Posted on 07/20/2007 7:57:37 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
Even a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day.
Politics can make for strange bedfellows.
More news here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-vickprotest021907&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
“PETA ready to protest following Vick indictment”
...but I've seen some try, even on this forum.
“Put the bite on Vick now”
July 19, 2007
BY GREG COUCH Sun-Times Columnist
You have to understand how serious this is for Michael Vick, how serious for the NFL. I know of people who can watch without blinking as Clint Eastwood wastes a dozen people in five minutes. But a horse walks with a limp, and it’s tears.
Yes, it’s just an indictment for Vick, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback, and not a conviction. But the words in that indictment are just too hideous to look past, too sickening to forget.
‘’Dogfighting ring’’ sounds bad enough. But that’s a title, a label. These are the words that will sink Vick: He is accused of having ‘’executed the losing dog by wetting the dog down with water and electrocuting the animal.’’ That’s on Page 12 of the indictment.
He’s accused of having executed eight dogs that didn’t test well by ‘’hanging, drowning and slamming at least one dog’s body to the ground.’’
You know what a ‘’rape stand’’ is? I didn’t, either. Thanks to Vick, we’ve learned: Dogs are held in place for forced breeding.
Vick cannot play in the NFL for a while. Maybe ever. I know, just an accusation. But commissioner Roger Goodell has a league image to consider. And Goodell has been championed as the guy trying to clean that image up.
This isn’t the same as Tank Johnson’s case, or Pacman Jones’, or Chris Henry’s. Those guys, all suspended, were repeat offenders.
This is much, much worse than that. Vick is a superstar, an individual in a league of helmet-covered faces. We will not look at Vick the same again.
Will we look at the NFL the same?
If Vick continues to play this year, then PETA’s people will be out protesting at every game.
‘Barbaric form of entertainment’
This statement, signed by PETA director Daphna Nachminovitch, was already on PETA.org on Wednesday: ‘’PETA’s offices, located just over an hour away from Michael Vick’s rural mansion — where we now know dozens if not hundreds of dogs were forced to fight to the death in a pit — has been receiving vague allegations of Vick’s involvement in illegal animal fighting activity for years, sadly without much concrete evidence to back it up ...
‘’The professional sports world is plagued with players who have been accused, charged or convicted of cruelty to animals, abusing pit bulls and dogfighting, and we hope that this indictment sends a loud and clear message to players and the NFL that celebrity is not a sufficient excuse for breaking the law . . .’’
Here’s a release sent to my e-mail box Wednesday, announcing a news conference with two U.S. senators and a Congressman who apparently were responsible for something called the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, passed into law May 3.
‘’Animal fighting is a barbaric form of entertainment that not only is harmful and deadly to animals, but also poses many health and safety risks to communities where it is taking place,’’ said Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, a former veterinarian. ‘’Often, individuals associated with this deplorable practice are involved in narcotics trafficking, gang activity, violence toward people and illegal gambling.’’
See? It’s already started because Vick is a star, a marketing tool.
He’ll be a running ad for the NFL as a thug league, exactly the thing Goodell has been trying to clean up.
Goodell is in a spot here. He has been busting players who have made mistakes over and over. And this is the first real problem from Vick. First-time offender. Indictment, not conviction. But those things aren’t going to wipe away the image of a hanging dog, or an electrocuted one.
There is no specific guideline for these punishments, anyway. Goodell makes them up as he goes. Maybe he can suspend Vick indefinitely but keep his salary in escrow until a conviction or until charges are dropped.
Guilt by association, at least
The league might have to be a little creative here, might have to help pay his salary if it eventually turns out he has no hard connection with this. Whoever pays, though, the league has got to get rid of Vick now.
He certainly can be held accountable for dogfighting taking place on his own property, even if he says he wasn’t involved, didn’t know anything about it.
It’s his friends, his relatives, his property.
How stupid must Vick be to put the rest of his $120 million contract in jeopardy? And whatever his involvement, even if it’s none, he should have run right to the authorities and started explaining.
The last thing he needed, the last thing the NFL needed, was a surprise indictment.
The league didn’t much need to hear from the Washington Redskins’ Clinton Portis a few weeks ago, either, when he told WAVY-TV in Virginia, ‘’I don’t know if he was fighting dogs or not, but it’s his property, it’s his dog.
‘’If that’s what he wants to do, do it. I think people should mind their own business.’’
Portis’ comment is almost as disturbing as Vick’s indictment. These guys are both examples of this thug culture. Well, it’s worse than thug. It’s outrageous that anyone would try to defend this.
It’s morally stomach-turning.
Is it the NFL?
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/couch/474756,CST-SPT-greg19.article
I agree. Vick’s career is ruined.
Where were they when Saddam was injecting puppies with nerve agent and videotaping their deaths....FINALLY this organization is doing something not related to politics.
But Russell "Run" Simmons and Al Sharpton? Wow. Don't tell me that the indigenous pipples of Africa and traditional African-American culture was completely vegetarian until big bad whitie came along and forced them to start eating meat.
So when is Sharpton going to endorse Darwin?
Michael and his brother Marcus have certainly earned every bit of bad press they have received.
Vick is probably done. But wouldn’t you love to see Vick and the Falcons play the Browns? The dogpound would be rabid.
You are correct but just be sure you know who ruined it. It wasn't the press. It wasn't the NFL. It wasn't the fans. The person who ruined Vick's career was Vick himself and as far as I am concerned, good riddance to bad rubbish.
But NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT THE MONEY NIKE MAKES ON VICK’S PRODUCTS!!!!!!
they still haven[t quit selling them!
I hope PETA’s keeping their dumpsters clean.
Well said and 100% true. Vick was a dumba$$ from the start, and has done nothing to change that perception.
I can hear “Who Let The Dogs Out” ringing now.
Ha! Vick's an amatuer:
What do you call eleven convicted felons standing in a circle?
The Dallas Cowboy's huddle!
What do you call eleven convicted felons standing in a circle?
The Dallas Cowboy’s huddle!
Could also be the Cincinnati Bengals huddle!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.