Burning Vick

By all measures, Michael Vick is a supremely talented athlete. But, I always find the PR story that teams and agents try and put out about their clients as interesting as their exploits on the field. Who is Michael Vick the handlers want us to see?

He's a smiling wholesome presence in Nike commericials. And, according to his official Atlanta Falcons web page, Michael Vick is not only the greatest quarterback to ever play the game but:

"As a part of ESPN.com's 'Jocks to GIs', he had a GI email pen pal overseas during the war with Iraq that he communicated with in the spring of 2003. He and SSgt, USAF Angela Geist from Lawrenceville, Ga., shared emails and life experiences."

As to this community service effort, I say this: I hope he wasn't also sharing his dick with SSF, USAF Angela Geist. Because, if he is, chances are she could get the "burn;" a story broke today that Vick may have given a girlfriend of his herpes a couple of years ago.

I had this one friend of mine in school who almost got exposed to the burn but was saved by having an honest and forthright woman tell him she had it. They had met at a party and retired to her place. She was beautiful, in that bright airy way. He had decided that night that she could be a long term dream.

The clothes discarded, they lay in bed, when she told him, she had herpes.

"So," I said to him, "That was good of her to tell you. So, what did you do? Hug her? Comfort her? It must be tough for her to live with it. And her honesty is admirable, even if it should have been expected."

"Nah, bruh. I got the fuck out of there. The drawers went up. And, I think my pants actually put themselves on me. I got from her appartment to the Atlantic Avenue subway stop in about 23 seconds. I was going so fast that I think I went backward in time."

If you know you have the burn, why not let your partners know? Shame? Someone can't be that cowardly. Vindictiveness? Are you trying to get back at the world because you got and have to live with the burn. There has to be some sort of reason, even if you're a junkie. It's one thing if you are asymptomatic, but still...

If the story about Vick is true -- especially about him knowing he had the burn and pushing to have unprotected sex with her -- he should be hung by his thumbs.