Oh GTF you make me laugh.

How the mighty have fallen. He won't be sentenced until December. If he serves a year in jail that wipes out the 2008 season. And who knows what Goodell will finally determine to be the total period of suspension. Perhaps Vick can borrow an idea from Pacman Jones and go into pro wrestling when he gets out of jail?

Well, according to Keith Olberman's (sp?) speech yesterday, America is a very forgiving country and Vick should not be kept out of the game that long--2 years is enough sayeth Olberman. He said while Vick isn't a victim here, the penalty shouldn't be more severe than the crime itself. Huh?

Dog chewed Vick cards earn $7400 in auction.

Here's the jury that Mr. Dick could have faced

Race Apparently Colors How We View Scandals

And who had the nerve to question why I brought up race being an issue in the Vick case? As if I needed this article to tell me what I already knew. But good grief...some people really need to stop walking around in a fog!

Actress/Comedian/Writer Carol Leifer paid over $10,000 for an apology note Michael Vick wrote. Leifer is bets known as a former writer on Seinfeld.

Apparently you CAN be too rich.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070914/ap_on_...ck_memo_auction

I don't care if Michael Vick is purple with green polka-dots.This whole scandal is repulsive and comparing someone's drug use to what Michael and many other guys have done(black,white,brown etc.) is pointless.Even you were disgusted by the crime and that is what this thread is supposed to be about.

Well, things aren't always black and white (no pun intended). I still believe the crime is horrendous, however this is an aspect of the case that has been brought up by the media and others, so I'm discussing it.

A new story for an old thread....

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/nfl_vick_lawsuit



Oh well, people say dog food ain't so bad...

Or how bout some kind of a sequel of some kind.......hmmm...

Anyone watch the ESPN special on the Vick Divide? Good grief. I have gotten a lot of flack from other African Americans because I have come down hard on Michael Vick. No I'm not like some other rabid people who have "Vick Makes Me Sick" t-shirts on their 5 year old kids (which I think is ridiculous), and I do think this case has been overblown when we've got child abuse and an increasing murder rate going on. BUT, the bottom line is that Michael Vick broke the law. I hate it when people bring up the comparision of videogate and the Patriots to what Vick did. Some supporter in the audience brought it up and I just because its a STUPID comparison to make. What the Patriots did wasn't against FEDERAL law. What Michael Vick did WAS. And all the black people in the audience with their Michael Vick jerseys on clapping and hooting whenever someone says something positive about Vick, and booing whenever someone says something perceived as negative about him is ridiculous. There's being a fan and then there's being a FANATIC! Black people supporting Vick simply because he's black is just wrong. People need to realize that he needs to take accountability for his actions. This is so divided among racial lines and its ashame because its a human issue to me. How do you drown, shoot, bury alive, electrocute a dog? I mean thats not a race issue...thats a humanity issue. Do I think you'd see those ridiculous scenes outside of courthouses had it been Peyton Manning or Tom Brady that had been accused of this? Nope. Again...because Vick is black you have to look at the reaction in terms of racial context. Thats just the reality. One shouldn't have to because like I said...its a humanity issue. But, thats just not the world we live in, and unfortunately race is a variable here. One, however, that I will only say involves the reaction to the situation and not the situation itself (sort of like the rabid anti OJ people all these years later). Those scenes outside of the courthouse are overkill in my opinion, but hey...you've got a lot of people out there who are staunch animal rights supporters so their opinion has to be respected regardless of if I think its overkill or not! Now I will say that I can be objective and try and open up my mind and see that dogfighting is cultural for many, particularly in the south. Its just something that people grew up watching their fathers and uncles and cousins do and I understand that some people don't value a dog's life like a humans. So I'm trying to understand it from that point of view as well. I'm just not one of those black/white type persons. I understand that there is a lot of gray in things. But, again...culture or not...its still a felony.

Is he being singled out for something that widely goes on? To some extent..sure. But, guess what? Thats the double edged sword of celebrity. PETA has wanted a poster boy for the face of dogfighting and his is it. He committed CRIMES (dogfighting, cruelty to animals, and gambling just to name the main ones) and as was pointed out by someone who wrote in...if Michael Vick was workin at Price Waterhouse and committed a felony, he wouldn't be hired back after he did his time in jail. But, its still football. The positive side of celebrity is that you do benefit from those perks as well. So, should he be able to come back and play football. That will depend on his actions. After he serves his time and shows me with his actions that he is matured and changed then I'm sure people will consider the possibility. Americans are fickle for the most part, though. We love to tear people down and we also love to see them pull themselves back up. This struck a nerve because we aren't desensitized to animal cruelty the way we are about other things.

In the end...Vick was just DUMB!! He put himself in a stupid situation. I actually do believe the guy in the beginning of the panel who said that when Vick first started this...he did it because he wanted to do something for his friends so that he wouldn't have to pay them every month. Could he have gotten caught up? Sure. Cuz like he said...it wasn't just him that made it...they all made it. But, he didn't want to have to keep footing the bill for them. But, wrong is wrong no matter your motives. You committed a serious offense and the law has been getting tougher on animal cruelty in recent years. If Michael Vick is in some way the "scapegoat" for this...so be it. I am obviously biased because I love dogs and couldn't think about harming them. But, there are others who don't put a dog's life as important as a human's. The law still clearly shows that. He admitted to killing 8 dogs and will probably only end up doing a couple years if that. Had he killed 8 people he'd probably get the needle. Regardless of your feelings on dogfighting...the law is the law. Its a felony and he should be treated and punished according to the law.

I would like to think that the racial divide isn't as pronounced in the Vick case, though I can't quote any polling numbers.

You can make a case for those who sided with O.J. during his trial, based on the history of the legal system and its treatment of minorities. I don't remotely agree with that line of thinking regarding O.J. but I can understand why people would think that way.

But Michael Vick has admitted his guilt. From that point on, anyone claiming conspiracy or unfairness or whatever is just a stone cold moron.

The drama continues. This fool tests positive for marijuana a couple weeks ago. The smoking of marijuana I don't have a problem with. I know many people who smoke it occasionally and dabble in other recreational drug use occasionally. Its the fact that he is under a legal microscope from the dog fighting allegations and is engaging in MORE illegal activities. He just doesn't get it and he's his own worst enemy at this point; not the media!! I mean don't get me wrong....losing something you worked so hard to get to and something that is your livelihood has to be devastating but....get drunk at home...thats not illegal. Why make things worse for yourself? God help him. I really mean that.

I feel the same way. I was surprised by the allegations, particularly the killing of the dogs, and when he admitted to doing this, I felt disgust towards him, and also bemusement that he would have continued to be involved in all of this, though at another level it was clear a while ago that he felt, as many rich and powerful people in our society, including rich and powerful black people too, that he could get away with anything. Certainly you must feel this way if you go so far as to purchase a home *in your own name* and bankroll it *in your own name* and then set up the kinds of conditions and then went so far as to slaughter those poor dogs yourself, as described in the charges against him. Stupidity and/or arrogance also seem to factor in as well.

I also understand the defensiveness of black fans and people in general, because they probably think, hey, he's not the only one up to crap like this and maybe he's getting railroaded, but he admitted to doing it, and yes focusing on dogfighting, a horrible sport, is race/ethnicity and class-based, while other bloodsports like fox hunting and controlled, non-subsistence hunting (like blowing poor quails to smithereens as our Vice President did, while blitzed, no less) and dog racing and horse racing and all the other sports in which animals are treated cruelly in general get less or NO attention, but the fact remains that if this is the law, both federal and state, it's up to you *not* to break it, and if you do, then you have to remember always that as a black person, they will come after you far more ferociously than they would anyone else. Whether it's drugs, or anything, it's always a worse situation for black people, though rich black people have an edge like all rich people and working-class and poor black people are the worst off of all. Perhaps Vick didn't realize this, but I hope others will not forget something so basic my parents repeated it all the time. And perhaps we'll work to end this disparity in justice as well.

He also must have very poor advisors or must just really be stupid to keep screwing up, thus the pot charges. I'd think that at this point, he'd realize, Hey, I'm pretty bad off and I don't need any more problems, but I guess he's going to go for broke, literally. I feel like you do, Mdterp01, God/the gods help this brotha, because he has totally thrown it all away.

LMAO!

Very quetly, Vick turned himself in to begin serving his sentence even before he was sentenced!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/foot...s.ap/index.html

Why now as compared to a week from now? Didn't he want to spend one last Thanksgiving with his family?

I think the Official Dog Fighting season starts Thanksgiving weekend so perhaps he is trying to resist temptation.

I was gonna say that, with no NFL salary and the attempt to have his bonus money returned and endorsements all dried up, he couldn't afford a Thanksgiving dinner any more...but I was trying to be nice...

This news is a month old, but I think it's worthwhile to note that charges against Babineaux were dropped, because it was determined that the dog had a history of violence and that Babineaux was acting in self-defense. People are so quick to condemn these athletes well before all of the facts are known (even when they are killed, like Sean Taylor). And people act as though all violence against dogs is a malicious, unprovoked attack against an innocent, helpless creature. All dogs certainly are not helpless and docile.

23 months Mikey. You reap what you sew. Hopefully this will cause for more of a crackdown on dogfighting. Interesting though...a kid I used to mentor was shot in the back of the head by a woman in cold blood after she thought he stole her earrings. I think it was drug related. She was let out of jail after serving only 15 months. The kid was 16 years old. Sometimes the judicial system makes me scratch my head. Whatever the reasons...the sentence is what it is and he's got to deal with it.

23 months means he'll be out in about 20 and playing for Miami in 2009.

That's assuming he can stay out of trouble while in prison. I'm not entirely convinced...

I don't think he'll misbehave in prison. He'll be detained at a prison camp type of place so its not like he's gonna be in with the bloods and the crips in some maximum security place. He'll probably get out early as was stated and then see if anyone in the NFL takes him. He'll want to do his best to get out as early as possible. We have psychos going into malls and killing holiday shoppers and employees and further psychos killing people in Christian buildings. What Mike did was horrible but he's way down on my radar of people who should be put under the jail.

Roddy White fights for injustice! (Another shameless plug alert! )

Perhaps this deserves its own thread, but I'll bury the treasure in here, LOL. I wonder if Brian Baldinger is blessing Mike with conjugal visits?

So, it appears as though the very thing that everyone was harping on about Michael Vick (i.e. the positive result for marijuana) could be the very thing that shortens his jail sentence. According to reports, Vick has been transferred to a facility to begin a drug rehab program. Successful completion of the program could take a year off of his sentence. Hmm...interesting.

This is ridiculous. Testing positive for pot does not constitute a drug problem worthy of a drug treatment program. Seeing as he's in jail for 20+ months, he should be pot-free for that peiod of time. And if he really does have a pot problem (which I doubt more than I doubt Bonds and Clemens never too steroids) he can get couseling after he serves his time for his crimes.

^^^Supposedly, there are a set of "qualifications" a person has to meet to be admitted into this program, and Vick supposedly met those qualifications. I would guess that some of the qualifications center around proving (to some degree) that the problem is serious enough to merit rehabilitation. And the system probably has some methods in place to root out the genuine candidates from the frauds. It would be interesting to see exactly how Vick met those qualifications, and how the feds determined he was "for real". (We probably won't find out these details, though - or maybe...)

That said...I detected that Mike smoked blunts a while back - way before the "water bottle" incident. (And I don't even smoke pot. So I'm sure some of the pot-smokers of the world must have picked up on this, too.) It must be a family pastime - his brother was caught with it, as well as the cousin whose pot-bust led to the discovery of the dogs.

Now, is Mike's weed habit that big of a problem? I have no idea - but apparently the Federal Prison system thinks so.

Is it me, or does he look a little "mellowed out" in these pics? (Not sure exactly when these pics were taken, but I've had them on my computer since '05)

While Michael Vick is serving time in prison, some of the dogs rescued from the compound have landed their won TV show.



Hey they'd be better than most of the contestants on American Idol or Celebrity Apprentice.

While smug Canadians (like myself) were shocked by the "culture of dog fighting" in the U.S., it was even more shocking to discover that, not far from Toronto, there are major cockfighting rings.

Disgusting canmark! I'm glad that OSPCA is involved but, NOW, where the hell is PETA!