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I haven't watched all of it yet. The full version is here. It does have dog-fighting in it - if that bothers you.
He is the equivalent to Allen Iverson in basketball to me as far as his electric on the field activity, and how the black community regarded both of them with. Both from the same hometown, as am I.
He is the equivalent to Allen Iverson in basketball to me as far as his electric on the field activity, and how the black community regarded both of them.. Both from the same hometown, as am I.
DRob, Both are Virginians, but Vick is from Bad News, and Iverson was born & raised in Hampton.. different hometowns, no (?)
peace.
Well...sort of. Hampton and Newport News are literally next to each other.
Lived in the area for years (it is my adopted hometown). I think the area was much more tolerant of Iverson than they were of Vick.
I won't watch the documentary - can't stand the man.
Correct on the location. High schools are in the same sports district.
Actually had a good bit of athletes come out of places on the map... JR Reid (NBA), Alonzo Mourning (NBA), Terry Kirby, Wayne Kirby (MLB), Aaron Brooks (Vick's cousin), Lawrence Taylor (Williamsburg), Al Toon, Bruce Smith (Norfolk), Paixico Burress, Percy Harvin, David Wright (MLB), Mike Tomlin
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
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I am a native of the Hampton/Newport News area. Both are essentially kissing cousins, blue-collar military towns with limited economic opportunities. I haven't seen the documentary but it's on my list to watch. I hate how the Vick story ended up turning out and I hate the choices Vick made that led to it. But post-prison I have a positive opinion of the guy. He had a nice little run in Philly and rehabilitated himself. He paid a pretty severe price for his transgressions in my eyes.
I can't say that my perspective isn't colored since I'm from Vick's area, but as someone who grew up in the area you appreciate more how hard it is to grow up there and all the temptation there is to go wrong. Now I'm highly rooting for Tyrod Taylor up in Buffalo. He is a godsend in my eyes, from my hometown, never been in trouble, very talented, and so far made the right choices. I'm rooting for him to light it up this year and get that big deal from Buffalo so the city of Hampton has a positive guy to look up to, though I don't think Iverson is as bad as his reputation is.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mr&mrssunshine
he didn't pay nearly enough and nowhere near as bad as those poor dogs.
plain and simple he is a grade 1 POS
this isn't about race, color or any other sh1t, he could be white and called Billy Bob as far as I care and would still be a piece of scum
I'm going to hurt some feelings with this rebuttal, but I'm never going to be convinced an animal's life is going to be equal to a human's life. Donte Stallworth killed a guy while DUI. Less than 30 days in jail. Greg Hardy beats the hell out of his girlfriend, never does a day in jail, got paid over $13 million for missing 14 games in Carolina due to the incident. Only receives an actual 4 game suspension, gets the arrest and trial wiped from his record, hasn't even come close to apologizing for it.
Vick does 21+ months in FEDERAL prison, has to file bankruptcy, loses essentially 3 years worth of peak NFL earnings, but spends time educating others against dogfighting, especially in his hometown. Yes, them dogs can't be brought back, but guys like Leonard Little and Josh Brent have been responsible for the actual deaths of people and have been allowed to play and have gotten nowhere near the backlash that Vick still encounters to this day. If you give the likes of Little and Brent and Stallworth a second chance, you can't really argue that Vick didn't deserve a second chance if he had skills an NFL team was willing to write a check for.
Lived in the area for years (it is my adopted hometown). I think the area was much more tolerant of Iverson than they were of Vick.. can't stand the man.
Lune.. I think Hampton Roads was rooting for both guys.. but if you're old enough to have watched Iverson's arc first hand, it wasn't just that people were rooting for him.. He actually benefited from the sympathy of Virginia's political power structure.
Remember Iverson (who was convicted on 3 counts of mob violence) was granted conditional clemency by then Governor Wilder so AI could leave jail early.. A clemency that likely wouldn't have come without Iverson's stature as a local baller..
Regarding Vick,.. I thought the dog fighting was cold. But Vick paid his debt to society, so I personally had no problem with him returning to making a living in the NFL.
Lune.. I think Hampton Roads was rooting for both guys.. but if you're old enough to have watched Iverson's arc first hand, it wasn't just that people were rooting for him.. He actually benefited from the sympathy of Virginia's political power structure.
Remember Iverson (who was convicted on 3 counts of mob violence) was granted conditional clemency by then Governor Wilder so AI could leave jail early.. A clemency that likely wouldn't have come without Iverson's stature as a local baller..
Regarding Vick,.. I thought the dog fighting was cold. But Vick paid his debt to society, so I personally had no problem with him returning to making a living in the NFL.
Since I didn't grow up in Hampton Roads, I don't remember "the rise of Iverson". But I was living there when Vick got busted.
To some extent, I was seeing the Iverson thing from a completely different perspective. What I saw was years after his indiscretions. I remember when he and his mother tried to open a night club/restaurant on Cunningham Dr. It didn't do well and I heard some negative comments, but overall there didn't seem to be the hatred for him as there was for Vick.
Now, with Vick, part of it was it was recent memory and part of it is that I am an animal lover (and PETA's presence didn't hurt, I'm sure - even if I think those folks are nuts!). I think with Vick it put animal lovers against others. And as reluctant as I am to say this, I think race played a stronger role in Iversons rep. I could be wrong though.
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