Nils_lofgren
Oh, did we mention he's a Redskins fan?

Late yesterday, ESPN.com ran a story from musician and E Street Band Member Nils Lofgren. Why? We're not sure.  But during the lengthy screed, Lofgren blasted society, the NFL, and the media for being so forgiving of Michael Vick.

An open letter to the men and women of the sports reporting community,

I am so disheartened and disappointed by your collective, lopsided praise of Michael Vick due to his recent spectacular on-field performance.

Jemele Hill stated on ESPN's "The Sports Reporters" that if Josh Hamilton could win one of baseball's MVP awards after recovering from alcohol and drug abuse, why couldn't Vick win the award in the NFL? Well, for one thing, Hamilton has neither tortured dozens of dogs nor murdered defenseless animals. 

 

We understand, Nils, many people won't forgive nor forget Vick's henous acts.  That is fair.  But what do you propose writers and fans do?  Harping on the events of three years ago will serve no purpose other than to distract us from the very distraction we seek in sports.

There are some bad guys in the sporting world.  Some not as bad as Vick, some likely worse.  We watch, read, and write about sports because it is, in it's purest form, entertainment.  Do we still enjoy Braveheart and Two and a Half Men, despite the fact that Mel Gibson is a bigot and Charlie Sheen goes on whore terrorizing, drug induced hotel room rampages?  Sure we do.

Sports should be no different.  At some point you have to separate the actor from the act.  

For the NFL to be that forgiving of evil, vicious behavior is a terribly inappropriate act of forgiveness and has brought a sick, sad, dirty feeling to many of us fans who have loved the game for so long.

And to you reporters, whom I enjoy and respect, the sentiments in this letter are suspiciously absent in your hundreds of hours of Vick coverage.

 

Don't like what Vick did?  Fine, neither do I.  But as I wrote here, at some point we have to make a choice to move on and talk about the game.  And what point do endless columns and bloviations about dog fighting, morals, and forgiveness become tiresome and begin to lose their message? Probably about three months ago.  Drop it.

It probably doesn't help that Vick and the Eagles beat up on Lofgren's beloved Redskins, but hey, that's just speculation.