(**Disclaimer- Before you read this entry you should know that I am a fan of college football and that's what the following post is almost entirely about, although I suppose it has some appeal to those who feel that many athletes today are spoiled, uneducated, immature imbeciles. If you are one or the other, you will find this post interesting. If not, check out Wessman's page)So Marcus Vick has just been kicked off the Virginia Tech football team for what will, from this moment on, forever be referred to as "the Vick Stomp".
After getting tackled by the other team's defensive end (a man named Elvis Dumervil, no less) Vick, a shining example of sportsmanship and self-restraint, stomped on his calf as he walked by. The refs never saw it, so no penalty was called. Later on Vick claimed it was "an accidental play, and football is football." He then said he had apologized to Dumervil. Dumervil said he never heard anything from him.
Here's
a video of the Vick Stomp, so you can see how "accidental" it was.
Isn't this great? Have you ever seen such a thinly disguised temper tantrum from an athlete before? (McEnroe doesn't count. His weren't disguised at all.) Who does that? I mean, it's like an angry little boy sneaking up on his big brother and dropping a bowling ball on his groin while he's sleeping. Fantastic.
Speaking of classless revenges you're likely to see only on a kindergarten playground, how about
Kobe's elbow to Mike Miller's throat a week ago?
Miller had accidently made contact with Kobe's face during an earlier drive and made him bleed. So Kobe, paragon of virtue that he is, decided to elbow him in the throat during a subsequent play. Best part of this one: Kobe's explanation-
"You can't let anybody come down the lane, you gotta hit them. You can't just let them come down the basket and lay an easy basket in."
Why is it so great? Miller was at the free-throw line and had passed the ball two steps before when Kobe decided he better stop him from "lay[ing] an easy basket in." Priceless. Wouldn't expect anything less from the Mamba...
And these are the most famous, idolized people in our country.
Anyways, good for Virginia Tech, I say. They had to decide whether to do what was right for the team or to turn a blind eye in order to keep an uncontrollable yet talented player, and they went with the former. It's the old "Terrell Owens" dilemma.
Wonder where Ron Artest is going...
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