On Tap Award: Destined For Oblivion
Destined for Oblivion: Barry Bonds is a tempting choice, but I think Michael Vick will stand out as one of the most dastardly of villains in all of sports’ rogues gallery. With steroid use, one can understand the temptation – it’s an edge, a way to get even better than one would be naturally. With running dog fights… that’s just morally on another planet to most folks. We’ve seen a parade from Hades in the world of sports – drugs, drinking, violence, sexual promiscuity that would get Hugh Hefner to tell a guy to exercise some self-control, but nobody saw “running a dogfighting ring” as a potential pitfall for a professional athlete. Think about it, to run the ring, Vick had to exercise discipline, leadership, organization, good decision-making under pressure — basically, everything the Falcons were wishing he would show on the football field.
Some of the bad guys of sports become legends and are talked about despite their misbehavior — John McEnroe, Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, Charles Barkley, just about anybody who ever played for the Raiders and their owner Al Davis… Michael Vick is “destined for oblivion” in that I think his actions were so disturbing, so twisted, so depraved that the sports world would like to forget it ever happened. The Falcons are going to try to airbrush him out of their history, as will Virginia Tech and the NFL. if ESPN checks in with him after he serves his sentence, I think people will look away. No team will touch him; whatever skills he will have left won’t be worth the inevitable protests from dog owners and the animal-rights crowd. In a world where outrage seemed dead, Vick managed to awaken it across a wide spectrum.
Cam: I wish I could say I agree with you Jim, but I don’t think Vick’s destined for oblivion as much as he is destined for notoriety. And sadly, in this day and age a villain can be as famous as a hero. I have a feeling Michael Vick will still be reported on much the same way we continue to hear about other former criminals. They might not be in the NYTimes anymore, but there’s a whole host of media outlets from the Enquirer to “E!” (or Court TV for that matter) that will treat these guys like stars.
Now not to tick off Jim with this pick, but I’m nominating the New York Yankees for this award. What a disastrous end to the baseball season for the Yanks, and the offseason’s been even worse. Hank Steinbrenner appears to be a fitting successor for his father (and that’s NOT meant as a compliment). The good news: the Yanks kept A-Rod. The bad news: Steinbrenner had to go back on his word to do it, losing face and letting players and agents know the new boss can be a pushover.
Torre’s off to Los Angeles, to be replaced by a guy that couldn’t get along with ownership in Florida. We all know how happy-go-lucky the Yanks ownership is, so I’m sure this will be a long and successful tenure for Joe Girardi.
Tim Brown from Yahoo Sports pointed out the Yankees spent nearly 400 million dollars this offseason to keep this team together… the same team that got Torre fired. Is that a sound baseball decision?
Chamberlain, Hughes, and Kennedy are all good young pitchers (especially Chamberlain, who I really hate to see in pinstripes), but after springing leaks in ‘07, this team won’t be able to right the ship in ‘08. All hands on deck, women and children first, because the New York Yankees are going to sink even further into baseball oblivion next year.
Jim: Ah, finally a topic I can completely sink my teeth into. Yes, congratulations to the Red Sox on winning the World Series and all that, but I find it fascinating that yet another trip into the postseason is considered an “oblivion,” that the Yankees are going to sink even further into. There are a lot of franchises that would give a lot to suffer the “oblivion” the Yankees have found themselves in. I remind you we’re in the media market of the Nationals.
I refer you to Newsday columnist Wallace Matthews:
But this week, the Yankees opted to go with youth over experience. They chose fiscal conservatism over profligate spending. They’ve decided to make do with homegrown rather than store-bought talent. Their new motto seems to be “Wait and see” rather than “Show me now!”
What to make of these new, streamlined, leaner and greener Yankees? How can you hate a team that all of a sudden has decided to do everything it was criticized for not doing?
Anyone who would do that would be inconsistent at best, a hypocrite at worst.
That’s Mr. Inconsistent and Hypocritical to you.
I like the approach; I think trying to assemble the All-Star team every year in pinstripes eventually chafed at team chemistry and putting together a “well-oiled machine.” If this year’s approach doesn’t work, the Yanks can always go back to breaking the bank and going nuts in the free agent market. It’s not like the Yankees will suddenly find themselves short on cash.
Torre is probably going to appear later on in my awards list, but I’m also willing to contemplate the thought that he needed a break and a change of pace. He is one of the all-time great managers, and the team treated him shabbily. But everyone needs a change now and then, and maybe he’ll be happier in Los Angeles, and maybe the team is ready for a breath of fresh air. I wouldn’t bet heavily on Girardi falling flat on his face. We’ve seen here in Washington that the Joe Gibbs of this decade is not the Joe Gibbs of previous decades. Sometimes even the great ones need to move on.
Marshall: I think both are good choices. To my mind, Vick has already found oblivion, and he’s going to spend the next few months in a federal penetiary thinking about. I also agree with the selection of the Yankees. I think Hank is going to be to George as Dan Snyder, owner of the Redskins, has been to venerated Jack Kent Cooke. It may be a generation before the Yankees recover.
Now, to my own choice.
I select Harry Reid.
When Democrats won the majority in the Senate last year, I thought Reid would emerge as effective majority leader — someone who was tough enough to keep his troops in line but also reasonable enough to build consensus and be an effective legislature.
Today, he’s a defeated man.
Consistently outmanuevered by Republican leader Mitch McConnell and undermined by his own caucus, Reid is utterly lost. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine a less effective majority leader. It’s impossible to envision Reid moving any piece of legislation through the Senate these days.
If Democrats expand their majority in next year’s election, I would not be the slightest bit surprised to see them selecvt a new leader and relegate Reid to the back benches.