This article was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on August 11, 2009
Naomi Nix
Inquirer Staff Writer
Instead of traversing a red carpet with longtime girlfriend Oprah Winfrey, Stedman Graham trekked to a hot West Philadelphia classroom yesterday to share with high school students his secrets to success.
"How do you achieve success to the highest level?" he asked about 150 teenagers at William L. Sayre High School.
"The big answer is, you've got to be able to think."
Hailing from not only Sayre but also University City and West Philadelphia High Schools, the students were enrolled in summer enrichment programs offered by the University of Pennsylvania's Netter Center for Community Partnerships, which works for neighborhood revitalization.
The chief executive officer of a marketing and management consulting firm, Graham travels the world giving at least 100 motivational speeches a year. He also founded a nonprofit group aimed at developing leadership skills among "underserved" youths. His speech yesterday was given free, said Ira Harkavy, the center's director.
Graham is the author of 10 books, including the New York Times best-seller You Can Make It Happen and, more recently, Diversity: Leaders Not Labels.
To attain success, he said, one must have a clear concept of who one is.
"If you let other people define yourself," he said, "then you get left stuck in the box."
As an adolescent, Graham recalled, some people questioned what he could achieve. Once, when he told a neighborhood businessman he was going to college, the man replied, "You are not going to college, because your family is too stupid" - a reference, Graham said, to his two mentally challenged brothers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, that was my motivation to finish school," he told the students. "I don't know if I learned anything, but I finished."
Graham earned his bachelor's degree at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, and his master's at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind.
He emphasized that students should take responsibility for their own development, noting that "everybody is equal because everyone has 24 hours." He then asked, "What do you do with your 24 hours?"
Graham told the students that what they love should be the foundation of their success, and asked some of them to name all the things they loved in one minute.
"I love being determined," said Shayntreese Robinson, 19.
Later on, Graham told the student - who he said looked like the singer Jennifer Hudson - that she would be successful with that attitude.
But after all the motivational talk, Graham seemed to be thrown for a loop by some unexpected questions.
"Are you going to marry Oprah?" one student asked.
"We don't know yet," he replied.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
The mutable story of Betsy Ross and the flag
This article was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on September 12, 2009. A video and interactive map were also published on the website on the same day.
By Naomi Nix
Inquirer Staff Writer
In hushed tones, Betsy Ross motions three children into a secret huddle to show them her latest act of treason against the British government: the first American flag.
It is the 1777 version, with 13 stripes of red and white, and 13 five-pointed white stars in a circle on a field of blue.
Just as she did for the Founding Fathers three centuries ago, Ross boasts to the children that she can make a five-pointed star with just one snip of her scissors.
Carrie Haynes, 11, and Mary Neely, 7, believe her. Adam Young, 11, looks skeptical.
"George Washington did not believe it either," says Ross, with an English accent.
After one snip of her scissors, she hands them a five-pointed star.
And three more children have learned the story of the great American flagmaker. From family legend to the tale of a Revolutionary War hero and now a tourist stop, the story of Betsy Ross has evolved over the last 200 years.
Meredith Rich is at the forefront of how the story is told today. She is the newest of the three actresses who currently play Ross at the Betsy Ross House in Old City.
Retelling the nation's history at the heart of where it happened is one of the city's main selling points for tourists, and the Betsy Ross House is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the region. With suggested donations ranging from $2 to $5, the house receives close to 300,000 visitors each year, said Heather Kincade, a representative for the house.
While the economy has reduced the city's draw, Philadelphia continues as a tourist mecca, attracting 29 million domestic visitors in 2008 - up 35 percent from 1997, according to the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.
As one of the city's tourism ambassadors, Rich helps enrich the experience for tourists interested in the city's historic stories.
"One of my favorite things is to help people realize that history is real, and it is alive in Philadelphia," said Rich, 22, a 2008 graduate of Franklin and Marshall College with a double major in government and theater.
Rich, 22, is the youngest actress to play Betsy, around the age Ross was (24) when she was supposed to have made the flag.
Though every storyteller who works for Historic Philadelphia gets the same training, each can bring her own spin to the character.
Rich said playing Ross is "second nature" as she tries to bring out their shared background in Quakerism. She often addresses visitors with "thee" and "thou," and walks around the courtyard with her hands folded together stiffly in front of her, as a basket with the American flag in it hangs by her elbows. If she is uncomfortable on a hot August day in in her full length skirt, long white apron, and bonnet, she doesn't show it.
She said it feels natural to her to play Betsy as "a little more reserved." And she especially likes matching historical wits with visitors.
"It's very entertaining to get to use your full knowledge and to get to prove what you know," said Rich.
One question that comes up is whether Ross really did make the nation's first flag. Rich doesn't shy away from the answer.
"Thou does not need to believe my entire story if thou would not, but I am telling it to thee as my own truth," she said.
While there is evidence that Ross made flags, historians question whether she made the first one.
"You have to think of it as a cherished American myth, not as a historical record," said Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, a professor of early American history at Harvard University.
"There is no strong evidence to support the Betsy Ross story," said Jim Gardner, project director of a Smithsonian Institution project on the American flag.
Ulrich explained how Ross' name became connected to the American flag.
The Continental Congress passed a resolution specifying vague requirements for the flag, which led to many versions. One of the strongest pieces of documentary evidence is a 1777 receipt for a flag from Betsy Ross, which is the same year she was supposed to have made the flag. There were many other women flagmakers at the time, historians noted.
"She definitely had a role in the creation of the early American flags," although "there really is not a first American flag," said Marla Miller, a University of Massachusetts professor whose book Betsy Ross and the Making of America is due out in April.
In 1870 William J. Canby, Ross' grandson, introduced the flag story when he read a paper before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Canby said Washington and two members of the Continental Congress brought Ross a sketch of a striped flag with 13 white stars in a field of blue, and asked her to sew it. The stars had six points, but Ross, according to the legend, showed them that a five-pointed star was easier to make. The story of the first American flag was born.
"She became the mother of the country, comparable as George Washington as the father of the country," Gardner said.
Historians say the story gained traction in the late 19th century, when America was recovering from the Civil War and an influx of immigrants made Americans look at the flag with more reverence.
When the story emerged in the 1870s, as the suffragist movement was taking shape, even Americans with different attitudes towards women's rights could identify with Ross.
For Rich, the academic controversy over the origins of the American flag does not affect why she tells the Betsy Ross story.
"It wasn't out of the question," Rich said. "Even if she didn't make the flag, she is still one of the most remarkable women of her time."
Rich, who remembered going to the Betsy Ross House for class field trips, says the "magic" happens when children get excited about history and share what they have learned when they return to school.
"When you can see a child light up when you make them a star or show them a flag," Rich said, "that is really a wonderful thing."
By Naomi Nix
Inquirer Staff Writer
In hushed tones, Betsy Ross motions three children into a secret huddle to show them her latest act of treason against the British government: the first American flag.
It is the 1777 version, with 13 stripes of red and white, and 13 five-pointed white stars in a circle on a field of blue.
Just as she did for the Founding Fathers three centuries ago, Ross boasts to the children that she can make a five-pointed star with just one snip of her scissors.
Carrie Haynes, 11, and Mary Neely, 7, believe her. Adam Young, 11, looks skeptical.
"George Washington did not believe it either," says Ross, with an English accent.
After one snip of her scissors, she hands them a five-pointed star.
And three more children have learned the story of the great American flagmaker. From family legend to the tale of a Revolutionary War hero and now a tourist stop, the story of Betsy Ross has evolved over the last 200 years.
Meredith Rich is at the forefront of how the story is told today. She is the newest of the three actresses who currently play Ross at the Betsy Ross House in Old City.
Retelling the nation's history at the heart of where it happened is one of the city's main selling points for tourists, and the Betsy Ross House is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the region. With suggested donations ranging from $2 to $5, the house receives close to 300,000 visitors each year, said Heather Kincade, a representative for the house.
While the economy has reduced the city's draw, Philadelphia continues as a tourist mecca, attracting 29 million domestic visitors in 2008 - up 35 percent from 1997, according to the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.
As one of the city's tourism ambassadors, Rich helps enrich the experience for tourists interested in the city's historic stories.
"One of my favorite things is to help people realize that history is real, and it is alive in Philadelphia," said Rich, 22, a 2008 graduate of Franklin and Marshall College with a double major in government and theater.
Rich, 22, is the youngest actress to play Betsy, around the age Ross was (24) when she was supposed to have made the flag.
Though every storyteller who works for Historic Philadelphia gets the same training, each can bring her own spin to the character.
Rich said playing Ross is "second nature" as she tries to bring out their shared background in Quakerism. She often addresses visitors with "thee" and "thou," and walks around the courtyard with her hands folded together stiffly in front of her, as a basket with the American flag in it hangs by her elbows. If she is uncomfortable on a hot August day in in her full length skirt, long white apron, and bonnet, she doesn't show it.
She said it feels natural to her to play Betsy as "a little more reserved." And she especially likes matching historical wits with visitors.
"It's very entertaining to get to use your full knowledge and to get to prove what you know," said Rich.
One question that comes up is whether Ross really did make the nation's first flag. Rich doesn't shy away from the answer.
"Thou does not need to believe my entire story if thou would not, but I am telling it to thee as my own truth," she said.
While there is evidence that Ross made flags, historians question whether she made the first one.
"You have to think of it as a cherished American myth, not as a historical record," said Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, a professor of early American history at Harvard University.
"There is no strong evidence to support the Betsy Ross story," said Jim Gardner, project director of a Smithsonian Institution project on the American flag.
Ulrich explained how Ross' name became connected to the American flag.
The Continental Congress passed a resolution specifying vague requirements for the flag, which led to many versions. One of the strongest pieces of documentary evidence is a 1777 receipt for a flag from Betsy Ross, which is the same year she was supposed to have made the flag. There were many other women flagmakers at the time, historians noted.
"She definitely had a role in the creation of the early American flags," although "there really is not a first American flag," said Marla Miller, a University of Massachusetts professor whose book Betsy Ross and the Making of America is due out in April.
In 1870 William J. Canby, Ross' grandson, introduced the flag story when he read a paper before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Canby said Washington and two members of the Continental Congress brought Ross a sketch of a striped flag with 13 white stars in a field of blue, and asked her to sew it. The stars had six points, but Ross, according to the legend, showed them that a five-pointed star was easier to make. The story of the first American flag was born.
"She became the mother of the country, comparable as George Washington as the father of the country," Gardner said.
Historians say the story gained traction in the late 19th century, when America was recovering from the Civil War and an influx of immigrants made Americans look at the flag with more reverence.
When the story emerged in the 1870s, as the suffragist movement was taking shape, even Americans with different attitudes towards women's rights could identify with Ross.
For Rich, the academic controversy over the origins of the American flag does not affect why she tells the Betsy Ross story.
"It wasn't out of the question," Rich said. "Even if she didn't make the flag, she is still one of the most remarkable women of her time."
Rich, who remembered going to the Betsy Ross House for class field trips, says the "magic" happens when children get excited about history and share what they have learned when they return to school.
"When you can see a child light up when you make them a star or show them a flag," Rich said, "that is really a wonderful thing."
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Phila. schools gearing up for flu season
This article was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on Fri, Sep. 4, 2009.
As families scramble to get ready for the first day of school, they may not be thinking about the coming flu season, but after last year's H1N1 outbreak, city officials have one message for Philadelphia parents: Keep your sick kids at home!
"If a parent sees the symptoms . . . please keep your child home until such time as these symptoms go away," Tomás Hanna, the chief of school operations, said during a media briefing yesterday with city Public Health Department officials.
On Tuesday, letters will be sent to parents explaining H1N1 prevention techniques and why it is important that children with flu symptoms don't go to school.
"We are asking young people and adults to be proactive about hygiene," said Donald Schwarz, the deputy mayor of health.
The district said that if a teacher spots a child with flulike symptoms, that child may be excluded from the classroom and sent to the nurse.
To prevent the spread of germs through hand to surface contact, schools will be equipped with hand-sanitizer dispensers.
The city said more than half of all confirmed cases of H1N1 type A in Philadelphia occurred in people between the ages of 5 and 19. The school district expects 163,000 students and 20,000 employees.
Starting around mid-October, the city expects to receive 1.2 million units of the H1N1 vaccine to deliver to health-care facilities and schools. Officials said the city was waiting for guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before making plans for how the vaccination will be distributed or if certain populations will get priority.
The Health Department is asking that parents take their children to their doctor to receive the vaccination, though it will also be available at schools for free.
"We expect that we will be able to deliver adequate amounts of the vaccine," said Schwarz.
In the event of an outbreak, schools will be closed only as "a last resort," Hanna said.
Factors that might affect that decision include evidence that the virus is being transmitted "rapidly and efficiently," that a particular school has a higher risk for transmission of the virus, or that a stronger strain of the virus is emerging, according to the Health Department.
Approximately 293 school nurses were trained in swine-flu prevention during their annual School Nurses' Professional Development Day at Murrell Dobbins High School in North Philadelphia yesterday.
"They understand they are the frontline players in this," Hanna said.
Stray dog, hit by car, thriving after surgery
This article was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on Tue, Aug. 18, 2009
Philadelphia's dog lovers have a reason to smile.
With perked ears and eager eyes, Miss Mickey, a 20-pound Australian cattle dog, can run, jump, and even catch a ball.
It wasn't always that way.
On March 13, the white and brown stray was following a family across Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia when she was hit by a car. She was saved by the quick actions of three police officers who rushed her to the Pennsylvania SPCA on Erie Avenue.
Yesterday, Miss Mickey and her "foster parent" from the Australian Cattle Dog Rescue Association dropped by the Third District Police Station at 11th and Wharton Streets with a $150 donation to the city's Fallen Officers Fund on the dog's behalf. Officers Brian Karpinski, Jason Rush, and Melissa Kromchad accepted the gift, with appreciative pats for Miss Mickey.
"Last time I saw her," Rush said, "she didn't look anything like that."
Her survival was a surprise to everyone at the accident scene.
"I screamed," said South Street merchant Tony Fisher, who saw it happen. "I just assumed she was going to die right there."
The driver stopped, and tried to help by wrapping the dog in old clothing in his car. Rather than waiting for an animal rescue group to arrive, the officers put her in a patrol wagon and sped to the SPCA, where veterinarians found her pelvis had been crushed.
After a week of treatment there, Miss Mickey, thought to be about six years old, was transferred to Valley Central Veterinary Referral Center in the Lehigh Valley. There, metal plates were implanted in her pelvis. Such reconstruction would usually cost $10,000, but the surgeon discounted his bill to $1,800.
Back in South Philadelphia, Fisher returned to his store, the eco-friendly Big Green Earth, and started soliciting donations from his customers via e-mail for the dog he named Miss Mickey.
"Our customers are pretty much animal lovers," he said.
Fisher and Marianne Ahern, who volunteered to foster-care for Miss Mickey, also used Facebook to get the word out about her condition. One of Fisher's customers even sold some of his original artwork on eBay to raise money. Donations, he said, came from as far away as Florida and California.
The campaign brought in $4,000, enough for the dog's medical expenses - and the donation to the Fallen Officers Fund.
"She has had a lot of people reach out and try to help her," Fisher said.
Ahern said Miss Mickey is fully recovered from her injuries and is up for adoption.
"She likes to play fetch," Ahern said. "She likes tennis balls, but she doesn't mind an occasional stick."
For information on adopting Miss Mickey, visit the Web site of the Australian Cattle Dog Rescue Association at www.acdra.org
Philadelphia's dog lovers have a reason to smile.
With perked ears and eager eyes, Miss Mickey, a 20-pound Australian cattle dog, can run, jump, and even catch a ball.
It wasn't always that way.
On March 13, the white and brown stray was following a family across Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia when she was hit by a car. She was saved by the quick actions of three police officers who rushed her to the Pennsylvania SPCA on Erie Avenue.
Yesterday, Miss Mickey and her "foster parent" from the Australian Cattle Dog Rescue Association dropped by the Third District Police Station at 11th and Wharton Streets with a $150 donation to the city's Fallen Officers Fund on the dog's behalf. Officers Brian Karpinski, Jason Rush, and Melissa Kromchad accepted the gift, with appreciative pats for Miss Mickey.
"Last time I saw her," Rush said, "she didn't look anything like that."
Her survival was a surprise to everyone at the accident scene.
"I screamed," said South Street merchant Tony Fisher, who saw it happen. "I just assumed she was going to die right there."
The driver stopped, and tried to help by wrapping the dog in old clothing in his car. Rather than waiting for an animal rescue group to arrive, the officers put her in a patrol wagon and sped to the SPCA, where veterinarians found her pelvis had been crushed.
After a week of treatment there, Miss Mickey, thought to be about six years old, was transferred to Valley Central Veterinary Referral Center in the Lehigh Valley. There, metal plates were implanted in her pelvis. Such reconstruction would usually cost $10,000, but the surgeon discounted his bill to $1,800.
Back in South Philadelphia, Fisher returned to his store, the eco-friendly Big Green Earth, and started soliciting donations from his customers via e-mail for the dog he named Miss Mickey.
"Our customers are pretty much animal lovers," he said.
Fisher and Marianne Ahern, who volunteered to foster-care for Miss Mickey, also used Facebook to get the word out about her condition. One of Fisher's customers even sold some of his original artwork on eBay to raise money. Donations, he said, came from as far away as Florida and California.
The campaign brought in $4,000, enough for the dog's medical expenses - and the donation to the Fallen Officers Fund.
"She has had a lot of people reach out and try to help her," Fisher said.
Ahern said Miss Mickey is fully recovered from her injuries and is up for adoption.
"She likes to play fetch," Ahern said. "She likes tennis balls, but she doesn't mind an occasional stick."
For information on adopting Miss Mickey, visit the Web site of the Australian Cattle Dog Rescue Association at www.acdra.org
After rape reports, women change running routines
This article was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on Wed, Aug. 26, 2009 .
Six days a week, Caroline Phelan of Manayunk runs about 10 miles through Fairmount Park to train for her seventh marathon - the New York City Marathon in November.
But in the last few days, Phelan, like many female joggers, has changed her routine, following reports of a second rape of a jogger in Fairmount Park.
A 21-year-old visitor to Philadelphia told police she was raped at 7:30 a.m. Sunday while jogging along the 3800 block of Edgely Drive, near the East Park Reservoir.
Women said they were jogging with groups, training in daylight hours, and limiting their runs to less-secluded areas.
"You feel like the odds of it happening to you are so low," said Phelan, a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania. "Then something like that happens, and you realize that you just never know."
Since the attacks, Phelan said, she delays her morning run until after 7 a.m., when more people will be around.
She has also altered her route to the most popular parts of Kelly Drive, from Falls Bridge to Lloyd Hall, about three miles.
And "I consistently tell my husband when I am supposed to be coming back," said Phelan, who has been running for 13 years.
Police and leaders of Philadelphia running clubs say it is safest for female joggers to run in groups.
Police have no evidence to link Sunday's rape to an attack on Aug. 11, or to the so-called Fairmount Park rapist, who attacked four women in city parks between 2003 and 2007. That person has never been caught.
"You have to be realistic. This is a fairly large city, and the police can't be everywhere," said Carole Johnson, executive director of Women Organized Against Rape. "There's not a guarantee they'll be on every street, every lane, or every path."
Kate Hessenthaler, an assistant manager of iRun Philly, a women's running group, said she stressed to the club's 115 members that there was safety in numbers.
"People are less apt to attack you when you are in a group," Hessenthaler said.
For those running alone, she recommended that women avoid blasting their iPods, running down dark alleyways, or running at night.
"You always have to have an ear out and keep an eye open," Hessenthaler said. "You can't be naive and think that it's never going to happen to you."
Mallory Fay, 25, said such advice was already a part of her routine.
"I never run alone," said Fay, an accountant, also training for a marathon. "I don't run at night. And I don't wear headphones. And that makes me feel much safer."
Runners on a rigorous training regimen say running with a buddy is not always possible.
On the message board of Philly Runners, which organizes group runs on Tuesdays and Saturdays, some members expressed concerns about the recent attacks.
"I was hoping to get 10 miles in on Friday morning, and I'd like to do them on Forbidden Drive," wrote one woman. "With recent events, however, I don't want to run there alone."
Another woman wrote that she wanted to run on Forbidden Drive on Saturday. Phelan responded to both women, trying to link up, but they couldn't work it out.
"Running with someone is great advice, but it's not always very practical," Phelan said. "It is just difficult to find people and have schedules align."
For Phelan, restricting her runs to the most popular parts of Kelly Drive limits what she can see while she's running, but she said it was necessary.
"Six days a week, and I'm literally running up and down Kelly Drive and feeling like that's all I can do."
Six days a week, Caroline Phelan of Manayunk runs about 10 miles through Fairmount Park to train for her seventh marathon - the New York City Marathon in November.
But in the last few days, Phelan, like many female joggers, has changed her routine, following reports of a second rape of a jogger in Fairmount Park.
A 21-year-old visitor to Philadelphia told police she was raped at 7:30 a.m. Sunday while jogging along the 3800 block of Edgely Drive, near the East Park Reservoir.
Women said they were jogging with groups, training in daylight hours, and limiting their runs to less-secluded areas.
"You feel like the odds of it happening to you are so low," said Phelan, a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania. "Then something like that happens, and you realize that you just never know."
Since the attacks, Phelan said, she delays her morning run until after 7 a.m., when more people will be around.
She has also altered her route to the most popular parts of Kelly Drive, from Falls Bridge to Lloyd Hall, about three miles.
And "I consistently tell my husband when I am supposed to be coming back," said Phelan, who has been running for 13 years.
Police and leaders of Philadelphia running clubs say it is safest for female joggers to run in groups.
Police have no evidence to link Sunday's rape to an attack on Aug. 11, or to the so-called Fairmount Park rapist, who attacked four women in city parks between 2003 and 2007. That person has never been caught.
"You have to be realistic. This is a fairly large city, and the police can't be everywhere," said Carole Johnson, executive director of Women Organized Against Rape. "There's not a guarantee they'll be on every street, every lane, or every path."
Kate Hessenthaler, an assistant manager of iRun Philly, a women's running group, said she stressed to the club's 115 members that there was safety in numbers.
"People are less apt to attack you when you are in a group," Hessenthaler said.
For those running alone, she recommended that women avoid blasting their iPods, running down dark alleyways, or running at night.
"You always have to have an ear out and keep an eye open," Hessenthaler said. "You can't be naive and think that it's never going to happen to you."
Mallory Fay, 25, said such advice was already a part of her routine.
"I never run alone," said Fay, an accountant, also training for a marathon. "I don't run at night. And I don't wear headphones. And that makes me feel much safer."
Runners on a rigorous training regimen say running with a buddy is not always possible.
On the message board of Philly Runners, which organizes group runs on Tuesdays and Saturdays, some members expressed concerns about the recent attacks.
"I was hoping to get 10 miles in on Friday morning, and I'd like to do them on Forbidden Drive," wrote one woman. "With recent events, however, I don't want to run there alone."
Another woman wrote that she wanted to run on Forbidden Drive on Saturday. Phelan responded to both women, trying to link up, but they couldn't work it out.
"Running with someone is great advice, but it's not always very practical," Phelan said. "It is just difficult to find people and have schedules align."
For Phelan, restricting her runs to the most popular parts of Kelly Drive limits what she can see while she's running, but she said it was necessary.
"Six days a week, and I'm literally running up and down Kelly Drive and feeling like that's all I can do."
Eagle fans are in a forgiving mood
This article was published on Philly.com on Fri, Aug. 14, 2009.
Eagles fans, who can be unforgiving, appear to be mostly in a forgiving mood when it comes to Michael Vick joining the team.
The signing of Vick, the former Atlanta QB who spent 18-months in prison in a dogfighting cruelty case, is bound to dominate water cooler discussions today and commuters in Center City offered a prelude to some of the themes.
Much of the talk was about second chances and how this will benefit the Eagles. But some are not happy at all, as can been seen from some of the comments to this story, because of Vick's troubled past.
"Too bad they don't have him for the whole year," said Charles James, referencing the possibility that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell might require Vick to sit out the first five games of the season.
"If they keep him, he'll be the man," said James, of North Philadelphia. "It was a big mistake what he did and he paid for it. He deserves another chance."
"He deserves a second chance," said Doug Brown and Leroy Emerson of North Philadelphia declared, "That was the best move the Eagles ever made, one of the best."
Shantae Thorpe of Mount Airy said it was time to move on from the dogfighting controversy.
"I think we should let bygones be bygones and start afresh." she said.
Carol Elko, a Northeast Philadelphia resident, agreed.
"I think down South that animal thing is normal," she said. "I think he got caught up in it and he learned his lesson and he deserves a second chance."
Other Eagles fans were not so happy about the newest hire.
"I thought they could have picked somebody else," said Dina Allen of Mount Airy. "I think I would have taken TO [Terrell Owens] before [him]."
Abbie Klebanoff, who didn't claim to be a die-hard Eagles fan, said the apology was not enough.
"He said he's sorry, but I think what he did was horrible."
Bob Jenkins, of Northeast Philadelphia, said true Eagles fans won't be bad-mouthing the decision.
"The only people who won't be quiet are the people who don't like the Eagles, he said, "Of course they're going to be talking because he's going to be throwing some touchdowns."
For some, the criticism against Vicks has gone a little too far.
"Other people get another chance," said Paul Kelley, of Center City. "When [Phillies piyther] Brett Myers beat his wife, everyone stopped talking about him a week later."
Charles Johnson, a New Castle, Del., resident said the criticism was hypocritical.
"Are we going to punish him because he's not a carpenter or electrician? They can go to jail, come out and work again," he said. "Martha Stewart is a back and she's on television. Not that I am against animals, but she harmed humans."
For Richardeena Harden, gaining Vicks is a plus, but her heart still belongs the current star quarterback Donovan McNabb.
"I love him dearly . . .," she said. "I hope nothing happens to McNabb because he's got plays that are incredible. But if something happens to McNabb they can put Vicks in."
Benjamin Lee, of Center City, said that the former king of football was getting a demotion.
"It is a slap in the face. Here he just received $1.6 million the first year and $5.6 million the second year," Lee said. "That doesn't even come close to what he was making before, but he'll persevere."
"I really look forward to going to the Superbowl this year," said Lee.
Contact staff writer Naomi Nix at 215-854-2797 or nnix@phillynews.com
Eagles fans, who can be unforgiving, appear to be mostly in a forgiving mood when it comes to Michael Vick joining the team.
The signing of Vick, the former Atlanta QB who spent 18-months in prison in a dogfighting cruelty case, is bound to dominate water cooler discussions today and commuters in Center City offered a prelude to some of the themes.
Much of the talk was about second chances and how this will benefit the Eagles. But some are not happy at all, as can been seen from some of the comments to this story, because of Vick's troubled past.
"Too bad they don't have him for the whole year," said Charles James, referencing the possibility that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell might require Vick to sit out the first five games of the season.
"If they keep him, he'll be the man," said James, of North Philadelphia. "It was a big mistake what he did and he paid for it. He deserves another chance."
"He deserves a second chance," said Doug Brown and Leroy Emerson of North Philadelphia declared, "That was the best move the Eagles ever made, one of the best."
Shantae Thorpe of Mount Airy said it was time to move on from the dogfighting controversy.
"I think we should let bygones be bygones and start afresh." she said.
Carol Elko, a Northeast Philadelphia resident, agreed.
"I think down South that animal thing is normal," she said. "I think he got caught up in it and he learned his lesson and he deserves a second chance."
Other Eagles fans were not so happy about the newest hire.
"I thought they could have picked somebody else," said Dina Allen of Mount Airy. "I think I would have taken TO [Terrell Owens] before [him]."
Abbie Klebanoff, who didn't claim to be a die-hard Eagles fan, said the apology was not enough.
"He said he's sorry, but I think what he did was horrible."
Bob Jenkins, of Northeast Philadelphia, said true Eagles fans won't be bad-mouthing the decision.
"The only people who won't be quiet are the people who don't like the Eagles, he said, "Of course they're going to be talking because he's going to be throwing some touchdowns."
For some, the criticism against Vicks has gone a little too far.
"Other people get another chance," said Paul Kelley, of Center City. "When [Phillies piyther] Brett Myers beat his wife, everyone stopped talking about him a week later."
Charles Johnson, a New Castle, Del., resident said the criticism was hypocritical.
"Are we going to punish him because he's not a carpenter or electrician? They can go to jail, come out and work again," he said. "Martha Stewart is a back and she's on television. Not that I am against animals, but she harmed humans."
For Richardeena Harden, gaining Vicks is a plus, but her heart still belongs the current star quarterback Donovan McNabb.
"I love him dearly . . .," she said. "I hope nothing happens to McNabb because he's got plays that are incredible. But if something happens to McNabb they can put Vicks in."
Benjamin Lee, of Center City, said that the former king of football was getting a demotion.
"It is a slap in the face. Here he just received $1.6 million the first year and $5.6 million the second year," Lee said. "That doesn't even come close to what he was making before, but he'll persevere."
"I really look forward to going to the Superbowl this year," said Lee.
Contact staff writer Naomi Nix at 215-854-2797 or nnix@phillynews.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)