"Sportsman of the Year"

[duttlyn]

There is a huge uproar, specifically on Facebook, about Michael Vick being named "sportsman of the year" by BET. Subway sponsored the event and knew Vick was a contender... they also sponsored his reality TV show. And, Nike just signed him for an endorsement deal.

I, for one, do NOT think he could ever properly pay for what he has done and I don't think he should ever be held up as a role model, no matter how much he pretends to suddenly and miraculously care about dogs. I wish the Eagles never signed him and I wish we required more of our athletes... couldn't we at least require that they not be convicted felons and sadistic animal killers?

Not sure how many of you go to Facebook but if you want, here is one of the links. I will not be buying anything from Subway or Nike again.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/NO-WA...73935239336924

[Stosh]

I agree completely!

[DFrost]

Originally Posted by duttlyn

I, for one, do NOT think he could ever properly pay for what he has done a

https://www.facebook.com/pages/NO-WA...73935239336924

He was tried, convicted served the court pronounced sentence. Does this mean there is no such thing as "doing your time". Does this apply to dog fighters only. Will anyone convicted of any crime where prison is required be held to the same standard? I'm just inquiring as far as the law is concerned. I'd hate to think even think of such a human emotion as forgiveness.

DFrost

[duttlyn]

Originally Posted by DFrost

He was tried, convicted served the court pronounced sentence. Does this mean there is no such thing as "doing your time". Does this apply to dog fighters only. Will anyone convicted of any crime where prison is required be held to the same standard? I'm just inquiring as far as the law is concerned. I'd hate to think even think of such a human emotion as forgiveness.

DFrost

Well, a couple of thoughts on this:

First, the reason I say he could never properly pay for this is because no matter how much time someone does, they can't simply erase the pain and suffering. I don't believe a child molester can properly pay for his crimes either because the lingering effects on the child are forever. This man participated in unspeakable torture of innocent creatures and so no, I don't think he can ever really "do his time" for that. That said, I do believe people deserve to be left in peace after they serve their sentence but in this case, it does not apply.

There is a difference between being given a second chance to live in society as a good person and being honored and lauded as a hero. As a mom, I feel like I can't take my children to sporting events anymore because the quality of people they choose to make into heroes. 95% of the NFL are just average players who do their job; there are very few heroes. Michael Vick has been allowed to stay a hero with hefty Nike endorsements and "Sportsman of the Year" awards. If I lived in Philly, I don't know what I'd do if my kid wanted to wear a Michael Vick jersey. What example does that set? I dream of a time when athletes make a mistake of this magnitude that they lose their GIFT of being a professional athlete. Maybe then, the younger kids will see what happens when you make poor decisions and they will make better ones. Instead, we live in a time when the almighty dollar reigns and if you can throw a football/basketball/fill in your sport here, you can live the life of a superstar regardless of your behavior. Michael Vick SHOULD be given a second chance but that chance should be to start over, work his way back up the ladder, and to attone for his sins.

Finally, something needs to be set straight on this issue. Michael Vick was not convicted under Virginia animal cruelty laws because if he was, he'd have spent a whole lot more jail time than he did. He was allowed to plead out to ONE count, ONE count of "Conspiracy to Travel in Interstate Commerce in Aid of Unlawful Activities and to Sponsor a Dog in an Animal Fight Venture." Let me quote someone else who already wrote at length on this issue because he sums it up nicely:

from Chris Durant's World
"One count. This is unbelievable. Between 2001 and 2007 Michael Vick sponsored dogs in eleven fights. Additionally, he traveled to four states to purchase eleven dogs. Again, could this not be construed as 22 counts? Even with Vick’s meager sentencing this would have equated to 396 months or 33 YEARS!! And even at an absolute minimum, why was he not charged with four counts of the incredibly weak “Conspiracy…”?

But better yet, if he had been truly tried according to Virginia’s Animal Cruelty Laws he could have been tried for twenty dog fights and nine executions. SIXTY FIVE YEARS! Instead, he was again allowed to plead out (while serving out his Federal sentence) to ONE count of dog fighting (the single Animal Cruelty charge was dropped as a part of the plea agreement) and received a three year suspended sentence for time served on the Federal charges. The prosecutor (Virginia’s Surry County Commonwealth Attorney General – Gerald G. Poindexter) didn’t feel that the costs associated with transporting Vick to Virginia from Leavenworth penitentiary in Kansas was worth it. There was also another $2,500 fine which was suspended as well. Nice job, Poindexter. I am sure the good people of Surry County think you’re a real legal eagle, huh?

Some more of Chris’ great math – If Surry County had actually tried Vick they could have charged him with those 29 offenses and reaped $72,500 in fines. Another area I am not an expert in, is travel logistics, but I cannot imagine it would come any where near $72,500 to transport Vick the 1,160 miles (I Google Mapped it) – I mean, that’s $62.50 a mile!? They could have fueled an Abrams M1 armored tank (probably one of the world’s worst gas efficient vehicles) for the entire trip for a mere $3,420.

Another side note: Five of the surviving dogs rescued from Vick’s compound had to be put down. He was not held accountable for those either. But, according to Virginia law, he absolutely should have been. That would have brought the potential charge count up to 34 and another $12,500 for Mr. Poindexter’s ridiculous transportation fund.

Many of you may think I am taking the far extreme position, and I am. Let me point out a few things that should sicken even the hardest of you that may be reading this. First, as if dog fighting isn’t vicious enough, the animals that did not meet Vick and Co. standards or lost their fights were executed. Now I do not mean that they were euthanized by a simple and clean (or slightly humane) method. No, these dogs were sadistically tortured and killed (at times by Vick’s own hands) using methods that required even a slight degree of premeditation and a strong degree of sociopathology – malice and forethought: HANGING, DROWNING, ELECTROCUTING, BLUDGEONED WITH A SHOVEL, SLAMMING THEM TO THE GROUND, et al. That kind of emotional detachment is truly frightening. If Vick and the others associated with Bad NewZ Kennels had done to humans what they did to these dogs, they would be mentioned in the same breath with Dahmer, Gacey, Manson, BTK and other notorious serial killers.

Vick is reported as having experienced an adrenaline rush and euphoric like high from his participation in this savagery.

So, I guess my point in all this is even if can eventually forgive this man for the heinous acts he committed, I will NEVER believe that he should garner the luxurious life of a superstar athlete and the perks that come from it. There are many upstanding athletes that would kill for the same opportunity he has been afforded... I think we should give it to them.

[Smoktya]

i know what he did to the dogs was horrible, but you can tell from the news stories around Philly that he really is working with children and the humane society to at least try and help the situation with dog fighting. I know of a few more people in the NFL who have done a lot worse things like drunken vehicular homicide, stabbings, plain old murder......just to name a few. Yet we never talk about those as often as this darn dog case. I think its time to move on. Dog fighting will never go away, especially with the amount of pit-bulls in the inner-cities. I visit those places a lot and all i see are pit-bulls everywhere. BYB at its finest.

[duttlyn]

Originally Posted by Smoktya

i know what he did to the dogs was horrible, but you can tell from the news stories around Philly that he really is working with children and the humane society to at least try and help the situation with dog fighting. I know of a few more people in the NFL who have done a lot worse things like drunken vehicular homicide, stabbings, plain old murder......just to name a few. Yet we never talk about those as often as this darn dog case. I think its time to move on. Dog fighting will never go away, especially with the amount of pit-bulls in the inner-cities. I visit those places a lot and all i see are pit-bulls everywhere. BYB at its finest.

I'm glad he's working in the inner city trying to help the problem but it's really not my point. At what point do we require more from our athletes? Do you really think he deserves to be "sportsman of the year" or receive a lucrative Nike contract after what he did? Isn't it enough that he still gets to play football?! We need to take a stand and say NO MORE. My point is exactly yours, that the NFL has rapists, drug users, domestic batterers, etc. etc. in their ranks. WHEN will we say NO MORE?! Vick gets the most publicity precisely because he is a superstar but it happens in all sports. If you can throw/catch/run on that green field, to **** with whatever felony you commit, we'll still take you and love you and pay you through the nose. If we dumped every one of these lowlife thugs, another kid will move in AND if we have set an example over the years of ZERO tolerance, maybe just maybe, these will be GOOD kids who behaved themselves because they knew they had to if they wanted to be the next superstar.

[ALDuke]

I really love my dog...but there is absolutely no way you can compare Vick to a child molestor. That is well beyond grasping for straws. I dont' like him nor what he did...but he did pay his time. How do you know he hasn't changed? I'm sure glad people have forgiven me for my mistakes in life, no matter how big or small.

[codmaster]

Originally Posted by duttlyn

There is a huge uproar, specifically on Facebook, about Michael Vick being named "sportsman of the year" by BET. Subway sponsored the event and knew Vick was a contender... they also sponsored his reality TV show. And, Nike just signed him for an endorsement deal.

I, for one, do NOT think he could ever properly pay for what he has done and I don't think he should ever be held up as a role model, no matter how much he pretends to suddenly and miraculously care about dogs. I wish the Eagles never signed him and I wish we required more of our athletes... couldn't we at least require that they not be convicted felons and sadistic animal killers?

Not sure how many of you go to Facebook but if you want, here is one of the links. I will not be buying anything from Subway or Nike again.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/NO-WA...73935239336924

No question that what he did was terrible and he deserved to pay for it. Which he did!

Are you and others suggesting that any convict should be forever condemned for what they were convicted of?

BTW, atheletes are NOT role models for your kid. if they are filling that role, something is wrong!

How about movie stars - should they be role models also? How about holding them up to kids?

Remids me of an old saying my own mother once told me (long time ago!):

"Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone"!

[duttlyn]

Originally Posted by ALDuke

I really love my dog...but there is absolutely no way you can compare Vick to a child molestor. That is well beyond grasping for straws. I dont' like him nor what he did...but he did pay his time. How do you know he hasn't changed? I'm sure glad people have forgiven me for my mistakes in life, no matter how big or small.

I never compared him to a child molester... If you read carefully, it was analogy to say that just because someone "does their time" doesn't mean the pain and suffering is erased. And in addition, while I don't put him on the same level as a child molester, I do believe that people who torture and abuse the most defenseless in our society are cut from the same cloth (children, animals, the disabled, and the elderly)... it takes a special kind of individual to be able to turn off to blatant, in your face suffering.

Second, I don't need to know he hasn't changed because that's not the point of my original post. My point is that when as a society will we pick upstanding citizens to honor?

As far as if he has changed, I don't know but doubt it because someone who proclaimed "he got excited" by participating in the death of the dogs probably didn't suddenly change his tune BUT even if he did change, he still doesn't deserve to be honored. Most people have no idea what Vick actually did and NO HE DID NOT PAY HIS TIME. He did not serve ONE day in jail for the systematic torture of those animals. He was convicted on one federal charge that was essentially for gambling. Sorry, I don't buy he "did his time." If you really want the details, read the USDA investigative report on Bad Newz Kennels: http://www.usda.gov/oig/webdocs/BadNewzKennels.pdf because that's the unbiased truth of the matter and you'll see that he wasn't even in a class with "normal" dog fighters... they took it a step further.

[Mom2Shaman]

I'm having to vote with Duttlyn on this one. This athlete has shown a deep psychosis and disregard for life (albeit animal) with his actions. While he may have done his time in the legal aspect (or the time he plead for) the immorality of his actions and the psychosis they exhibited are not cleared. This guy should not have returned to the public eye. He is one sick and does not deserve that type of income, recognition, or publicity. There are pretty much legal-type crimes that you do time and move on (Martha Stewart as example) and really immoral and sociopathic crimes like this. They just don't rank the same.