I'm sure all of you watching the game tonight feel the way I do. Never
has any athlete, even the loudest, most obnoxious black ones, been
given the treatment this guy gets consistently from EVERY announcer.
Lots of athletes have been overrated, but we'd have to come up with a
new term to describe the way Vick's actual performance is distorted by
the media and portrayed as something fantastic and incomparable. Jimmy
Johnson seriously said that he believed Michael Vick was "superman"
during the halftime show. During the game, Fox devised a novel way of
showing the masses just how "great" Vick is. Since his actual stats are
mediocre, the media has made up something called "Vick yards" that
supposedly tell us exactly how great this guy really is. They appear to
credit him for every yard he "should have" lost on sacks he "should
have" given up. Huh? What kind of nonsense is that? How could you even
determine such a thing?
I am now firmly convinced that the NFL is fixing games for the Falcons
so that Mike/Michael Vick can go to the Super Bowl (and probably win
it). All this hype is not being generated for nothing. Vick had a
handful of horrible passes, thrown directly to Ram defenders, dropped
tonight. Ram WRs dropped several key passes. During Allen Rossum's TD
punt return, I counted THREE illegal blocks in the back. No comment
from announcers, no penalty. Then, on another of his long returns, Ram
Mike Furrey was clipped in the back about as blatantly as can be, right
in front of the referee. The replay was shown again and again, with the
supposedly knowledgable announcers talking about what a great block it
was, although on about the fourth replay, they did acknowledge that the
Rams were protesting that it was a block in the back. Uh, yeah, they
shoud have done that, because it clearly was! On one of Vick's
"fantastic" runs, all of which are unprecedented, according to everyone
in the media, one of his lineman was holding a Ram defender from
BEHIND; it was so blatant. But again, no penalty. Can't erase any of
Mike/Michael's unbelievable, superhuman accomplishments. This guy is
heralded for making five yard runs through gaping holes, and when he
threw a ten yard TD pass to Price, the announcers kept buzzing about
the "laser" pass he threw, and about his incredible "accuracy." It is
absolutely disgusting.
To compare a QB who had 14 TDs and 12 Int for just over 2000 yards
passing with Peyton Manning and his record-breaking passing records is
more than a slap in the face to him; it's a clear punch in the nose to
White America. But sadly, one suspects that more of White America love
this media creation than love Peyton Manning, or any other white
athlete. I hope I am wrong, but I haven't trusted in the credibility of
NFL games for a long time, and I suspect that no one is going to stop
the powers that be from placing this ultimate media hype machine in the
biggest sporting event of the year. Even though the other two starting
QBs left in the NFC playoff race are also black, they just don't seem
to be accorded the superhuman status that Vick is. Yes, McNabb has
always been overrated (what black QB isn't?), but he did produce great
stats this season. As for Culpepper, he had a monster season, on top of
the solid seasons he produced over the past couple years, yet he really
gets very little hype. All of that seems reserved for Vick, for
whatever reason.
has any athlete, even the loudest, most obnoxious black ones, been
given the treatment this guy gets consistently from EVERY announcer.
Lots of athletes have been overrated, but we'd have to come up with a
new term to describe the way Vick's actual performance is distorted by
the media and portrayed as something fantastic and incomparable. Jimmy
Johnson seriously said that he believed Michael Vick was "superman"
during the halftime show. During the game, Fox devised a novel way of
showing the masses just how "great" Vick is. Since his actual stats are
mediocre, the media has made up something called "Vick yards" that
supposedly tell us exactly how great this guy really is. They appear to
credit him for every yard he "should have" lost on sacks he "should
have" given up. Huh? What kind of nonsense is that? How could you even
determine such a thing?
I am now firmly convinced that the NFL is fixing games for the Falcons
so that Mike/Michael Vick can go to the Super Bowl (and probably win
it). All this hype is not being generated for nothing. Vick had a
handful of horrible passes, thrown directly to Ram defenders, dropped
tonight. Ram WRs dropped several key passes. During Allen Rossum's TD
punt return, I counted THREE illegal blocks in the back. No comment
from announcers, no penalty. Then, on another of his long returns, Ram
Mike Furrey was clipped in the back about as blatantly as can be, right
in front of the referee. The replay was shown again and again, with the
supposedly knowledgable announcers talking about what a great block it
was, although on about the fourth replay, they did acknowledge that the
Rams were protesting that it was a block in the back. Uh, yeah, they
shoud have done that, because it clearly was! On one of Vick's
"fantastic" runs, all of which are unprecedented, according to everyone
in the media, one of his lineman was holding a Ram defender from
BEHIND; it was so blatant. But again, no penalty. Can't erase any of
Mike/Michael's unbelievable, superhuman accomplishments. This guy is
heralded for making five yard runs through gaping holes, and when he
threw a ten yard TD pass to Price, the announcers kept buzzing about
the "laser" pass he threw, and about his incredible "accuracy." It is
absolutely disgusting.
To compare a QB who had 14 TDs and 12 Int for just over 2000 yards
passing with Peyton Manning and his record-breaking passing records is
more than a slap in the face to him; it's a clear punch in the nose to
White America. But sadly, one suspects that more of White America love
this media creation than love Peyton Manning, or any other white
athlete. I hope I am wrong, but I haven't trusted in the credibility of
NFL games for a long time, and I suspect that no one is going to stop
the powers that be from placing this ultimate media hype machine in the
biggest sporting event of the year. Even though the other two starting
QBs left in the NFC playoff race are also black, they just don't seem
to be accorded the superhuman status that Vick is. Yes, McNabb has
always been overrated (what black QB isn't?), but he did produce great
stats this season. As for Culpepper, he had a monster season, on top of
the solid seasons he produced over the past couple years, yet he really
gets very little hype. All of that seems reserved for Vick, for
whatever reason.
