Vick's convictions

[post on BartonHallBenchWarmers]

By now you have all read about the guilty admission and apology that came with the plea bargain that Michael Vick's legal team has deemed is the best strategy in the federal dogfighting investigation. Recall that only a few weeks ago, Vick came out of seclusion into the public and declared he was looking forward to clear his good name, admitting no guilt and no fault. As a non-follower of NFL, unable to be dazzled by his god-like athletic dimensions of Herculean scales, I wonder what exactly is the sports/media icon really sorry for. What heart-felt sincerity can be conveyed in an apology, just weeks after categorically denying all wrongdoings in front of cameras and adoring fans? When only after the other four charged co-conspirators have also been backed into a corner and signed plea bargains, raising the number of witnesses against Vick to seven, are a few words of apologetics muttered? Admitting guilt only when it is legally expedient is admitting one is sorry he is caught and nothing else. If he can commit the same crime again and guaranteed not to be caught, would he not do so again? This is the most egregious case of a man rising to the pinnacle of the sports pyramid, creating an ego beyond his human and societal limits in the process, committed a blatant felony, and attempted to selfishly save his kingdom by damage control and taking the most politically correct routes carefully prepared by his legal advisers. Is Vick a good kid caught in a bad situation? Maybe he once was, but as George Orwell famously said, "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." The Michael Vick today has since long been a different being from the one who tossed footballs for the sheer joy of the game.