Thread: The wide world of sports truths

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20070709_Bob_Ford___The_wide_world_of_sports_truth s.html

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

That dogfighting, rooster fighting, bull and bear baiting, and, quite possibly, the entire episodic adventures of "Mr. Ed" are not examples of cultural differences that cannot be understood by all, but nothing more than mere cruelty to animals.

Don't give me that mumbo-jumbo that in some corners of American society, the pitting of one dog against another is accepted social interaction, a recreation handed down by generations.

Be it further resolved that for every dead dog unearthed on his property, Michael Vick should be suspended for one NFL game. If they find 40 dead dogs from the Bad Newz Kennels buried in those trenches around the house, then it's 40 games. See you sometime in 2009.

Sounds good to me. ;D

What a genious idea!
Every day equals one game.
I hate Vick more then anything after all this.
If this chump is playing in the opener I hope Greenway tears all of his muscles in Vicks legs to ruin his career.
What goes around comes around!

That NBC has dropped a fuzzy, yellow ball in its decision to terminate its relationship with longtime commentator Bud Collins after this year.

And what a classy termination it was. Collins received the news through a voice-mail message he received upon arriving at Wimbledon. That's what you get after 32 years: Press 1 if you still have a job with NBC . . . not so fast there, Bud.

I see nothing wrong with this if you have trouble looking people in the eyes.

"NodakPaul" wrote:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20070709_Bob_Ford___The_wide_world_of_sports_truth s.html

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

That dogfighting, rooster fighting, bull and bear baiting, and, quite possibly, the entire episodic adventures of "Mr. Ed" are not examples of cultural differences that cannot be understood by all, but nothing more than mere cruelty to animals.

Don't give me that mumbo-jumbo that in some corners of American society, the pitting of one dog against another is accepted social interaction, a recreation handed down by generations.

Be it further resolved that for every dead dog unearthed on his property, Michael Vick should be suspended for one NFL game. If they find 40 dead dogs from the Bad Newz Kennels buried in those trenches around the house, then it's 40 games. See you sometime in 2009.

Sounds good to me. ;D

So what should be the penalty for those that actually committed the crime and profited from it?

"Json" wrote:

What a genious idea!
Every day equals one game.
I hate Vick more then anything after all this.
If this chump is playing in the opener I hope Greenway tears all of his muscles in Vicks legs to ruin his career.
What goes around comes around!

So much for innocent until proven guilty. I have not seen any evidence that Vick had anything to do with the dog fighting. Maybe you should redirect your anger towards the people that organized the fights, the ones who raised the dogs to fight, maybe all of the people that attended the dog fights, the people that burried the dogs in the back yard. But you don't care about any of that, it is Vick that you care about. I hope you never get picked for jury duty.

"jmcdon00" wrote:

"Json" wrote:

What a genious idea!
Every day equals one game.
I hate Vick more then anything after all this.
If this chump is playing in the opener I hope Greenway tears all of his muscles in Vicks legs to ruin his career.
What goes around comes around!

So much for innocent until proven guilty. I have not seen any evidence that Vick had anything to do with the dog fighting. Maybe you should redirect your anger towards the people that organized the fights, the ones who raised the dogs to fight, maybe all of the people that attended the dog fights, the people that burried the dogs in the back yard. But you don't care about any of that, it is Vick that you care about. I hope you never get picked for jury duty.

I bet you think O.J. was innocent too.

"vikingivan" wrote:

"jmcdon00" wrote:

"Json" wrote:

What a genious idea!
Every day equals one game.
I hate Vick more then anything after all this.
If this chump is playing in the opener I hope Greenway tears all of his muscles in Vicks legs to ruin his career.
What goes around comes around!

So much for innocent until proven guilty. I have not seen any evidence that Vick had anything to do with the dog fighting. Maybe you should redirect your anger towards the people that organized the fights, the ones who raised the dogs to fight, maybe all of the people that attended the dog fights, the people that burried the dogs in the back yard. But you don't care about any of that, it is Vick that you care about. I hope you never get picked for jury duty.

I bet you think O.J. was innocent too.

Ok your not entirely innocent until proven guilty but could we atleast say innocent until charged? Have you seen any evidence that vick took part in the dog fighting business? if so please share, I would love to hate vick as much as anyone but I need some reason.

"jmcdon00" wrote:

"vikingivan" wrote:

"jmcdon00" wrote:

"Json" wrote:

What a genious idea!
Every day equals one game.
I hate Vick more then anything after all this.
If this chump is playing in the opener I hope Greenway tears all of his muscles in Vicks legs to ruin his career.
What goes around comes around!

So much for innocent until proven guilty. I have not seen any evidence that Vick had anything to do with the dog fighting. Maybe you should redirect your anger towards the people that organized the fights, the ones who raised the dogs to fight, maybe all of the people that attended the dog fights, the people that burried the dogs in the back yard. But you don't care about any of that, it is Vick that you care about. I hope you never get picked for jury duty.

I bet you think O.J. was innocent too.

Ok your not entirely innocent until proven guilty but could we atleast say innocent until charged? Have you seen any evidence that vick took part in the dog fighting business? if so please share, I would love to hate vick as much as anyone but I need some reason.

I don't know if he is guilty or innocent.
I do know that he owned the property where they were holding illegal dog fights.
Whether he participated or not is unknown to me.
I do know this, he did own the property where the dog fights were held.
With that comes a certain amount of responsibility.
Who are they to hold responsible for the crimes commited then.
I know if the law comes out and find 2 acres of pot planted in my corn, they are going to hold me responsible because I own the land.
If I tell them my cousin must have planted it there, I don't think they are going to be very receptive.

"vikingivan" wrote:

"jmcdon00" wrote:

"vikingivan" wrote:

"jmcdon00" wrote:

"Json" wrote:

What a genious idea!
Every day equals one game.
I hate Vick more then anything after all this.
If this chump is playing in the opener I hope Greenway tears all of his muscles in Vicks legs to ruin his career.
What goes around comes around!

So much for innocent until proven guilty. I have not seen any evidence that Vick had anything to do with the dog fighting. Maybe you should redirect your anger towards the people that organized the fights, the ones who raised the dogs to fight, maybe all of the people that attended the dog fights, the people that burried the dogs in the back yard. But you don't care about any of that, it is Vick that you care about. I hope you never get picked for jury duty.

I bet you think O.J. was innocent too.

Ok your not entirely innocent until proven guilty but could we atleast say innocent until charged? Have you seen any evidence that vick took part in the dog fighting business? if so please share, I would love to hate vick as much as anyone but I need some reason.

I don't know if he is guilty or innocent.
I do know that he owned the property where they were holding illegal dog fights.
Whether he participated or not is unknown to me.
I do know this, he did own the property where the dog fights were held.
With that comes a certain amount of responsibility.
Who are they to hold responsible for the crimes commited then.
I know if the law comes out and find 2 acres of pot planted in my corn, they are going to hold me responsible because I own the land.
If I tell them my cousin must have planted it there, I don't think they are going to be very receptive.

Absolutely right.
Yes, Vick is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
But in the court of public opinion there is no such stipulation.
At the absolute minimum, he owned the property where the dogfighting was taking place, and thereby holds some responsibility.

And there is a possibility, however slight, that Vick really didn't know about anything going on.
We will overlook the fact that Vick had been to the property during the time that the dog fighting ring was in business (both by his own admission and by witnesses).
Maybe he just thought it was normal to have 40 dogs chained up to car axels just far enough apart to they couldn't quite reach each other.
And maybe he thought the rape stand was used to hold the dogs still when they, I don't know, cut their hair?
And maybe the fact that the kennel was named after his hometown (and his home town listing on his web page) was just pure coincidence.
Heck, maybe those 40 dogs really were planted on the property like his cousin originally said.
:

There has not been any hard evidence released regarding Vick and the dog fighting.
I suspect that some is forthcoming, and the feds are merely getting their ducks in a row before taking on the "Big Dog" so to speak.
I am not serving on any jury, so I am not bound by any legal statute that requires me to be 100% positive of Vick's guilt before forming my opinion.
So instead I will just use common sense.
If anyone wants to error on the side of extreme caution and profess poor Ron Mexico's innocence in all this, go right ahead.
Just don't expect much support from the community at large.

I'm quite certain that the dogs were planted there.
And even if they weren't , how was Vick supposed to see the animals unless he actually went out into the backyard?
I'm sure the dogs sat there quietly and certainly there would be no odor.
Poor Michael Vick..you just have to feel sympathy for him. I'm sure he had no idea of any of this.