michael vick: not very smart

I'll preface this by saying I do feel sorry for Vick in a way. He was handed a lifestyle and expectations he didn't know how to handle, so it's no surprise he mishandled it. But it would be unrealistic to expect anyone who came from the background and home life he did to be able to suddenly show a lot of maturity that he hadn't been brought up into to that point. His is an example of the need for better parenting, mentoring, and the like in society--the type that comes only from the trappings of a God-centered worldview. But still, even some such tragic things are too funny in the way they happen. And so it is with a certain incident from a few years back...

As long as I'm on the topic of poor decisions by persons associated with the NFL, a summary of a very funny SNL skit that I saw earlier today (while trying to divert my attention from the impending Vikings loss) seems in order. It was presumably taped a few years ago, right after Michael Vick had gotten in trouble for marijuana possession at the airport. (I believe this was the infamous "Ron Mexico" incident, but I don't remember for sure. I wouldn't put it past Vick to have been in the news more times than I can remember off-hand.) The "Weekend Update" anchors pointed out several reasons why this display of stupidity by Vick was hilarious--to the limited extent that sports players getting in trouble for breaking laws can really be hilarious, I mean--and a few of them stuck with me.

For one, Vick had $117 million left on his contract at the time, not to mention lots of endorsement deals. So, Mike, you're going to risk all that fortune to smuggle a few ounces of pot through airport security? Come on. I'm not a druggie, but that's what, a few hundred dollars of contraband at most? Whatever it is, I bet it's considerably less than $117M. People much poorer than you are on the ball enough to trash the stuff before going through security and just replacing it once at their destination. And we all know it's not like you don't have plenty of contacts back at home who could hook you up with a supplier in a hurry. Not very smart, Mike.

Also, what airport was Vick flying out of and trying to smuggle drugs into? Miami. Now if there's any airport in the country, or maybe even the world, that is going to be on super high alert for drugs of any kind and be more than prepared to sniff the stuff out, what airport might one suspect? Miami. Did you really expect to pull that one off, Mike? Come on, you're in freakin' Miami for crying out loud. That trick probably doesn't work in Boise, much less an airport that expects and prepares for much more sophisticated attempts to move contraband. Again, Mike, not very smart.

And I hadn't heard this one before, but how did Mr. Vick try to smuggle it? At the bottom of a water bottle with water in it. This being shortly after the whole "oh no, terrorists could mix chemicals on planes" flap the TSA foisted upon us that resulted in the 3-1-1 rule or whatever it is. (For the record, up until the recent bailout craze that could be argued to be the single stupidest, worthless, most pathetic attempt at "protection of the people" of the Bush era, but that's another topic.) So the security clones were on high alert for any liquids passing through. As one of the anchors put it, Vick might as well have stuffed it down the barrel of a gun. There was zero chance that water bottle was going to make it onto the plane unmolested. Yet again, not very smart.

It should come as no surprise that a guy like Vick was bound to get caught up in a bigger mess sooner or later. The sad thing is, were he a bit more on the ball, maybe he could have avoided all that. The guy had plenty of talent and just needed some guidance as to how to not ruin a good thing. Note to professional athletes, celebrities, and the like: if you don't possess sufficient common sense to avoid destroying your own career and life, just hire someone to do your thinking for you.