A DIFFERING VIEW: Vick’s repeat offenses merit him no second chance
The Rocky’s “soft on Vick” editorial sets up a false premise — arguing that his punishment should be based on that for similar offenses against humans — to allow compassion for Michael Vick and a minimization of his sentence (“Throw- away-the-key critics wrong about Vick,” Aug. 23).
Vick’s felonious offenses stand on their own — not in comparison to others. Try as you may, you can’t put lipstick on this pigskin.
Second chances are meant to be given after first offenses — not two, three, four, eight murders. How can there be “second” chances for multiple infractions? Vick, it appears, went through the second all the way to the eighth.
Jim Schwartz, a resident of Centennial, is founder of the Next-to-Kin Foundation.
Michael Sicko should be banned from ever stepping foot on a football field again. This is s guy who hung, shot and electrocuted his dogs if they lost at fighting. This is a guy who enjoyed suffering and death as entertainment, not someone you want your kids to emulate. This man is a good example of the brutality of the human animal. This person should never be allowed to own an animal again.
Posted by BG on August 28, 2007 07:36 AMMaybe the Atlanta Falcons should have given out the same punishment to Vick when they lost a game, as he inflicted on his dogs when they lost a fight.
Posted by on August 28, 2007 07:41 AMJim, why aren't you mad at law enforcement that knew what Vick was doing, but allowed him to continue fighting dogs for TWO YEARS while they "investigated"?
A thoughtful person would surmise several things:
1- Law enforcement's first priority was getting a high profile suspect in an airtight case with great media appeal.
2- Law enforcement had little concern for how many dogs were consumed before they made their case.
3- The dog fighting/killing would have immediately stopped had law enforcement told the owner of the Falcons or the officials at the NFL that Vick was being investigated for such an ugly crime.
4- the media has tailord the story to de-emphasize how law enforcement allowed the continued fighting /killing.
5- the media has forbiddin any exploration of the possible link between violent "sports" and indivuals that participate in them.
6- Comments by PETA spokesmen have not appeared in stories about this situation (it might make PETA look less carzy than than their current media image?).
7- the pubilc does feel more emotional sympathy for pets than for humans.
8- Good athlete crimnals are given many more "second chances" than mediocre athlete criminals or non-sports criminals
9- If Vick had a good media flak, would the dogs deaths have been "sacrifices" necessary for scientific advancement (as an animal researcher, similar to university research involving behaviour versus genetic predioposition questions)?
Did you not see these others aspects of the story or are you afraid to take-on the tough cases?
Posted by Dave on August 28, 2007 07:44 AMWhy should Vick get a second chance? He sure didn't give the poor dogs he killed any chance!
Vick says he made a mistake. What??? A mistake of brutality for 6 years or longer. He is just one more rich sports thug to be caught and sentenced to prison.
I hope Vick is NEVER allowed to play football for any organization ever again!!
He wasn't a good pure passing QB in the first place...more like a running back who took snaps.
Posted by A on August 28, 2007 07:50 AMWow, talk about emotions....
Michael Vick is a true moron, but he will do his time on this. Now, here is the hard part... Looking at this rationally.
Everyone wants to ban MV from football for life, etc or have him shot, hung, blown up, eaten by sharks. Here is a question, what about his buddies in the same boat? Can you even name them? Should they not be allowed jobs in their fields ever again? Should they be shot, killed, eaten by sharks etc?
Where is their outrage? is the outrage centered on Vick cuz he is a football star and now deserves extra harsh treatment because he made a lot of money?
Michael Vick and his buddies will serve their time and get out. He should be allowed to go back to whatever job he can work in, including football, just as his buddies will go back to whatever "career" they had.
Now, here is the money shot.... He gets to TRY to come back to football, but my guess is, no team will touch him with a 10 foot pole as he is now a pariah and no team wants that albatross around their neck. So, let the system work, and he will be treated the same way as the others involved. but, in his case, he will lose a career with alot of cash involved. He gets a shot at coming back, just like everyone else. He will just find it a long road and most probably, a dead end.
hey wait remember he told everyone that because his butt is in a sling that he ' found Jesus' and now everyone should forgive him and make nice.
put him in a cell with rabid dogs
Criminal negligence resulting in deaths: 3000 dead saints on 9/11, NOLA-Katrina - 1800 dead black folks, Iraq-NAM 100K dead, 120 dead miners, etc. Hmmm RELECTED!
Posted by centennialslavebehinddacottoncurtain on August 28, 2007 08:33 AMWhat's your point 40mules, i mean cennslave? Are you condoning this man's behavior because he is BLACK?
Are you saying Bush should be prosecuted for all those deaths? "Cause I don't think he was president during the Vietnam era, and he's definitely not a mine owner/operator....
Dude, I respect your right to an opinion but your "da man is holdin' me down" song is getting old. My husband is white and had a stroke, we have waited for 2 years to get a hearing for a measly $796/mo. He was denied the first time around....he can't talk, but the SS physician said he can get a job. His father, my father, and HE served our country...life isn't fair, no matter what color your skin is.
You know, people like to quote MLK's speech, but do they really listen to the words? This speech can (and should) be to ALL people being judged by "the content of their character". That speech wasn't just for blacks. MLK was pleading for equality for ALL.
Vick should not be allowed to play in the NFL because he broke the rules, just like Pete Rose did. Our young people need to respect role models because of their examples of good sportsmanship, their contributions to the community, and their ability to live by the rules.
Now, let's talk about those saggin' pants......it ain't just a black thang.
Waaaah, waaaah, waaaah...what a bunch of hypocrites.....(except Dravur, and I'm kicking myself because it's the first time I agree with him, EVER)...
You all cheer on the brutality and viciousness of football and just love the explosive concussion-causing-and-bone-crunching hits, then want to crucify a product of that environment that treats animals the same way. What a joke. Oh, and save your responses..."but people voluntarily do that" or "football players don't fight to the death", "the dogs are innocent", etc., etc. Vick cheered on that savagery, while you cheer on human-on-human savagery. Where's your outrage for the NFL vets that can't walk?, or suffer debilitating brain damage from multiple concussions? Why not just remove the helmet and pads and let them go at it like real "men"?, or does that allow you to objectify players as machines? Makes it easier when you can't see the blood, doesn't it?
Vick will do his time (probably sentenced to 3 years, serving 2 with 1 year suspended...because he has an especially strict judge). Then Al Davis will sign him. After all, did we forget that Al Davis kept Jack Tatum employed after Tatum paralyzed Stingley with a vicious blindsided hit to the head?
Bloodsport is bloodsport. Bury a dog, or spoon-feed a human for 30 years. The cheers sound the same.
Posted by Thirsty on August 28, 2007 10:14 AMDravur
"...no team will touch him with a 10 foot pole as he is now a pariah and no team wants that albatross around their neck."
I have to disagree with your optimistic holding of NFL teams have any morals or virtues which would leave Vick out of the game. The NFL is replete with examples of second and third chances for some real degenerates. The better the athlete the more likely teams will line up to sign him and spin a PR image of rehabilitation to capitalize on. Some team will make him a poster boy of how to turn a life around. Whether or not he can live up to that image is the only question; it's not if he will be given the chance.
Posted by mongoose on August 28, 2007 10:40 AMHe made a plea bargain without having to admit he gambled on the dog fighting.
I find it extremely hard to believe he was not gambling on the out come of those dogs fighting.
The whole point of dog fighting is to gamble on which dog wins.
He should not have been allowed to plea bargain. The Feds had him and all his buddies turned to get deals. The prosecutor should have taken this to trial. They had more than enough evidence to convict him and send him away for along time.
That is what he deserved.When are the laws going to stop being bent for celebraties?
Nope, the Feds didn't have the evidence. All they had was the money connection, which is why the plea is only to a "conspiracy" count. The state had 2 years of investigation, and not so much as a photo or independent corroboration of the co-conspirators (crooks and liars).
Read the details of the factual statement for the plea. It is written that way for a reason. Vick admits to bankrolling, but not sharing in the winnings. It's a way he throws a bone to his posse and avoids trouble with the NFL. Bankroll the enterprise, but let them get the winnings. A $10,000 bet on a dog fight is small potatoes.
Also, Vick admits that only in April 2007, 6-8 dogs were killed, that Vick "agreed to the killing" "by various methods" and that "all dogs died as a result of the collective efforts of" everyone. He and his lawyers left wiggle room to say; he was the money-man, and he ordered the killing, but didn't actually DO the killing. The key phrase is "collective effort."
That's why you shouldn't believe the media. Vick never admits to actually taking the life of an animal himself. That may come out in his sentencing hearing. And don't get me wrong. Vick's cowardice is evidenced by the whole thing, especially having others do his dirty work.
And in prison, the other inmates don't like people who have hurt children or animals. He'll get some sort of jailhouse punishment.
Posted by Thirsty on August 28, 2007 03:13 PMDravur--
Vick's buddies weren't up on a pedestal like he was. They'll serve their time and disappear into oblivion.
He was a sports hero, held to a higher standard. Our kids look up to these guys, (not that I agree to the extent that they are) and there are ethics involved.
He's cold, brutal and without conscience. He's only sorry now because he got caught.
He organized and participated in the brutality of these dog fights and tortured these animals when they did not perform to his liking.
He does not deserve the money or the adoration that a professional football career brings.
He deserves to do time and should be made to earn a living like the rest of us have to when his sentence is up. No more millions, no more chances. He had the world by the rear end and was too stupid to know it.
He's a felon now.
Posted by c on August 28, 2007 03:32 PM