ESPN turns Michael Vick white...

[Upton]

ESPN is under fire Thursday for creating and publishing the Photoshopped image above of Michael Vick(notes) with a white face to accompany a column in ESPN The Magazine entitled "What if Michael Vick were white?"

After immediate backlash to the image, which was also posted on ESPN's website, editors replaced the online picture with a regular photograph of Vick. The website then reversed course and, as of 2:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, had restored the original, controversial image to the top of the online story.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/ESPN-runs-controversial-picture-of-a-white-Micha?urn=nfl-wp5866

Weird. Almost as weird as the way ESPN The Magazine (no east Coast bias here) has dedicated almost the entire issue to Vick and the Eagles..

[trumad]

1. What if Brett Favre was black?

That should be the question.

[Auggie]

2. Link to the actual article by Touré

This story appears in the Sept. 5 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

By Touré, ESPN The Magazine

WHEN MICHAEL VICK PLAYS, I see streetball. I don't just mean that sort of football where you have to count to four-Mississippi before you can rush the quarterback, nearly everything breaks down and it's all great fun. I also mean street basketball. Vick's style reminds me of Allen Iverson -- the speed, the court sense, the sharp cuts, the dekes, the swag. In those breathtaking moments when the Eagles QB abandons the pocket and takes off, it feels as if he's thumbing his nose at the whole regimented, militaristic ethos of the game.

All of that is why, to me, Vick seems to have a deeply African-American approach to the game. I'm not saying that a black QB who stands in the pocket ain't playing black. I'm saying Vick's style is so badass, so artistic, so fluid, so flamboyant, so relentless -- so representative of black athletic style -- that if there were a stat for swagger points, Vick would be the No. 1 quarterback in the league by far.

Race is an undeniable and complex element of Vick's story, both because of his style as well as the rarity of black QBs in the NFL. A decade after he became the first black QB to be drafted No. 1 overall, about one in five of the league's passers is African-American, compared with two-thirds of all players. But after his arrest for dogfighting, so many people asked: Would a white football player have gotten nearly two years in prison for what Vick did to dogs?

CONTINUED: http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/id/6894586/imagining-michael-vick-white-quarterback-nfl-espn-magazine

[joeybee12]

3. Interesting until the end...when the author pretty much says vick has reached

total redemption...until he is off parole, out of the game and out of the spotlight will we see whether he has changed or not.

[Auggie]

7. He'll be totally redeemed in Philadelphia if he wins a Super Bowl

[joeybee12]

14. Not in my book...playing well does not redeem anyone who commits such

despicable crimes...he needs to atone other ways.

[KamaAina]

4. AI played high school football

also in the Tidewater area of Virginia. Maybe there's where the similarities come from.

[madinmaryland]

5. Let's face it. Which NFL team on the west coast has the potential to spark any interest?

The Raiders are the only that come to mind.

[Auggie]

6. San Diego Chargers?

[madinmaryland]

8. Didn't Dan Fouts retire??

BTW, isn't their coach Norv Turner????

:rofl:

[Auggie]

9. I expect Charger fans will have the last laugh

[Upton]

10. This is supposed to be ESPN The Magazine's 2011 NFL Preview issue..

Yet, there are at least 4 major stories about Vick and the Eagles. It's just more ESPN bullshit. With baseball, we get the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies. Football.. the Eagles, Pats, Jets and Giants. Yeah, they hype these teams for financial reasons, but it's still crap..

Heck, if Vick played for say.. the Seahawks...I wonder if he'd still be on the ESPN cover?

[madinmaryland]

12. Hey! What's the deal with 49er fans that tried to murder the fans of another team???

For someone who whined endlessly about the Dodger fans that attempted to murder a SF fan, you have been awfully quiet about this.

All you need to do is say that you do not condone the behavior of those (even if the are 49er fans) that perpetrated this crime. I'm sure that you will avoid this in your true cboy4 fashion.

[Upton]

13. Gangsters are everywhere..

they've infested every segment of society, including sports. They're not fans, they're assholes. Why would you think I condone such a destructive element? They need to be dealt with and they need to be dealt with harshly.

[rocktivity]

11. Not smart.

Remember that golf magazine cover about Tiger Woods?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-509372/US-editor-sacked-putting-noose-magazine-cover-illustrate-Tiger-Woods-lynch-controversey.html

x(
rocktivity