where to start?

i don't think there's any point in writing some fancy introduction as a first post to my blog- do you? i'm just gonna start writing.

so lately i've been having a crazy moral dilemma, one many of my fellow philadelphia eagles fans have encountered. michael vick, a very talented college quarterback who also happened to be found guilty of dog fighting related charges and served prison time as a result, has been signed to the eagles and has played in a few of their preseason games. in fact, he just scored a touchdown, which is kind of what sparked this e-mail. i am dog owner and dog lover/animal lover. i cried harder in lassie when i thought lassie might have been hurt than any movie where a human was in danger as a child (ok...sometimes still to this day). how could i possibly embrace michael vick as an eagle? i do believe second chances, that everyone makes mistakes, and i do think he could feel genuine regret and remorse for what he did. but i also don't understand how anyone could ever hurt a dog to begin to with. what did the dog ever do to you? humans i can understand- humans are capable of harm, emotional and physical. but not dogs- not unless YOU threaten them and put them in the position to defend themselves because they feel threatened. i could grant people second chances, but i think this may be an exception to that.

i am a die hard eagles fan. as an eagles fan, i want to embrace michael vick as a big talent who could be a huge asset to the team, especially one whose current starting quarterback, donovan mcnabb, the very reason i became an eagles fan in the first place, is admittedly getting past his prim. mcnabb could easily take a young talent like vick under his wing and make him into a solid starter. but i can't cheer for vick. i can't. i don't want HIM to score touchdowns, even if i want the eagles to score touchdowns. what is a eagles lover and a dog lover supposed to do?

this is all andy reid's fault. but i'll touch on him later.