Michael Vick

[bushwacked]

i think your math is a little off by a few decimal points. vick makes, what, around $10 million per year? in that case, $10K is 1/1000th of his salary -- the equivalent to someone making $100K chipping in a hundred bucks. not a dime.

 

have you chipped in a hundred bucks? if not i suggest you shut the f*ck up.

 

 

[Azazello1313]

Personally I don't parade around announcing my charitable contributions to the world so that somebody might come along and give me a pat on the back.

 

 

no, you parade around belittling and browbeating others for dropping a hundred bucks toward a cause to which you've donated jack-chit.

 

my take was vick was trying to use his status as the highest profile VT alum in the country to prod others into giving. tough to use that clout to help out if nobody knows about it, isn't it? maybe he could have given more, but i figure it sure as hell isn't my place to question the motives of ANYONE who just wrote out a check for 10 grand.

[WaterMan]

Highest paid donating money.

[Azazello1313]

My final comment on this whole topic:

 

If Vick wanted to help get others to raise money for the cause (which must have been his intent), he could have done it more effectively. If he wanted to genuinely help without the notariety of calling a press conference, he would have done so.

 

For the last time, I think it's great that he helped ... however, without giving a single penny more, he could have made his $10k gift go so much farther if he simply would have thought about how he could have had the most influence for the cause.

 

 

i don't really get your drift. in one breath, you say he should have come out saying he'd match any donations up to X amount in order to bring in more donations. in the next breath, you say if he geniunely wanted to help, he would have given money without bringing any attention at all. well how is he supposed to use his status to help bring in more donations if he's not calling a press conference, etc? does your gripe boil down to the fact that he said, "i'm donating money with the hope that others will follow suit" instead of going with the "matching" gimmick?

[whoopazz]

no, you parade around belittling and browbeating others for dropping a hundred bucks toward a cause to which you've donated jack-chit.

 

my take was vick was trying to use his status as the highest profile VT alum in the country to prod others into giving. tough to use that clout to help out if nobody knows about it, isn't it? maybe he could have given more, but i figure it sure as hell isn't my place to question the motives of ANYONE who just wrote out a check for 10 grand.

 

 

Please tell us Grits (azz clown), how much have you given to this cause?

[Grits and Shins]

no, you parade around belittling and browbeating others for dropping a hundred bucks toward a cause to which you've donated jack-chit.

 

my take was vick was trying to use his status as the highest profile VT alum in the country to prod others into giving. tough to use that clout to help out if nobody knows about it, isn't it? maybe he could have given more, but i figure it sure as hell isn't my place to question the motives of ANYONE who just wrote out a check for 10 grand.

 

 

 

Please tell us Grits (azz clown), how much have you given to this cause?

 

 

Should I call a press conference to announce it to the world? That way you can all pat me on the back. Not gonna happen, it is none of your business.

 

You are naive if you believe Vick did it "to prod others into giving".

 

BTW ... name calling sure lends strength to your position

Edited April 19, 2007 by Grits and Shins

[bushwacked]

Should I call a press conference to announce it to the world?

 

 

 

No moran, you should stick to criticizing those that are helping.

[WaterMan]

You are naive if you believe Vick did it "to prod others into giving".

 

 

Are you Vick's girlfriend or something to know what Vick was thinking? Because that's the only way I see you can say that like it's a fact.

 

PS: You're a lucky person to be his girlfriend.

[broncosn05]

How can you criticize? I'm with Nick he is the first one to donate, hopefully sparking more players to do so, and is a great gesture.

[Brentastic]

I'm not sure how much Vick makes, but I did a quick computation based on $50 million - based on a $50 million salary, 10K (Vick's contribution) is .02% of 50 mil - which is equivalent to a person that makes $30K donating $6.

[godtomsatan]

Yes ... continue to shift and deflect.

 

 

You seem to have the moral compass to judge the quality of a contribution to a particular cause, yet can't offer up a more in depth answer when put in front of you?

 

Once again, I ask does complaining about someone who chose to do something in this situation fall under your earlier description of something "other" or "better" to do?

 

Personally I don't parade around announcing my charitable contributions to the world so that somebody might come along and give me a pat on the back.

 

 

That's OK because the charity would probably not want the association with such a black heart and would appreciate it if no such announcement was made.

Edited April 19, 2007 by godtomsatan

[muck]

i don't really get your drift. in one breath, you say he should have come out saying he'd match any donations up to X amount in order to bring in more donations. in the next breath, you say if he geniunely wanted to help, he would have given money without bringing any attention at all. well how is he supposed to use his status to help bring in more donations if he's not calling a press conference, etc? does your gripe boil down to the fact that he said, "i'm donating money with the hope that others will follow suit" instead of going with the "matching" gimmick?

 

 

Aparently, I'm breathless from all this yapping.

 

1) Mike Vick's $10k will help the families in need. This is good.

2) Mike Vick's stated objective is to raise awareness and help the families. This is noble.

3) He gave $10k in the hopes that it would get people off their duff. This may work, or it may not work. If this was his intent, then he could have been more helpful by structuring his gift differently.

4) Matching gifts are not gimmicky. They are used all the time by donors who want to leverage their resources to effect action. In fact, they are used by the most savvy of donors.

 

While he could probably have spared more $$s to the cause, my beef with Vick is not that he didn't give enough. My beef is that if his intent was to really have the largest impact he could for a given level of financial committment, he could have gone about managing his affairs much more effectively. Because of my impression of the size of the differential between the impact he is having and the impact he could have had is so significantly large, the cynic in me says that he was only doing this for a PR move and very much as an afterthought. Had he really gone about this in a way to get more than himself on board, he would have made much more spectacular progress.

 

For an analogy (sorry, DMD, but it is political in nature ... please don't kill the thread) ... the USA doesn't have many troops from other countries along side it in the middle east because it didn't garner enough support prior to the deployment. Same with Vick.

 

He could have done some work behind the scenes prior to announcing the gift by calling other VaTech athletes to pull together more money ... $25k ... $100k ... $250k ... whatever. He could have stood on the podium by himself announcing the gift from the "VaTech Athletes Who Care Fund" or he could have shared the stage with all the other athletes who wanted to raise awareness, too. It wouldn't really matter.

 

Tell me that this wouldn't have been effective ...

Vick: "Hey, I'm trying to get other guys from VaTech to give some money to those families who had kids die in that shooting this week."

Hall: "How much are you trying to raise?"

Vick: "At least $25 grand total, maybe $50 grand."

Hall: "Ok. How much you doing?"

Vick: "$10 grand, maybe more."

Hall: "Who else you calling?"

Vick: "You first. I figure if you're in and I'm in, we'll have a better chance of getting others on board too. How much you want to do?"

Hall: "Ok. I'll do five."

Vick: "Great. Thanks. Send the check to the United Way, care of VaTech Athletes Who Care Fund."

Hall: "Call my agent with it; he'll get the check out."

Vick: "Great. Thanks."

 

...rinse...

...repeat...

[godtomsatan]

I'm not sure how much Vick makes, but I did a quick computation based on $50 million - based on a $50 million salary, 10K (Vick's contribution) is .02% of 50 mil - which is equivalent to a person that makes $30K donating $6.

 

 

Just as pertinent, if you made $250 billion a year, a $10,000 contribution would be equivalent to someone making $42,000 a year less than one penny.

 

In other words, Michael Vick doesn't have a $50,000,000 salary.

Edited April 19, 2007 by godtomsatan

[WaterMan]

No one would care if you had a press conference anyways. So are you jealous?

[Brewer]

This has turned into what is possibly the dumbest thread that I have ever read in these forums. That is no small feat.

[Grits and Shins]

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/53/20CG.html

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/spec...te50/index.html

 

$130 million dollars from Atlanta for 10 years, so $13 million per year just from the Falcons

$7 million dollars per year in endorsement deals with crappy shoes from spammers, Coca Cola, Kraft and Rawlings

 

10th highest paid athlete, 2nd highest paid football player (last year)

 

$23 million dollars per year in BASE PAY alone: http://stickandballguy.com/blog/2007/01/11...es-oranges-etc/

 

So just looking at his BASE PAY $10,000 is equivalent to a Huddler making $100k per year giving $43.

 

However, I'd bet my bottom dollar that Vick makes more than $23M per year.

 

godtomsatan ... you just keep shifting and deflecting ... it is what all good Vick apologists do ... they never want to evaluate Vick himself they want to examine the motives of those that are discussing Vick's merits or lack thereof.

[WaterMan]

I didn't see his question answered.

[Grits and Shins]

I didn't see his question answered.

 

 

His question is irrelevant and designed specifically to shift and deflect the focus from Vick's inadequacies ... it is what Vick apologists are best at.

[godtomsatan]

godtomsatan ... you just keep shifting and deflecting ... it is what all good Vick apologists do ... they never want to evaluate Vick himself they want to examine the motives of those that are discussing Vick's merits or lack thereof.

 

 

Michael Vick made a $10,000 contribution to this fund. There's your evaluation.

 

You have made absolutely clear what Vick's motives are. You have have stated that he could do "other" and "better" things. Since you have certainty about what such things are, it's only fair to ask if your bitter and pathetic grown-up baby attitude towards a professional athlete falls within this spectrum.

 

Honest to goodness, it's downright disgusting that anyone would bring up negatives on this. Where are the other contributors to this from noteworthy Hokie alums? Kevin Jones? DeAngelo Hall? Bruce Smith? Shayne Graham? How about former CEO of Exxon Clifton Garvin who has more money than Michael Vick will ever dream of. What's he doing? Would the public respond to a contribution from the Bimbo Coles foundation?

 

Of course Michael Vick's name is going to generate more interest than anyone else and you all bad mouth it? The fact that you people aren't just criticizing him, but using such a virulent and hateful manner and tone, it just is really somewhat alarming that you choose this action of his to react in such a manner.

Edited April 20, 2007 by godtomsatan

[kpholmes]

Honest to goodness, it's downright disgusting that anyone would bring up negatives on this. Where are the other contributors to this from noteworthy Hokie alums? Kevin Jones? DeAngelo Hall? Bruce Smith? Shayne Graham? How about former CEO of Exxon Clifton Garvin who has more money than Michael Vick will ever dream of. What's he doing? Would the public respond to a contribution from the Bimbo Coles foundation?

 

 

Agreed.

Vick is no where close to being everyone's favorite person, but I can't see any reason why anyone should be criticizing this.

 

How much money did all of you donate to VT??

[Azazello1313]

Aparently, I'm breathless from all this yapping.

 

1) Mike Vick's $10k will help the families in need. This is good.

2) Mike Vick's stated objective is to raise awareness and help the families. This is noble.

3) He gave $10k in the hopes that it would get people off their duff. This may work, or it may not work. If this was his intent, then he could have been more helpful by structuring his gift differently.

4) Matching gifts are not gimmicky. They are used all the time by donors who want to leverage their resources to effect action. In fact, they are used by the most savvy of donors.

 

While he could probably have spared more $$s to the cause, my beef with Vick is not that he didn't give enough. My beef is that if his intent was to really have the largest impact he could for a given level of financial committment, he could have gone about managing his affairs much more effectively. Because of my impression of the size of the differential between the impact he is having and the impact he could have had is so significantly large, the cynic in me says that he was only doing this for a PR move and very much as an afterthought. Had he really gone about this in a way to get more than himself on board, he would have made much more spectacular progress.

 

For an analogy (sorry, DMD, but it is political in nature ... please don't kill the thread) ... the USA doesn't have many troops from other countries along side it in the middle east because it didn't garner enough support prior to the deployment. Same with Vick.

 

He could have done some work behind the scenes prior to announcing the gift by calling other VaTech athletes to pull together more money ... $25k ... $100k ... $250k ... whatever. He could have stood on the podium by himself announcing the gift from the "VaTech Athletes Who Care Fund" or he could have shared the stage with all the other athletes who wanted to raise awareness, too. It wouldn't really matter.

 

Tell me that this wouldn't have been effective ...

Vick: "Hey, I'm trying to get other guys from VaTech to give some money to those families who had kids die in that shooting this week."

Hall: "How much are you trying to raise?"

Vick: "At least $25 grand total, maybe $50 grand."

Hall: "Ok. How much you doing?"

Vick: "$10 grand, maybe more."

Hall: "Who else you calling?"

Vick: "You first. I figure if you're in and I'm in, we'll have a better chance of getting others on board too. How much you want to do?"

Hall: "Ok. I'll do five."

Vick: "Great. Thanks. Send the check to the United Way, care of VaTech Athletes Who Care Fund."

Hall: "Call my agent with it; he'll get the check out."

Vick: "Great. Thanks."

 

...rinse...

...repeat...

 

 

he's got his own charitable foundation that is actively trying to solicit donations, and he kicked these efforts off by donating $10K of his own money, which may not be an enormous sum for him, but is still a lot of money. i'm sorry, but i just see these efforts to critique the manner in which he stepped up -- when i've yet to see anyone here, or anywhere else for that matter, step up in anywhere close to the same manner -- as being ill-placed and really just petty and small. who personally is doing more than mike vick toward this cause right now? and even if there is someone, is that a good reason to take shots at vick? it's also kind of sickening that these critiques seem to be driven (certainly in grits' case) by distaste toward vick based on how he plays football.

Edited April 20, 2007 by Azazello1313

[whomper]

Yeah? What lools "lamer," him doing something, regardless of how it is done, or the 13,269 Huddlers doing nothing but reading comments on how what he is doing is cheap and self-serving...and doing nothing about it themselves.

 

$10 from every Huddler would be a good thing, don't you think?

 

 

 

Count me in.

 

In fact, if we each just gave $1, it would be more than Vick. And I didn't even get a scholarship worth $80K from VT.

 

 

 

 

If 10 dollars covers me and my aliases the huddle will end up kicking in about 2 grand

Edited April 20, 2007 by whomper

[bushwacked]

My beef is that if his intent was to really have the largest impact he could for a given level of financial committment

 

 

Why is that a bad thing? Especially considering no one really knows how much of a financial committment he has really given.

 

I'll be honest, I respect your ability to put forward rational points Muck, but this tendency to criticize the motives of high profile citizens (whether they be atheletes, politicians, CEOs....etc), when they take the onus to contribute to victims of a serious tragedy of this sort, reeks of total and utter mamby pamby BS.

 

When this tragedy happened, a lot of us wonder what is wrong with our country. After reading this thread, I guess I've found some more answers.

Edited April 20, 2007 by bushwacked

[muck]

I'll be honest, I respect your ability to put forward rational points Muck, but this tendency to criticize the motives of high profile citizens (whether they be atheletes, politicians, CEOs....etc), when they take the onus to contribute to victims of a serious tragedy of this sort, reeks of total and utter mamby pamby BS.

 

Huh?

 

I am being (probably) overly nitpicky about how Vick has approached this bit of philanthropy. But, I have no idea what you're talking about. Do I criticize high profile citizens' charitable activities on a regular basis? If so ... its unintentional. Giving money to others who need it is a great thing.

Edited April 20, 2007 by muck

[Vicster]

I tend to lurk on these boards mostly. I do post from time to time, but mostly, I like to listen to what some homers have to say about their teams and the individual players. I've never had an occasion to actively bash or defend Michael Vick or any of the lame off-the-field things he's done, or his inability to coax a decent completion percentage out of his arm. But I feel compelled to say something about this thread that has somehow spiraled into this pissing contest over a donation to people who have suffered a tragedy.

 

First, it is not my place (or yours, imo) to condemn or lavish praise upon someone who has donated ANYTHING to people who have suffered a tragedy such as this. It is not my responsibility to police how much someone donates to a charity. You can donate all you want, or as little as you want. That is your free choice. But to condemn someone else for giving at all smacks of bitterness.

 

I'm appalled that people here believe that they can determine how much someone should give simply based upon how much overall money that person makes. He didn't have to give a dime at all. Nobody does, but thank God there are those that do.

 

Another thing, he is a football player. Not a politician, not a doctor, not a rocket scientist. Someone who uses his athleticism to entertain us. I work with people who couldn't think their way out of a paper bag and I'm sure some of you do as well. Do you really think that person would be able to come up with a ingenious method of donation so that others would be prodded into doing the same. I'd say not. And if Michael Vick had people in his employ that could help his image, don't you think they would have been able to keep some of the dumb things he's been connected with from the public eye? Obviously, from the bashing he receives here on almost a daily basis, they don't do a good job.

 

All in all, Vick did something besides sit in the back and watch. No matter how insignificant the contribution someone makes to something, it is better than being a detriment. I allow that I'll be attacked for this post, but at least attack something/someone for an opinion, and leave acts of kindness alone.

 

I still won't draft Vick as my starting QB!!!!!