Now he'll be lucky if he ever plays football again. As has been pointed out in many places, dog fighting is a federal felony. For Vick, though, it’s not. When his home was busted it was still a misdemeanor (by a couple of weeks), so the dog fighting charges aren’t that big of a problem legally. The problem is that dog fighting is the sort of thing that nobody can stomach. You think about the dog you had as a kid. You think about your loyal buddy who worshipped you for tossing a stick for him to chase down. You think about the shame you felt for yelling at him for barking at your visitors even though he was just trying to protect you. Then you read the heinous details of the life and death of fighting dogs and there can be no emotional mitigation. No one will come out and excuse it as a sickness, or a product of his upbringing, or a cultural difference, or say the dog deserved it. These people are scum.
That's why Nike dropped Vick like a hot potato. That's why you can no longer buy a Vick jersey. That's why the Falcons are desperately trying to find the right way to separate themselves from Vick and recover as much of his bonus money as possible. PR-wise it is about the worst possible thing, but legally it’s not the end of the world. Legally, it’s a misdemeanor and under normal circumstances Vick could plea bargain for a fine and be free to try to rehab his rep. The real legal problem is gambling.
As you know, here at Thoughtful Fool Orbiting Headquarters, we despise gambling.
Just checking if you were still paying attention. Actually we love gambling and think it should be legal anytime, anywhere, on anything (for consenting adults who are not NBA referees). Sadly, for us and Mike, the government of these here United States disagrees rather stridently. The dog fighting charge may be legally trivial, but if it comes out the Mikey was dropping ten grand a pop on which pooch would survive, the federal prosecutor and the IRS will be salivating like Pavlov’s dogs (snicker). That could translate to sharing a cell with a 300 lb. skinhead dog lover named Turk. And when he’s done with that, the State of Virginia may want its piece of the action.
Article comments
1 - RJ
Ah! Welcome back Mr. Mazzotta.
I full anticipate predicting every single game, every single week this NFL season, for the third year in a row. My goal this year is to thrash Theismann so badly in the weekly picks that he retires from ESPN with a compound fracture to his manhood. Also, I want to make Merril Hoge cry on live national television.
I'm somewhat unsure which of these goals is more realistic.
2 - Tinkerbell
One can only hope that Vick is subject to the same treatment to which he subjected those poor dogs...fighting to the death, electrocution, rape stands, starvation, chaining, maiming. And if he ever plays again and loses? Just like what he did to his dogs, may NFL fans raise his body above their heads and slam him to the ground, ending his life.
Even that would be too good for him.
3 - Matthew T. Sussman
I'm holding out for the news that there's a third Vick brother, and he's a med student or something.
The advent of Mazzotta means the football season is near. [Single tear]
4 - david mazzotta
Poor Joe is still wandering around in a daze about being booted from the Monday night booth, now RJ is out to finish him. He'll be wishing he for the good old days of Lawrence Taylor bearing down on him after this.
5 - Thomas Robinson
Well see how wrong you were, this thing with Michael Vick was more than just a misdemeanor. So could you have been wrong about anything else in this article and others you write.