10 Reactions to the Vick News

1. I guess it's not that bad to have a choir boy quarterback after all, eh Eagles fans?

2. There's no way to test this, but my bet would be that the Falcons will have a better record in the 2007 season as a team staring down adversity and rallying around a new quarterback than they would as a team carrying a lame-duck dog-strangler whose off-field distractions will be a never-ending source of angst.  Having lived through the 2005 and 2006 seasons, most Eagles fans would agree, I'm guessing.

3. When these kinds of stories blow up, there's no better source than the team's local paper.  Look for Pulitzer nominee-worthy stuff from the AJC over the next few months.

4. Now that Vick is facing a felony indictment, the gloves are going to come off for a media pack that was a little bit wary of rushing to judgment so soon after the Duke lacrosse debacle.  If he has any more skeletons buried on his property in his closet it won't be long before we find out about them.

5. If you're a Nike executive shooting a new Vick commercial next week, do you go through with it?  Remember, this is a company that only briefly hit the "pause" button when Kobe had his issues a few years ago. 

6. So now we get the prisoner's dilemma.  Four men indicted, with Vick facing only one count of "conspiracy to sponsor federally outlawed dogfighting."  Don't all four have to worry that someone's going to crack first? 

7. Is there such a thing as "non-federally outlawed" dogfighting?

8. I don't buy the argument that if Vick's involvement is proved in court no team would sign him.  It takes more than that to keep teams away from a guy with that amount of talent.  He may not ever play quarterback again though.  It's a lot easier to take a risk on a running back or slash-type player.

9. Look now for the people who want to go too far with this.  Always happens.  They'll be on TV telling us how dogfighting is a huge problem in the NFL and the league has to do something to crack down on it.  I kinda doubt there are many other NFL players running underground dogfighting organizations.

10. And finally, please remember that despite the fact they are by far the number one dog of choice for these sorts of uses, that the statistics are wildly against them and that there are many, many other breeds of dog that can be equally protective without all the baggage, pit bulls are the sweetest dogs on the planet and are as safe as cotton candy...

Comments

[BleedingGreenNation]

I think the most important part of this story is that it was a federal indictment. This won't be a local sheriff and prosecutor blinded by the star power of a Mike Vick.