Humility, Or, Why I Stopped Rooting for Tiger Woods and Started Rooting for Michael Vick

I remember back in 2006 watching Michael Vick on the Atlanta Falcons and thinking how he seemed like a jerk and was overrated as a Quarterback. Then, a year later, we all heard about the dogfighting ring. Then, my opinion of him was that he was evil and pretty much deserved to die by being thrown into a pack of hungry Pit bulls.

Around the same time, I recall being enamored by Tiger Woods and watching any Golf tournament he was in. He was not only electrifying on the course, but he also displayed an infectious charm. Pretty much everyone was in love with Tiger Woods.

Then, both men personally self-destructed. Vick was convicted of the dogfighting and sent to jail and Tiger was exposed as a serial cheater and isolated himself in his Orlando house. Two superstars crashed and burned.

Fast forward to 2010, both men are out there again trying to carry on and play their respective sports.

Surprisingly, I’ve found myself rooting for Michael Vick to do well, and rooting against Tiger Woods. This is a complete 180 degree change from just a few years ago. It got me thinking about how this could’ve happened and why I felt this way.

It all comes down to humility. I still don’t believe Tiger has been humbled. First, he never really owned up to it, but rather blamed the media for everything. Second, he didn’t take any real time off to rehabilitate. He played in the Masters only a few short months after he was caught by his wife sleeping with everyone from porn stars to the neighbor’s daughter.

Now granted, he didn’t kill anyone, but what he did was so compulsive and slimy that I felt he could have taken more time, especially considering the incalculable damage to his wife and children. After all, not only did he have sex with every woman except his wife, he was did it with a waitress in a parked car while his wife went into labor with their first child. Ouch.

If he had taken a year off from golf to be with his wife and children and work on himself the way he works on his swing, there is no doubt he would have held the marriage together.

But instead he went on chasing glory and the thrill of the win. He’s addicted to that rush. So, for him, sinking a putt and hearing the cheers is like a hit off a crack pipe.

At tournament press conferences, he’s so defensive and gives the evil stare to anyone who would sink so low as to ask him about his affairs. He acts like they have no class. Tiger reminds me of a dried drunk in that he’s off the sauce, but not really recovering or working a program.

He also did that insane Nike commercial with his dead Dad’s voice asking “What have you learned?” It’s unthinkable that he would exploit his dead dad and his wife’s pain for the sake of his sports image. His ego has taken over him like a cancer. There is no more Eldrick (his birth name), it’s only Tiger.

This was all clear to me at the 2010 Chevron World Challenge. He was tied with Graeme McDowell going into the final hole. Tiger hit an amazing approach shot that landed three feet from the pin. The crowd erupted and Tiger did a double fist pump as usual. But his fist pump was no longer natural- it now seems contaminated with anger and venom.

Graeme, on the other hand, seemed pure and humble in comparison. Graeme sunk an amazing putt to beat Tiger. Afterwards, instead or praising Graeme’s spectacular play he simply said he didn’t do enough to win. He comes off pissy.

We all have feelings and emotion when we watch sports, so it’s no wonder we are tuned in to the athlete as a person. And the composite feeling I have for Tiger is bad. He’s like the protagonist in a movie who hasn’t gone through a full Second Act. It’s like Tiger needs the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future to break him down.

On the other hand, I always thought Vick was an evil creep. But for some reason, over the course of this NFL season, I found myself really pulling for Vick to escape tacklers and lead his team to victory. And, I’m not even a big Eagles fan.

The thing is Michael Vick has been through the Valley of Death. You can see the shame in his eyes. He is just happy to be out of jail and given a second chance. He’s humble.

Jail may have been the best thing that ever happened to Vick. Think about how awful he must have felt to be in the prison yard wearing State-issued clothes playing all-time QB with the inmates. He had a lot of time to reflect on how he had everything and threw it away. And I’m certain he is still haunted by what he did to those dogs.

Unlike Woods, Vick has become dedicated to helping others avoid his mistakes by speaking at schools to kids about not making the mistake he made. He has no denial at all, it’s all out in the open and he has taken responsibility. Believe it or not, he’s a great model for young people.

Vick also has become a Christian. He always points up after a score or thanks God before a press conference. I’m not saying this is necessary for humility, but if you have God in your life, then there’s no way you can actually be God. It puts thing in perspective and creates a mind-set in which humility can flourish.

Finally, Vick has become open-minded and willing to listen to coaches and elders. He has great mentors in both Tony Dungy and Andy Reid. Tony has helped him become a better human being and Andy has helped him become a better football player. Who knew we’d ever see Vick turn into one of the Leagues’s premier pocket Quarterbacks?

Another thing that helped turn me into a Vick fan was that he was totally happy being Kevin Kolb’s backup. After playing amazingly in the game in Detroit when Kolb was hurt, he said “This is Kevin’s team, I’m just doing what I can till he’s healthy.” To say that knowing how much talent he was sitting on takes class and respect.

I’m not the only one who likes to watch Vick now. Just about every Eagles game gets the highest TV ratings for the NFL, which is why many games in the second half of the season were moved to prime time. Even Obama seems to be a fan.

Time will tell if Vick can keep it up. Time will also tell if Tiger can overcome his own ego and allow humility into his heart. Then, we can all cheer carefree when he does some amazing Tiger shot.

For the time being however, I’ll be cheering for the Philadelphia Eagles and pretty much any European golfer.

Cousin Billy Celebrates Eagles Win

Just when I think spoofing Eagles fans is played out, something like this comes along to inspire and renew. It gets good at 1:30. (I imagine how funny it would be if someone told him there was a flag on the play)

LINK HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6EjS_h-6es&t=1m40s

A Real Show

This past weekend I saw 1812 Productions yearly political satire show called "This is the Week That Is" and it was great. It was well written, interesting, lively, had tons of set and costume changes and muscial numbers, a bit of improv and the video design was off the charts. They had three separated screens of different sizes all with projections working in tandem. There must have been 100 images, videos, audio cues. (you can see from the pic the vividness of costumes, good lighting and the screens in background)

The amount of work that goes into this is huge. However, they have hired professionals across the board- people who do this stuff year-round and so are always learning and able to add value. I feel I can never get to this level without scrapping certain things with our show. This show reminds me why people specialize and why people go to school to learn how to put on a show. We are just small potatoes and will never expand unless there is major changes. But maybe that's ok. I don't know.

Away Game

The other night we performed a few pieces at a show with some other comedy acts. The other performers were all great and very nice people. I think we did ok, but I always get weirded out performing in front of other performers. Not sure why. Feels like an "away game" on someone else's field. When we do our Fringe run at Society Hill Playhouse we are in our element and the show, while made up of many pieces, is like one complete 'thought' whereas everytime we do a section or sketch or show one video it never feels quite right.

In the end though, none of this matters anyway...

Downtime?

October was supposed to be nothing more than me lying on the couch all weekend slothed out watching football and napping. I've done some of that but all the sudden my schedule is pretty full with readings, performances, meetings and the national film challenge.

I've also been motivated to write a few pieces, including a longer play called "Three Dicks from Austin" about Lance Armstrong, Andy Roddick and Matthew McConneghey trying to solve a mystery. Also, working on "Middle Class Hero" a monologue about a guy giving Commencement address to Stockton State U about the benefits of just being mediocre. And, "Testosteroned" about a guy at a Bachelor Party who ODs on testosterone and gets a little too crazy. And I'm doing some prelim research for a possible documentary on the infamous Eagles Court. I'm endlessly fascinated by insane Eagles fans, what can i say...

Walking on Air

We are in the middle of our Fringe run. Feeling really good as we our first three shows were all sold out (90 seats). I always feel like no one will come, and then this happens. I'm very grateful. But, I know this show is very good, I must say - the best one yet by far. It's fast, tight and funny. Two years ago, City Paper reviewed Wawapalooza 2 and said it had some funny quips but overall was "mildly entertaining" This motivated me and the crew to work harder and erase the "mildly" from the entertaining. So, fast fwd two years later, City Paper reviewed Friday's show and had this to say:
"Suprisingly spot-on. Smart, inspired bits of funny business." It feels good because we earned it.

Wawapalooza 4 Rehearsal Pics