The national story that dog-fighting was apparently taking place at a house owned by Mike Vick in Virginia and that Vick was associated with a dog-selling web site is bad. The story that came out this morning from the journalist who is covering the story in the Seven Cities area was far worse. (Kudos to 790 the Zone for getting a really interesting interview.) Sadly, I didn't get the name of the interviewee, but here were the highlights:
1. Vick claims that he never went to the house, but neighbors remember him coming and going on a regular basis.
2. Vick regularly bought supplies at a local pet shop.
3. None of the residents of the house had jobs, but the dog-fighting operation that appears to have been run from the house requires a significant amount of money. In other words, they had to have a rich investor.
4. The authorities in the area are trying to compile as much information as possible before interviewing Vick. They are very interested because this appears to be a very large dog-fighting operation on a relative scale.
Translation: if even some of this is true, then Vick is going to be suspended for a portion of next year, the Falcons are going to cut bait on him (too bad the Raiders just addressed their quarterback situation), and Vick is going to lose all of his endorsements. If Vick really was involved in a dog-fighting operation, then few people are going to forgive him. This isn't a crime of passion or a momentary lapse that can be understood, if not condoned. This isn't marijuana use that, at the end of the day, really isn't a big deal. This crime would be concerted, regular activity by a guy who didn't need the money. As much as Vick has frustrated me over the past several years and as much as I've said to myself "we'll never win big with this guy because fundamentally, he's a quarterback with average accuracy and decision-making skills," I really hope that this situation isn't as bad as it sounded this morning.
9 comments:
Come on, man. Dog-fighting's no biggie. When the cops found out that drug dealer was doing it on The Wire, they didn't even bat an eye. (And yes, I'm being sarcastic.) Damn, Vick's an idiot.
Welcome to the Joey Harrington era.
Now Vick made a mistake alright. He is still a great player. Everyone one of us has made mistakes before. Just because he plays Ball, dose not mean he has to be a poster child for the Boy scouts.
So, if he's suspended and/or the Falcons cut him loose, are we looking at the same salary cap blow that an ordinary release would have otherwise brought?
Fox, I think we've always agreed on Vick's capacity for fancy book learnin', but that lack of intelligence has apparently now filtered into his everyday life.
Lummpy, Vick is not a great player (there is no statistical measure of his passing that puts him anywhere above average, at least since 2002) and investing in/protecting a dog-fighting ring goes well beyond missing flights and smoking weed, both of which are forgiveable and only create intangible questions about our QB's judgment.
Steve, I think the Falcons will take a huge salary cap hit for getting rid of Vick, regardless of the reasons for the release. The issue is going to be that Arthur Blank will not be able to stand the massive PR hit that continued employment of Vick will entail. He doesn't want PETA protesting outside of the Georgia Dome on a weekly basis. He's a businessman and controversy like this is bad for business. If the charges are credible, then the most likely result is that Vick will be suspended for four games next year, he'll play for 12, and then the Falcons will release him and take a cap hit of 20-something million.
At least they didn't waste a pick on that Ladainian Tomlinson chump. I wonder whatever happened to him?
This guy is never going to get the Falcons to a Super Bowl. He's selfish, cruel lying sack of shit and if he ever steps foot on the field again--I hope someone takes out his knees.
If you call your local humane society. they will tell you 99% of all dog fighting operations are kept of site.. they will also tell you that addresses and phone numbers for these dog breeders are always wrong..unfortunatly I have learned more about dog fighting in the past weeks than I could ever imagine.. dogfighting is VERY organized these guys have learned over the years how to cover there butts.. I tried to get on a dog fight message board and you could not believe the screening and security they have.. If you actually do a little research on dogfighting it would be very hard to believe vick is innocent..If you love your dogs you don't keep them chained up outside.. you don't have rape boxes onsite.. I have owned 3 pitts in my life and I have NEVER had to buy syringes before... I have NEVER gave my dogs supplements (their strong enough already) To me this isn't even about vick anymore.. personally I would like to thank Vick for showing the world how big and horrendous dog fighting is.. He is ultimatly going to help us enact stronger penalties and laws against this type of scum
^ very well said i agree completely.
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