Perspectives

As far as a sports weekend goes it couldn’t have been much worse, from my perspective. Auburn let the University of South Florida come in and take one from them in their own house; a 26-23 overtime loss. That’s pretty much all I want to ay about that.
The Angels dropped the last two games of their four-game series with Cleveland on Saturday and Sunday: losing 6-1 and 6-2, respectively. And the Buccaneers opened their NFL season with a 20-6 loss to the Seahawks in Seattle.
One bright spot was UCLA’s 27-17 victory over BYU… so I suppose it could have been a little worse.
But as I said… from MY perspective. Yeah, Auburn is 1-1 and unranked, but here’s a perspective on other power-programs that helps: Virginia Tech, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida State and Miami – all 1-1. Notre Dame and Michigan are 0-2. It’s not as if Auburn is in bad company.

But life is about perspective isn’t it? Glasses half-full or half-empty; failures or learning experiences; better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all?

Every so often I like to pick up a USA Today or International Herald Tribune to ensure I’m getting a balanced perspective on world news and current events (and to follow the MLB pennant race, as well as NFL & NCAA football). Lately however, one of the more annoying things about this has been the excessive coverage of the Michael Vick dogfighting fiasco. I can’t buy a US newspaper without even more coverage than they’ve already provided. It’s as confusing to me as their excessive coverage of the WNBA finals. Is this stuff really newsworthy anymore?

Well… anyway, here’s some perspective for you… in light of all the press surrounding America’s new most hated athlete:

Michael Vick’s participation in the abuse and execution of pit bulls has led to a guilty plea on federal dogfighting charges, and has drawn public vilification and triggered an indefinite suspension from the NFL.

Not as many people are familiar with Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back, Michael Pittman, another NFL player with a history of violence. Pittman has been accused of domestic violence four times, including an incident where he rammed his Hummer into a car driven by his wife and carrying their 2-year-old child and babysitter.

Pittman pleaded guilty to one felony count and served 14 days in jail. The NFL exercised their own brand of justice by suspending him – for three games.

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t like anything about any one of these issues. I’m a dog-lover and think what Michael Vick has done is inexcusable and intolerably cruel. I’m also a Buccaneers fan and take no pleasure in using Michael Pittman’s despicable behavior to make a point. But facts is facts.

This tale of two Michaels underscores some subtleties within our nation’s core values system. It would be far too simplistic to imply that the NFL (or the US) cares more for dogs than for women. But the NFL, as with any other sports league, mirrors society, and seldom do acts of domestic violence ignite the kind of national outrage or the swift and severe punishment dispensed in Vick’s case.

Perspectives:

• Michael Vick abused and killed dogs.
• Michael Pittman abused his wife… on multiple occasions.

• Michael Vick is suspended from the NFL indefinitely and has lost any chance of ever being endorsed by a major brand again – and many would like to see his NFL career end immediately.
• Michael Pittman remains relatively obscure. He was suspended for three games and lost approximately $500,000 in salary. He remains on the Bucs roster and played in yesterday’s game against the Seahawks.

It’s all about perspective…