The Big Story: Michael Vick Indicted

A daily look at the big story of the day in sports as seen through the eyes of writers and bloggers all across the internet.

Thanks to the failures of Time Warner Cable we're a little late getting our words in about the Michael Vick indictment. Since we enjoy the proud history of the United States we like to think of people as innocent until proven guilty but after reading through the Vick indictment handed down yesterday it's hard to feel much sympathy for Ron Mexico. The Smoking Gun, of course, has it up on their site and it's overstuffed with damning information and that's not even including the fact that he goes by the nickname "Ookie" around the Bad Newz Kennels. That's the name of the outfit that operated from Vick's property and raised pit bulls to fight. They also organized fights with purses up to $26,000. That would be bad enough but it gets worse when the indictment relates what Vick and his co-defendants would do when the dogs weren't up to snuff in fights or training.

• One female pit bull lost and after consulting with Vick one of his partners killed it by wetting the dog down and electrocuting her.
• Another dog was shot after losing a fight.
• 8 dogs that didn't do well in testing were executed by methods including "hanging, drowning and slamming at least one dog's body to the ground."

Vick and company face up to six years in prison and fines up to $350,000. The NFL has weighed in with the following statement.

"The activities alleged are cruel, degrading and illegal. Michael Vick's guilt has not yet been proven, and we believe that all concerned should allow the legal process to determine the facts."

At the very least Vick was the owner of a property where these crimes took place. His knowledge and/or participation of exactly what went on is for the courts to decide but how can Roger Goodell allow Vick to take part in the upcoming season when the straw that broke the camel's back with Pacman Jones was his relationship with someone who fired shots outside the strip club in Las Vegas. Jones wasn't the shooter and Vick may or may not be responsible for the reprehensible treatment of these animals so the difference seems negligible. Obviously he doesn't have the same history of criminal activity that Pacman does but the weight of the allegations against Vick is massive and it's not like the league waited to see Jones's case out before acting to suspend the Titan for a year.  I wouldn't expect the league's wait-and-see attitude to prevail for much longer.

But buck up Falcon fans, Daunte Culpepper's available! And he's channeling the serenity of Gandhi these days.

"As I was going through this process I heard about a quote by Gandhi that best expressed my thoughts about this victory. He said, 'First, they ignore you, then they ridicule you. Then they fight you, then you win.'"

So you've got that going for you. Which is nice.

But yeah: Start picking up Joey Harrington for your fantasy teams, or, better yet, don't. (Deadspin)

Beyond Vick's trouble, I wouldn’t be surprised if his endorsement deals completely dried up. I would be surprised, although not completely blown away, if the Falcons chose to terminate his contract under the clause in the standard NFL contract that allows the team to terminate a player’s contract “if player has engaged in personal conduct reasonably judged by the Club to adversely affect or reflect on Club.” Such an action by the Falcons would surely trigger Vick or the NFLPA to file a grievance, which would lead to proceedings in front of an arbitrator to determine if the Falcons were reasonable for terminating him. If I was the arbitrator, I’d likely side with the Falcons. It’s perfectly reasonable for a company to not want a felon on its payroll. Although the cap hit the Falcons would take might dissuade them from cutting Vick in the end. (Rumors and Rants)

And this isn’t us bashing Ookie – we’re Vick guys. For our money, he remains the most exciting player in the league, a cut above LT. But everyone who was burying their head in the sand thinking Vick was innocent, or this was a racial thing, is just kidding themselves. They need to read the 19-page indictment. The evidence appears to be overwhelming. (The Big Lead)

"Where (Vick) is in the most trouble is that he lied to the commissioner," a league source said. "He told (Goodell) in April that he didn't know anything about this. The commissioner gave (Vick) every chance to come clean, be straight about what was going on. Instead, he just kept denying it." (Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports)

I'm not a lawyer. I know nothing about the law. I'm fairly certain I break the law upwards of 25 times a day. So what can I do to save a superstar athlete from these overblown (aka not overblown) charges with absolutely no (aka indisputable) evidence?

Then it came to me...If the dog didn't bit, you must acquit. If the pit bull didn't make a sound, Michael Vick shouldn't go to the people pound. If the chihuahua didn't cry, don't make Michael Vick play on the proverbial football field in the sky.If the dog graves are basically covered, let Michael Vick play a game in front of his mother. Yes, that's right...the Cochran defense! (Flyers Fieldhouse)

Comments

[danny brooks]

i dont think he should go to jail at all cuz he is too fine