Micheael Vick

[ArenaBoy]

What's your take on this guy? A guy raising dogs for fighting and then killing them the way he did just makes me boil with rage for obvious reasons but what's really ticking me off is the race card being played. No, he's not being indicted for being black but he's being indicted for animal cruelty. I personally hope he doesn't get special treatment just because he's a athlete. I do know that a verdict hasn't been reached but to a lot of animal lovers they are serious charges.

Thoughts?

[Aldous]

He's most likely going to get a lesser charge because he is famous. That itself deserves it's own thread. But keeping on topic, he's not the first. Awhile ago a basketball player (Don't remember who) shot his dog in the head, and I'm pretty sure he didn't spend a day behind bars. Dog fighting is wrong, since dogs don't really have a sense of what to do. They're fighting because they feel a threat, and they are going to fight until the other is dead, where as a professional boxer knows when to stop, and has the self-control to stop before he kills his opponent. And I don't know how he is using the race card on this one. That's like Chinese playing the race card for cock fights, Italians for jipping the races, and a Native American for cheating the casinos. None of those are stereotypes, same with dog fights, there is no stereotype for dogfighting, so there really can't be a race card played. I hope he never is allowed to play football again, loses his wages, and has to work a 9-5 job like the rest of the world when this is all over. He's lost his privelages for this.

[AFPheonix]

Lewis Black pretty much sums up what I was thinking.

[CancelMyService]

I'm not so sure he's going to get off light for this, the Feds are involved and they generally don't unless they're sure they can get a conviction and/or want to make an example.

All the other co-defendants have already made deals, so Vick's pretty much SOL unless his lawyer produces the equivalent of a Hail Mary pass.

[squall]

You know what really bother me about Michael Vick? His continued fans. You have the right to idolize whomever you want. But there are some Michael Vick fans who have a knee-jerk reaction to blame the media, the "bigots", and the "haters", and the police rather than to blame Michael Vick for the situation he finds himself in. They claim that he was set up by the police and the media is declaring him guilty without trial. Well...the facts are in. His co-defendants have sold him out.

Now the fans of Vick use the excuse that dog-fighting is a time honored tradition and no big deal. Yes, let's put the law and decency on hold for tradition. He has been in on the act of killing innocent creatures and we should all forgive him because he plays a good game of football and dog-fighting has been around. Then there are those (people I work with) who have no position on Vick's dogfighting. All they care about is seeing him play next season, and maybe moving over to Dallas (my area). What happened to common decency? The only jersey I want to see him wear is one with stripes, just like any other common criminal caught dog fighting, regardless of income or stature. He disgraces the NFL and the law and all some people care about is making sure he can play next season.

And to those racists on youtube and the NAACP alike....a quote I heard on bleacherreport.com. "Vick didn't buy the property to fight dogs because he is black. Vick didn't drown, electrocute or shoot dogs because he is black. Vick didn't commit these crimes because he is black. Vick didn't do any of this crud because he's black. He did it because he's a stupid. Vick didn't murder those dogs because he was black. It's not the black, it's the stupid."

[TNT]

I look at the Manning brothers... Peyton's on every other commercial during NFL games, and Eli's one good season away from taking the other half.

Then I look at the Vick brothers... if Michael pleads, he's going to jail for a year and will never play another game in the NFL. Marcus turned a potentially good career into crap, and probably won't play in the NFL again, ever.

Is it because the Manning's are white and the Vick's are African-American? Tell that to Tiki and Rhode Barber, and especially to golf's Tiger Woods.

No matter how the question is phrased, no one's ever going to pay for a commercial where the athlete says, "Nothing goes better with a good dog fight than Campbell's Soup and Nikes."

[powerboy]

I hope that he will get the max punishment. He was a dumbass for doing what he did. He probably thought since he is famous, that nothing will happen to him. The sad part is, he will probably just get a slap on the wrist.

[Greenday]

I saw on the news he will be in jail from 12-16 months. At least he's going to be punished.

[Nightwolf]

I think he's going to be punished in more ways than one. I doubt he's ever going to picked up by any sponsors after this, and I think his NFL career is over. He "may" play again, but I doubt he'll be anything like he was.