The Big Picture: Maddening

[The Grim Ace]

If the Madden curse manifests itself as a pack of dogs to tear Vick to pieces, then I'm okay with him being on the cover. If that isn't the case, I would hope that malicious bastard is not on the cover, some people view that as an honor and he should be spared every accolade that can be given.

 

[skfd]

Smallest picture so far.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

As for Vick winning, its the internet, I feel they are deliberately voting the choice that will make the game have a bad public image for the sake of laughs. Its not because they support him, they just find it funny that someone with a lot of hate gets rewarded and they get to watch people get angry over it. So yeah EA shouldn't have put him in the the running in the first place, but the internets going to do what it always does. The internet voted that a bridge in hungry be named after Stephen Colbert, a british special forces group use the Team Gurren symbol, and that Justin Beiber be sent to North Korea, all for laughs.

You know what, you're probably right! It would be harder to believe that any given Internet poll isn't being rigged by trolls these days. And even before I read your post, I supported the idea of him winning because, as you say, it might give people a (more) valid reason to not buy this so-called game. And the rest of us a semi-valid reason to demonize anyone who does. Hee hee.

EDIT: And you know what else? The underlying attitude of the people who say sports players should be given a slap on the wrist and sent back to their careers has nothing to do with forgiveness 90% of the time. It's about wanting their favorite player back in the game to entertain them. That's the extent of it. These fans believe that their entertainment is more important than justice. And since one of the reasons for dispensing justice is to provide an example to future would-be criminals, they're saying that being entertained is more important than preventing this shit from happening in the future, too.

Somebody needs to go straighten those people out.

 

[curtisalanmcgee]

Maybe EA will not listen to Bob, but they do listen to customers. Write them a letter, and tell them how you feel about them and their game. If they are afraid that enough people will not buy it if they put him on the cover, they will not put him on the cover. They want to make money, and anything that will stop them from doing that will be avoided entirely.

 

[Danial]

Honestly, I think you guys should put Master Chief on the cover. Apparently he sells a lot of games.

I like this guy, he has good ideas.

 

[ryai458]

Whoa, Bob seems kinda dumb to me now, I wonder how he feels about human on human violence, probably not nearly as strongly.

 

[ThreeKneeNick]

That was really bold, to say stuff like that. He deserves it, but still, i don't think many would stand up like that, and say those things, with a complete lack of sugarcoating and diplomacy in front of an international audience. You score massive points.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

He can die in a damn fire.

That's pushing it.

OT: I don't know anything about American Football or anything. With that said.

Is Vick a scumbag? Fuck, yes. Does he deserve to get punished more severely than he did? Yeah, I'd say so.

Does that have anything to do with his performance as an athlete? Nope. Is he good at the "athlete" thing? Looks like it. Should he be banned from the running?

Nah.

Now, I do believe that the reason EA put him in the running is cheap controversy-bait. But, shit, he's good at the thing the game's about.

 

[2xDouble]

Eh, weak episode

factory farming is morally on the same plane as dogfighting. if you eat meat, you eat it because you like the taste. any nutrients can be had from other sources for less cost.

Are you seriously saying that killing an animal to eat it is the same as torturing it for amusement? Don't you care about animals?

 

[Macrobstar]

Bob, I have faith in you once again, this was the first interesting video in a while and I could hear you put real emotion into what you said
Good work

 

[Hungry Donner]

I don't follow football but when Vick was re-instated I didn't have a problem with that as I think this is an area where the "did his time" and "turned around" arguments have some weight (Admittedly I wouldn't have had a problem with him being permanently banned either).

However I have a tremendous issue with extending special accolades and other benefits to the man. Letting him play the game professionally is one thing but to put him up on a pedestal like this is not. Here I have to say I agree with Bob 100% and I'm astonished EA even considered putting him on this poll.

 

[WarpGhost]

International viewer, but I read CNN so I remember this affair. Im no animal rights activist, and am of the opinion he served his time, he has a right to rehabilitation. I just don't have to do it for him though, that's for him to do, so colour me voting against him on that ESPN poll.

 

[alistairenix]

As an owner of not just a dog but a pit bull terrier, Bob, I have to thank you for this week's Big Picture. What Michael Vick did should have netted him a lot worse than a couple of years in jail and a return to the NFL. If I'm ever at a con you're at, first round's on me.

Hell, if you ever make it out to western MA and can look a brother up, deal still stands.

 

[Steefness]

Bob, you nailed this one right on the mark. You can always seem to tell how much Bob feels about the subject he's discussing by the tone of his voice when he says his final lines. I feel as passionately about this issue, the man truly is a real monster.

 

[brazuca]

FIFA keeps putting Wayne Rooney on the cover. Cheating on your wife with prostitutes isn't great, but yeah, least he hasn't killed any dogs.

Would be pretty embarrassing for EA Sports to put Michael Vick on the cover of Madden. I mean this guy is supposed to represent your national sport?

My point exactly. Playing devil's advocate (good movie), isn't the online voters choosing it? It was not EA who did that. Brock Lesnar gave a midle finger to every UFC fan when he defeated Frank Mirr in UFC 100. The biggest UFC of that time (the biggest one in terms of sale was the last UFC Silva vs Belfort).
My point is people don't overthink or even think to much about the world that surround them. Pretty shameful with you ask me.

 

[gphjr14]

Seriously, guys? NOBODY believes in second chances? I thought that the justice system was designed to rehabilitate people, and Vick seems to be rehabilitated (unlike countless others who have not changed their ways).

Nah not in America. I recall all the rage over a Marine throwing a puppy off a cliff in the middle east, despite the previous years of kids and other innocents getting blown to smithereens by the US. We have schools here in the US south named after Confederate soldiers my favorite being those named after Nathan Bedford Forrest (founding member of the KKK) and everyone is OK with it. The US has fucked up values. Yes Vick fucked up and is a horrible person for killing dogs and making them fight for sport. Laura Bush (George Bush's wife) and Ted Kennedy are both responsible for vehicular deaths but no one talks about that. Its in the past let it go if Vick is at the top of his game then he's earned his place on the cover. If he was responsible for a child sex ring or something that'd be one thing but seriously people get over it already. Its fucked up by in the long in the "Big Picture" they were dogs not just dogs, but dogs and considering he served his time for it all you whiner and complainers need to cry a river build a bridge and get over it.

All those things you mention were accidental. Except for naming stuff after dead soldiers. If the First Lady decided to run some over then that would be a massive deal, whereas if Michael Vick accidentally run over a dog than it would be no big deal. He served his time so he should be allowed to play football again, but he shouldn't be held up as some kind of role model. Anyway, if EA had any balls they'd put OJ Simpson on the front, that would surely give them the controversy they so desperately crave.

Laura Bush ran a stop sign and Ted Kennedy was driving under the influence there wasn't the intent but negligence on their part. Regardless its up to parents to chose who their kids look up to. He's an athlete, pretty much all athletes are overpaid, but who's fault is that? If you could get paid millions just to stay in shape and hit/catch/kick a ball well and you could do that you'd be an idiot not to jump on it. He's being nominated for the cover not on character, or his contributions to the community, just to play football, if thats the criteria to be on the cover then his name deserves to be on the ballot. If you don't like it don't buy the game.

 

[DirkRhyolite]

New Madden installments are more than just roster updates. They usually tweak the gameplay in several ways as well, in order to make the game suckier and to remove any of the good aspects left over from previous installments.

As far as Vick goes, his actions were not as bad as Roethlisberger's crime of sexual assault or Brady's crime of horrible hair. KFC and McDonalds, circuses and bullfighters, dog racers and horse racers all torture and kill thousands of animals every year for profit. Vick is small time.

And how is being a quarterback worse than being a physicist or a soldier? Physicists created the atom bomb, killed 150,000 people in a day. Soldiers torture and kill people for a living. And you're saying a guy who throws a ball around is automatically less worthy of respect?

 

[iron skirt]

i hate people who mistreat animals! "hate is a strong word!"... yeah but in this case it might not be strong enough. i sincearely thinck death is not a punishment enough for such monsters! treating animals licke that just because they're animals is not much diferent then what the nazis did... before i am atacked for this statemant: animals can't defend themselvs!

 

[Nimcha]

Hmmm, it always surprises me how people care so much about random animals. I wonder where that comes from...

 

[bdcjacko]

He got his second chance - he's still playing professional football and getting paid obscene amounts of money for it. He's been given the opportunity to make a living off his athletic prowess. Anything other than that? He was a millionaire who got his jollies torturing and killing innocent animals. He can die in a damn fire.

I don't know if he should die in a damn fire, but I understand your outrage. I think it is pretty sick that people still think he is a "cool guy" and want him to be the public face of anything.

Also, now all I can think of is Micheal Vick would probably play Lego Star Wars 3 in front of dogs just to make them cry.