*meerkat snarl and bitchslap, coming right up*

[lagilman]

RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 20 — Michael Vick, the star quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, has accepted a plea offer from federal prosecutors in a criminal case stemming from a dog-fighting ring that was run from a property Mr. Vick owned. ....

Billy Martin, one of Mr. Vick’s defense lawyers, said in a written statement: “After consulting with his family over the weekend, Michael Vick asked that I announce today that he has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors regarding the charges pending against him. Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made. Michael wishes to apologize again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter.”


Fucker. How you gonna apologize to the dogs who died in agony so you could make money and get your rocks off, huh? How you gonna explain to kids who watched you play that you set Fido against Fluffy for fun and profit?

He and his playmates make me sick.

Kids and animals. We're supposed to PROTECT them.

Comments

[debg.livejournal.com]

He is a sadistic fuckhead. And my lack of belief in a deity might be mitigated if Vick were somehow magically smeared with Alpo underwear and tossed into a locked room full of hungry dobermen pinschers.

[lindajdunn.livejournal.com]

I don't think the apology is sincere or meaningful.

Look at that last phrase: everyone who has been hurt by this matter.

He didn't say, "everyone who has been hurt by my actions."

He's put distance between himself and what happened and still hasn't acknowledged that he did anything wrong. I don't think he even believes he did anything wrong... except maybe getting caught.

I sincerely hope that what he has done comes back threefold to him.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

He has ALWAYS been that way. ALWAYS.
Even when he was at Va Tech, he never took responsibility for his actions.

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

And he didn't say, "everyone I hurt by running a dogfighting ring." Passive voice is so very "well it's all your fault if you're so sensitive about this stuff."

I wish I could say he was subhuman, but unfortunately only human beings do shit like this.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

His NFL career is finished.

General concensus is that he'll get a year in jail.

Virginia has a zero tolerance for dog fighting. And he fucked up royally by doing it here.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

You know, his definition of "taking full responsibility" is not mine.

"Michael is prepared to take full responsibility for allowing any and all of this to happen," Vick's Washington-based attorney, William R. (Billy) Martin, said in a telephone interview. "He needs to put all of this behind him. He's 27 years old and he has a full life ahead of him. He wants to get back to the life he had before these issues."

[lagilman]

yeah, "issues" translating to "getting caught."

*rude noise*

[ex-fashioni.livejournal.com]

You completely beat me to highlighting that same damned phrase.

Fucker.

Yes.

I'm all for throwing him in a tank of pirhanas, except it might be over too quickly. Maybe a pit full of pissed off cobras.

Rabid weasels?

Something.

Anything.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

And won't it be interesting to see if there's an NFL team desperate enough to take him after he serves his time?

[lagilman]

there have been some players who fucked up royally, and came back better humans afterward. Giving someone a second chance is a mitzvah -- IF they have earned it.

I have my doubts about Vicks. SERIOUS doubts.

(the expectation is that he won't be eligible to play again until 2010. We'll have to see what the new crop is like, then)

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

Some people have a whole new attitude after any time spent in prison. We can hope it leads to good things. The worry is, of course, that he will end up with the professional crooks and learn new ways to try and earn illegal money.

And didn't he have enough money? Or was he just into a power trip over those poor dogs?

At the least, Idiot. His apologies won't help those poor animals.

[deborahlive.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this makes me ill, too. When the league didn't respond to the indictment right away (despite the fact that they had to have known since at least April that something was going on) I cancelled my NFL Sunday Ticket. You know, living up here in the land of No Major League Sports, that's the only way I see anything other than the Seahawks.

Now I'm really torn. Do I resubscribe? This is one of those last straw kinda things, you know? There's just so much stupidity in the League. Owners are as bad as the players. I've still got college ball...but...but...I've been watching the NFL since I was 11.

Oh, wise Meerkat, remind me that most players' careers last less than five years; that they only make about 200K a year, that they are law-abiding citizens, that their off-the-field lives are really pretty boring and average...

You're still gonna watch, right? Help me out here.

[lagilman]

*turns pockets inside out* I got nuthin'. Sorry.

The League has said they're going to take a hard line on this, which they have to, because if organized crime wormed their way into the gambling going on re: the dog fights, Vicks is a serious liability to them. And I can't imagine that they're happy abot the cruelty-to-animals thing (rape and spousal abuse are forgivable, but no kicking puppies).

If they decide to run his suspension concurrently with his jail time, they're money-grubbing assholes. If they run it to start AFTER he gets out, they've done all one can (I think) reasonably expect them to do.

[deborahlive.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think you're right. It'll be interesting to see if therer are additional state charges.

I'd think that nobody but Al Davis or Jerry Jones would touch him after this, but you never know.

[otterdance.livejournal.com]

The level of cruelty I've read about in this case goes far beyond crime and right into psycho territory. I think he should get a year per dog, minimum, with psychiatric evaluation. (Torturing and killing animals is often a precursor to serial killing, right?) This hardly seems more than a slap on the wrist. And what about the illegal gambling matter? Does a year cover that?

Arghhh.

[rwglaub.livejournal.com]

I think you will love this cartoon which appeared on the editorial page of today's Washington Times...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/section/editorial

[lagilman]

*frown* I didn't get to click until now and I suspect I'm seeing thursdays?