Mike Vick interview with former coach Jim Mora

[onebadmollafolla]

I hereby promote you to the rank of OF-2, congratulations, Major Obvious!!!

If he had electrocuted, drowned and beaten to death half a dozen people he would have been executed, become so infamous that his name would be as well known as Dahmer's, and then Lifetime would make a TV movie about his life starring Aldis Hodge (Leverage FTW). Instead he got a whole 21 months imprisonment, and most of that was due to the Federal "interstate commerce" charges.

Has anyone challenged the aforementioned sentiment in a manner that made you feel obligated to post this seemingly undisputed statement? Also, do you have any Grey Poupon?

I think you'll be hard pressed to find any human that thinks that other animals are of equal "worth" as humans; but this does not mean that they have no worth. We Hokie fans owe him a lot, but what he did was unconscionably cruel and disgusting; IMHO he deserved much more than 21 months. That being said, if society decided he has paid his debt, let him play ball.
___________________________________________

As for being sincerely reformed? With regards to knowing better than to do something stupid to destroy his career, certainly. I doubt he'll let himself get in that much trouble again. As for caring about animals, I doubt it very much. Nobody changes so drastically. I remember reading that some animal group did a post prison interview with him and gave him a quiz to determine his empathy towards animals. He did well, but his results were supposedly indicative of someone who was just trying to say the right things.

It really doesn't matter though. As long as he doesn't break the law again, who cares what he thinks?
___________________________________________

Side note. What pisses me off is how famous and wealthy MV1 (and other thug players) became, while Bryan Randall remains in the minor leagues. Vick is a thug, and a brawler, with admittedly great talent. Randall had 95% of that running talent, seemed more accurate in the pass, and was in graduate school when he took us to the Sugar Bowl. (He got a Master's in Sociology before leaving VT). He also spent all his summers in LA with some program that gets famous college athletes to meet kids and convince them to stay in school and away from drugs, etc. Isn't it a great society we live in where an extra 5% skill is far more important that someone's character and responsibility...

Thought you'd never make it over.

[93STLTH]

Looks like he got a little more punishment today. I'l bet those Skins defenders were dog owners.

[Igovert500]

Do you guys buy Vick as being sincere or do you think he's just saying the right things? I don't condone what he has done in the past but I believe he has payed his dues and deserves a 2nd chance.

I own 4 pits, and foster others from time to time for the SPCA. I HATE anyone who abuses dogs, and I HATE the negative stigma soooo many people have of these dogs. As I stated in the other thread, it's all about the owner, not the dog. You can train pitbulls to be therapy dogs in children's units at hospitals, or you can train them to rip the tire off a moving vehicle...either way, they aim to please their owners.

That said, I'm also a diehard Eagles fan, and think Vick is a hell of alot better than Kolb. I'm happy to have him playing. Whether he is reformed...who knows? Whether that has anything to do with him playing football, I don't think so. I hate that our society thinks that professional athletes should be role models. They play sports, nothing more. I remember growing up we had Eric Lindros on the Flyers. I thought he played great hockey, but I didn't want to grow up and spit beer on women because he did.

Honestly, as a pitbull lover, I wish they punished every dog fighter as much as they punished Vick. Unfortunately, many of them get a $500 fine and are back at it 2 weeks later. It might as well be a speeding ticket. I wish they would spend significant time in jail; I wish it would cost them significantly. But as an football fan, I could care less if a player is a complete asshole and a waste of life, I'm watching him play a sport, not voting for him to run my country or raise my (future) child. The one has absolutely NOTHING to do with the other.

On a sidenote, my gf completely disagrees with me and hates Vick to this day, and didn't watch a single Eagles game last year because of it.

Sidenote 2: There is a decent article on this same subject on espn.com by Bill Simmons "Rooting for Michael Vick" I don't rhave the link, but I just read it yesterday.

[j2k4]

Animals are not humans and should not be held on the same level as humans.

Absolutely true, but I think you create an impression maybe you personally don't intend (correct me if I am wrong).

Animals don't have rights, and cannot be ascribed rights because they are incapable of exercising them on their own behalf.

They depend on humans for such protection as they receive, and, to the extent that any formal protections exist, they only practically apply to pets or endangered species.

All that said, it comes down to one's individual conscience, and this is what mine tells me-

Does Michael Vick deserve another chance?

According to the law and the lawyers who practice it, he does.

Do I agree with the law vis a vis Vick and his offenses?

No, but I abide by it.

Let him play; he has the ability to outrun the humans who chase him around a football field, and draw a huge paycheck from his employers in turn.

I will, however, continue to nurse the hope that one day he'll be faced with the need to outrun a bunch of large, mean dogs, and I hope as well I am there to watch.

Just my 2 cents.

[Echo419]

didn't someone get shot at his B-day party a few months ago?

[onebadmollafolla]

didn't someone get shot at his B-day party a few months ago?

A Golden Retriever.

[AdamVR4]

Thought you'd never make it over.

I think it was the slow college football thread at 3Si that finally tipped him off

[AdamVR4]

I think Vick is a POS for what he did, but I'm not a big fan of the NFL, so I hope he wins the MVP and brings as much negative attention to the NFL as possible

[stealthee]

I own 4 pits, and foster others from time to time for the SPCA. I HATE anyone who abuses dogs, and I HATE the negative stigma soooo many people have of these dogs. As I stated in the other thread, it's all about the owner, not the dog. You can train pitbulls to be therapy dogs in children's units at hospitals, or you can train them to rip the tire off a moving vehicle...either way, they aim to please their owners.

That said, I'm also a diehard Eagles fan, and think Vick is a hell of alot better than Kolb. I'm happy to have him playing. Whether he is reformed...who knows? Whether that has anything to do with him playing football, I don't think so. I hate that our society thinks that professional athletes should be role models. They play sports, nothing more. I remember growing up we had Eric Lindros on the Flyers. I thought he played great hockey, but I didn't want to grow up and spit beer on women because he did.

Honestly, as a pitbull lover, I wish they punished every dog fighter as much as they punished Vick. Unfortunately, many of them get a $500 fine and are back at it 2 weeks later. It might as well be a speeding ticket. I wish they would spend significant time in jail; I wish it would cost them significantly. But as an football fan, I could care less if a player is a complete asshole and a waste of life, I'm watching him play a sport, not voting for him to run my country or raise my (future) child. The one has absolutely NOTHING to do with the other.

On a sidenote, my gf completely disagrees with me and hates Vick to this day, and didn't watch a single Eagles game last year because of it.

Sidenote 2: There is a decent article on this same subject on espn.com by Bill Simmons "Rooting for Michael Vick" I don't rhave the link, but I just read it yesterday.

EXACTLY. The government and lawyers made an example of Vick because of who he was, and who he was alone.

[j2k4]

I think Vick is a POS for what he did, but I'm not a big fan of the NFL, so I hope he wins the MVP and brings as much negative attention to the NFL as possible

Oh, cruel cynic.

Ah, they'll be on strike before you know it, and it won't matter who Vick is.