People Are Happy For Mike Vick

Mike Vick made his comeback last night against the Jaguars last night. He looked slow, but he completed all of his passes and didn't royally fuck up like Donovan McNabb did. It's worth noting that the crowd received him enthusiastically, their greeting being one of the many Vick-related uncertainties heading into the game.

I sense that people are generally OK with Vick now and are prepared to get behind him if he plays well. America loves dogs, but America also loves touchdowns. Plus, Vick got a huge PR boost when PETA took a public stance against him.

Here's the thing about PETA, their agenda aside: PETA is the girl in class that likes the sound of her own voice so much that she has her hand up for every question, regardless of whether or not she has something valuable to say. She does not seem to listen or think anything through. She simply spouts self-important rhetoric, delighted with herself for enlightening her peers. No one is interested in her opinion by the second week of class. The professor calls on her only because he knows that if he doesn't, she will complain to her parents, who will contact the school and complain about the unfair treatment of their daughter. That is what PETA would be if an animal rights activists organization could be a person. 

Being so deeply unlikeable themselves, PETA might have actually helped Vick's return to good graces by condemning him. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so to speak. Either way, I'm not too surprised to see the overall positive reaction to Vick playing again. I thought it would be a little more mixed, but no, it's pretty overwhelmingly positive. Chalk one up for the "America is about forgiveness" crowd. 

Vick To Eagles

Crazy. Sort of. Mike Vick is a good player and he was going to make some team some money this year, so no surprise that he's back in the League. Eagles, though? Why? Also, why not? Questions. Big ones.

People are pretty big on the Eagles this year, so in a way it works for Vick to go there. It gives Philly/Philly fans a solid excuse for when they inevitably blow it. "Mike Vick was a distraction, trying to use Mike Vick disrupted our offense, Mick Vick took touches away from Westbrook, Mike Vick blah de bloo." He is already a distraction (not a negative one yet, but the stories are barely mentioning football so there you go), and the rest of the excuses will flow easily after the Eagles lose in the NFC divisional round.

From a football standpoint, this is fantastic. Philly already has all that short-range offense that flows through Westbrook and working Vick into that shouldn't be too hard. He's faster than the other guy and can get by the other guy, invariably. You give him the ball in the flat and it's all good. The Eagles as a team already know how to make that sort of football work, so I think Vick will be productive immediately.

What about Donovan McNabb's thoughts? I don't really give a shit. I don't think I like that guy. He'll keep doing that thing he does, sort of doing a good job while sort of making it look harder than it is. Occasionally someone will be like "Donovan, why is this such a struggle for you?" He will be short on answers.

I hope he and Vick establish a rapport though, because a connection between those guys would yield some pretty spectacular looking broken plays. You could see a few twelve yard receptions that take 26 seconds to happen. "The Eagles have it at their own 32.....McNabb takes the snap, drops back.....looking....avoids the initial rush....he goes on the move......going to his right......looking for a man......thinks he has someone.....he has a confused look on his face, almost like he's never seen this receiver before this moment (other announcer: "I actually have no idea who that is, Bob")....looks back across the field......starts to move back to his left.....he has Vick in the flat!....Vick pulls it in and turns upfield....sidesteps a tackler....not much there in front of him....reverses course.....oh, an incredible move!....sheds ANOTHER man.....wow!!....a hard stutter step to get by one more man and he goes out of bounds at the Eagles' 37 for a gain of five. Incredible play, Rick. Amazing display of athletic ability." [the sound of 4500 Vick jerseys selling on nflshop.com]