I'm not gonna lie...Vick was my dog. Growing up as a Black southpaw who loved sports, its hard not to look up and wish the best for one of the most electrifying players (no pun) to ever play America's sport, who also happened to be from the state south of me. Vick was the reason I rushed buy every Madden from '04 on, and the only reason I became mildly interested in the Falcons. My mom used to always compare me to Vick, seeing that I played a bit of quarterback in boys & girls club, and watching him dismantle the Vikings in OT, then beat Brett Favre in Green Bay for his first home playoff loss ever were some of my favorite childhood sports memories. We wondered where he'd end up. Would he be one of the all-time greats? Would he be the greatest scrambling quarterback of all time? Could his style of unorthodox, Allen Iverson-with-a-football play actually get him a ring?
Right now, none of this matters since everywhere you look, you'll see replays of Vick walking into courtrooms instead of end zones. You'll be more familiar with Vick bringing weed into airports than him bringing hope of a Superbowl (and not to mention LOADS of money) to Atlanta. You may even know him by Ron Mexico, and his little brother as New Mexico. I'm not here to berate Vick, because he's still one of my favorite athletes. I'm not here to defend him because he got real niggerish with all that bread. But what I am here to say is...should we really care? Yes, give him the penalty he earned and a bit more than his currency can hold off. Yes...Vick may never be what he was when he comes back, and he'll probably live on in the memories of everybody who was around to witness the talent he displayed. I don't mind that. What I am a bit scared of is how Vick's gaining more attention than the Attorney General resigning from this Bush fiasco. Maybe thats why he picked today to do so, to hide behind all the attention that Vick is getting. And normally we are entitled to meddling with the mundane while not worrying about our government because we can always trust them to do the right thing. But right now? Hell no. Push the Vick bullshit aside, along with every celeb cokehead who can't manage rehab and lets focus on the real issue for once...
...how does Joey Harrington sleep at night?
Monday, August 27, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
NFL Kicker: The Easiest Job In The World
One million, fifty thousand dollars (for those of you that slept through that elementary class that’s $1,050,000). That’s the 2005 salary of former Miami Dolphins—now New Orleans Saints—place kicker Olindo Mare (source: foxsports.com), statistically the worst kicker of the 2006-2007 NFL season, making 72% of his field goal attempts. He receives this money (excluding any bonuses he has) just by making an NFL roster. Granted, for any average person, making any professional sports team in virtually impossible—even if it is NFL kicker. Everyone can’t just be Vincent Papoli and go to and through tryouts on a whim. However, this is the case for any respectable career. I mean, very few people can wake up tomorrow and say, “I want to be a surgeon,” then be hired on the spot.
Speaking of surgeons, the US average salary for a surgeon is $257,735 (no need to write this one out because it’s grammatically correct). I know some of you are thinking, “Well what about the top surgeons?” Well, that average is slightly less than $800,000 (source: cbsalary.com). Either way, a surgeon—one whom may be called to perform life-saving operations and if an avoidable mistake is made and that person dies, he will lose his license to practice—makes less money than someone that kicks an oblong-shaped, pigskin-covered ball for a living.
I’m not saying that what a kicker does is easy and anyone off the street can do it. I’m saying that the worst thing that can happen to them is disappointment and maybe a story in the media, depending on the game and the situation. The worst possible case in which a kicker actually had to fear for his life was Scott Norwood, who missed the game-winning field goal in Super Bowl XXV. His life was actually in danger because Buffalo Bills fans were desperate for a championship. But few people forget that he kicked for the Bills the following year, so someone forgave him. Oh, and he also received his check. Now let’s say a surgeon has to save the life of a man suffering a blood clot in the brain, and he mistakenly cuts two millimeters to the right of the desired point and the patient dies. He will be sued for malpractice, and probably lose his license to practice surgery. It’s also an honest mistake. No one’s perfect.
Now let’s not forget the fact that a kicker may only have to be on the field one time—when he kicks off at the beginning of either half. Now that’s unlikely, but teams do get shutout, so it is possible. The kicker still receives a game check, and can honestly say for that shut out that he, “Did all he could to help his team win.” And each game is timed; meaning once the clock hits 0:00 in the fourth quarter, the game’s over. Some surgeries take 10, 12 hours to complete, then sometimes there’s still a possibility that the patient may not make it.
My point is, making or missing a kick does not save lives. It just brings emotion, whether it’s joy or disappointment. The people who are involved with saving lives—the policemen, firefighters, our troops, doctors, etc.—should be paid more, but hey; that’s big business and that’s the entertainment industry. Since it produces so much revenue, employees receive big salaries. Next time a kick goes wide right, don’t feel sorry for that kicker, he gets paid more than a lifesaver to do his job.
By: Johnathan D. Tillman
Speaking of surgeons, the US average salary for a surgeon is $257,735 (no need to write this one out because it’s grammatically correct). I know some of you are thinking, “Well what about the top surgeons?” Well, that average is slightly less than $800,000 (source: cbsalary.com). Either way, a surgeon—one whom may be called to perform life-saving operations and if an avoidable mistake is made and that person dies, he will lose his license to practice—makes less money than someone that kicks an oblong-shaped, pigskin-covered ball for a living.
I’m not saying that what a kicker does is easy and anyone off the street can do it. I’m saying that the worst thing that can happen to them is disappointment and maybe a story in the media, depending on the game and the situation. The worst possible case in which a kicker actually had to fear for his life was Scott Norwood, who missed the game-winning field goal in Super Bowl XXV. His life was actually in danger because Buffalo Bills fans were desperate for a championship. But few people forget that he kicked for the Bills the following year, so someone forgave him. Oh, and he also received his check. Now let’s say a surgeon has to save the life of a man suffering a blood clot in the brain, and he mistakenly cuts two millimeters to the right of the desired point and the patient dies. He will be sued for malpractice, and probably lose his license to practice surgery. It’s also an honest mistake. No one’s perfect.
Now let’s not forget the fact that a kicker may only have to be on the field one time—when he kicks off at the beginning of either half. Now that’s unlikely, but teams do get shutout, so it is possible. The kicker still receives a game check, and can honestly say for that shut out that he, “Did all he could to help his team win.” And each game is timed; meaning once the clock hits 0:00 in the fourth quarter, the game’s over. Some surgeries take 10, 12 hours to complete, then sometimes there’s still a possibility that the patient may not make it.
My point is, making or missing a kick does not save lives. It just brings emotion, whether it’s joy or disappointment. The people who are involved with saving lives—the policemen, firefighters, our troops, doctors, etc.—should be paid more, but hey; that’s big business and that’s the entertainment industry. Since it produces so much revenue, employees receive big salaries. Next time a kick goes wide right, don’t feel sorry for that kicker, he gets paid more than a lifesaver to do his job.
By: Johnathan D. Tillman
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