The Downward Spiral

I was away for the weekend, so I didn't have a chance to post my feelings about the Marcus Vick debacle as it was going down. I was, however, closer to the source of the action, since Gina and I were in the Tidewater area visiting some of her family, so I got to hear a couple of conflicting news reports about just how defiantly and ingratefully Vick the Second was taking the whole situation.

Though I was going to write about this anyway, leave it up to Marcus to provide brand new material that makes this entry all the more timely. In addition to the direct fallout from Vick's Gator Bowl stomp, which when coupled with his speeding-and-driving-without-a-license combo got him kicked off the team, Marcus today continued riding his Escalade into even more trouble. So, now he's waving around a gun in front of teenagers and possibly facing serious jail time.

Ladies and gents, it's obvious that Marcus has lost it and is showing his true colors now, and that he very clearly doesn't think that any of his actions will have any lasting effects on his life. Get caught speeding? They may take your license, but they can't take your car keys. Kicked off the team? Just go pro...

...but not if you're warming the bench in a jail cell.

I was at first mildly defensive of Vick this year, wanting to believe that he'd matured. I looked past the one-finger salute during the WVU game. I thought that the stomp was uncalled-for and deserving of a hefty suspension, but otherwise I still felt good about the Bowl. But now, like every other Hokie I've talked to over the weekend, I'm tired of defending him, and I'm quite frankly glad he's gone. And now that he's thrown all good behavior to the wind and embraced the thug life, I feel embarrassed knowing he ever put on the orange and maroon.

Finally, looking at him as a person, I just hope someone (Michael, perhaps, or his mother) can whip some sense into him before he turns into another Maurice Clarett.