Vick's Big Gamble

Michael Vick will pay a tremendous price for his involvement in dog fighting, as well he should.  Understanding a dog fighter is an uphill battle.  There’s not a lot of wiggle room to take the “for” position in that debate.

But, looking past the act itself, the violence and cruelty, there’s a lot to learn here about the mind of a gambler.  What makes a man do something so clearly self-destructive?  How could a man who generates upwards of $60M a year in salary and endorsements kill his own future for the thrill of gambling?

I view dog fighting through the same lens as the most ardent PETA supporter. Dog fighting is disgusting, cruel, and indefensible.  Still, this sub-culture, with its bizarre taste for blood, couldn’t exist were it not for the wad of crumpled dollars in the fists of punters as they cheer for their dog the way so many of us do for our footballers, our lottery numbers, or the next turn of the cards in a casino. 

That thrill, which we gamblers are always hunting for, I understand.  It sickens me, but I get it.  For Mr. Vick and his associates, it’s the brutality of fighting dogs.  For me, it’s always been the roll of the dice or the spin of a slot machine.  My habit is more palatable to the culture at large.  His makes us taste bile.  But, both are unquestionably tied by a common thread.  They are tools used to feed the gambling impulse that continues to ravage our culture like never before.   

It’s the gamble in Michael Vick that put him on that property in rural Virginia.  It’s the same itch that takes so many gamblers to the ends of the earth in order to get our beat-the-odds fix.  Gamblers gamble.  They find a way.  And, if no bet presents itself, the most dedicated (or addicted) will build the game all by themselves…bringing the mountain to Mohammed.   

What in God’s name was a guy worth ten’s of millions of dollars doing tied up in something so vile, so obviously career threatening?  The same thing so many of us do when we hit that ATM one last time in Vegas, when we call our bookie in a lather at 12:58pm on a Sunday, struck with the overwhelming urge to get a little action on an otherwise ho-hum football afternoon.  He was feeding the gambling beast.  While so few of us can relate to his game of choice, our nation is littered with millions of gamblers who, admittedly or not, chase the same gambling high each and every day.

Gamblers have tunnel vision.  Gamblers see right past shady friends, dark alleys, moral shades of gray, consequences, or repercussions.  In a gambler’s world, full of odds, long shots, and sure things; bettors spend hours finding all the angles on an esoteric proposition but could give a damn about the very real walls crumbling around them in their lives.  Action is God.  Action is everything, the only thing. 

So, what was Mr. Vick looking for? Wasn’t the role of NFL quarterback enough of an adrenalin shot?  Apparently not.  Are sports more exciting when you’ve got skin in the game?  To a gambler, the question is too obvious to even answer.  You want to see suffering?  Make a gambler watch the Monday Night Football game, in its entirety without a bet riding on the outcome.  To a gambler, it’s like going to Morton’s and ordering a salad.   

Supposedly, Mr. Vick got his competitive fix when he played football. Perhaps that’s why NBA referee Tim Donaghy bet on the game? Did he bet to get some action because he couldn’t get the ball in real life? Michael Jordan and Pete Rose bet after their salad days were over. I understand that. But Mr. Vick clearly got more than enough brutality on the field.  He was the action. Still, starting quarterback aside, the gambling urge, the voice that calls so many of us to do stupid things with our money and time, was not quelled by Mr. Vicks day job. 

What has Mr. Vick lost?  Seemingly everything.  That gambling voice inside him, one I know well, one so many of us listen to all too often, should carry much of the blame.  It looks like Mr. Vick will have a lot of time to think about that voice and the consequences of listening to it for all these years.  Yet, if he’s so inclined, and I imagine he will be, there should be plenty of interesting wagers where he’s going to take his mind off of everything he’s lost.

Gamblers have very short memories.

Comments

[Andrew]

9/27 - Just read this. brilliant.