who seek justice, common sense, and reason - these activist, who I am sure declare themselves American - can't help but voice their opinions on punishing a criminal again for the same crime because of their dissatisfaction of due process. It's people like them who do more to entice award committees to give awards to undeserving recipients like Vick, as a sort of "in-your-face" gesture from those in authority who run things. I believe if these activist hadn't of wasted so much of their energy trying to keep Vick off the field after his return, that maybe now the public would be listening to their award declamations. Instead, they just sound like a bunch of whiners who can't let go of the past.
" The Philadelphia Eagles fumbled when they gave Michael Vick the Ed Block Courage Award, which was named after a man who advocated in behalf of abused children ," the PETA statement read. "Michael Vick should not be the person anyone points to as a model of sportsmanship, even though he has now exchanged dogs for touchdowns after serving time for extreme cruelty to animals. We wish him well in educating others, but this is not appropriate and does not mark a joyous moment in NFL history." Vick has spent time working with the Humane Society of the United States as a speaker. He speaks about the mistakes he made in getting involved in dog-fighting.
"It was a big obstacle proving I'm worthy of a second chance," Vick said. "It doesn't stop here. I have to continue to prove that. I think it's not going to be a day-to-day process, it's going to be a year-in, year-out process. It's a challenge to myself. The thing I told [NFL commissioner] Roger [Goodell] is that four or five years from now, I'm going to come to him and say, 'Everything I told you I was going to do, I'm still doing it.' And that's what I pride myself on and that's my focus and that's my goal."
You have gotten a second chance Michael, but an award in courage is much more than you deserve. You are a guy who screwed-up and that's that! Live with it and give the award to one of your more deserving teammates.
As for Tiger, not only has he been named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year, but he shares the January 2010 cover of Golf Digest with Barack Obama. Their website says, "TIGER AND OBAMA -- Writers and players share what they think the president and the world's best golfer can learn from each other."
Yes, I am dying to hear how O'bama explains to Tiger his justification for the Nobel Peace Prize in the midst of 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, while Tiger explicates his reasons of infidelity to the President. Let them express their mirth and enjoy a beer together as more people die in fighting, and Tiger's wife distances herself from her family's shame.
Politics and sport are too often portrayed as vehicles for "character building," supposedly able to install into a community some worthwhile ideals and values. Maybe however, it is instead a testament to the society in which they thrive. Maybe parents should spend more time teaching and instructing their young men the importance of family, the value of peace, and the measure of courage - instead of the mechanics of a good golf swing, great oracles, or how to throw a football. Maybe we Americans have forgotten that that is how real character is built.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)You made some very good points, Kenny. Happy New Year to you! MarijoThanks, and Happy New Year to you also Marijo!
Tiger is one who has pratice getting his balls out of a trap but Obama is a severe disappointment to me who had voted for him.
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