The United States of America v. Michael Vick

In the last week we have watched in delight as events have unfolded in the People versus Michael Vick a.k.a. 'Ron Mexico' a.k.a. 'Ookie'. (Here is the whole 18 page indictment from The Smoking Gun) Polls show over 80 percent of people want him in jail if he did this and he faces up to six years in jail if convicted. People who have never followed football in their life now know he is a bad person who will be judged one day for his actions.

A couple of thoughts:

Its hilarious that Vick's dogfighter name 'Ookie' has an eerie resemblance to Hokie. I always thought a Hokie was a castrated turkey, not a dogfighter. Guess you learn something everyday.

According to the document Vick and his cronies killed dogs by hosing them down then electrocuting them, hanging them, shooting them and throwing them on the ground repeatedly. I guess Vick can miss wide open receivers but he can't miss the ground when tossing dogs. Well you never know, his completion percentage last year was 52.6%.

Pacman is in trouble mainly for being an idiot (oh yeah and that one tussle when a man was paralyzed) but this is so much worse.

Until the weekend you could still buy an 'Ookie' customized Falcons jersey at NFLShop.com. Ron Mexico was taken off the shelf immediately after that suit became public knowledge so its surprising it took the NFL a couple of days this time.

This isn't a local prosecutor going for attention like in the Duke Lacrosse Scandal or the Kobe Bryant Debacle. Uncle Sam's lawyers will not prosecute without a solid case.

College Gameday will probably be focusing on the tragic shooting when they arrive in Blacksburg September 1st. We don't expect a lot of shots of their captain from the Hokies' glory year of 1999.

Vick was betting thousands of dollars per fight on these dogs. Suppose on top of his NFL salary he made $10 million last year (in endorsements - not including dogfight winnings) which would put his total earnings at about $18.4 million. He gave $10,000 to the Va Tech Victims Relief Fund. If a person earning $50,000 a year gave that amount he would only be giving $27.17. So he could afford to fight a lot of dogs and doing this was more important than helping out his alma mater in its time of need.

How the hell do you get involved with dog fighting in the first place? I can't imagine watching the Iron Bowl with one of my friends and it just coming up in casual conversation. "Hey Cox is throwing all over us again this year. Lets get out of hear and head down to Byhalia. One of my boys got his pitbull in the ring tonight. He's fighting a dalmatian, its gonna be a blood bath."