It's Vick's Gift That Just Keeps On Giving

So, you thought that the sportsfan in your life had already received everything they could possibly want. Well, put down that Belicheater cutoff sweatshirt, and save that officially licensed, NBA player approved personal alarm(because all we need help during home invasions) for Easter and head to the snowglobe portion of PETA's website. Once there, you'll be able to select from six nefarious characters. Well, it's really seven, but the Olsen Twins are just two halves of the same person. Anyway, since we're discussing sports here the one you want is "Dogfighter Michael Vick".

Shake up the globe, and watch(and listen) as Vick punts footballs onto his own head and prison dogs bark at him. There's no soap scene, so I'm not exactly sure how realistic it is, but you get the point. Send them to your dogloving friends, or to the Falcons fan that you love to piss off. Just make sure to spread the Christmas spirit around at someone else's misfortune. You'll take some pleasure in it when you're stuck in line listening to babies cry while you're buying a gift on Christmas Eve for someone you don't really even know, and definitely don't like. I can't wait for the President's Day version. Hopefully it has Abraham Lincoln chinbutting Vick while lecturing him about animal cruelty.

Please Do Not Support Your Dog Fighting Brethern

When the Falcons faced the Saints on Monday Night Football, after Michael Vick had been sentenced to 23 months in prison, a buddy and I noticed some of the Atlanta players sporting signs and messages supporting their incarcerated teammate. My friend asked me if I thought they would get fined, and I told him that, "yeah, their paychecks are probably going to be a bit lighter in the coming weeks". Well, today we found out that five players were collectively fined $47,500.

Roddy White and four other Atlanta Falcons were fined by the NFL for violating uniform regulations with tributes to Michael Vick during last week's Monday night game.

Vick, Atlanta's suspended Pro Bowl quarterback, was sentenced to 23 months in prison on federal dogfighting charges the morning of Dec. 10. The Falcons played at home against New Orleans that night.

After scoring a touchdown, White displayed a "Free Mike Vick" T-shirt under his jersey.

He, along with tight end Alge Crumpler and cornerbacks DeAngelo Hall and Chris Houston, were fined $10,000 each. Crumpler, Hall and Houston all wore black eye strips with written tributes to Vick, which the league called "displaying an unauthorized personal message."

Wide receiver Joe Horn was fined $7,500 for pulling up White's jersey to show the black T-shirt with handwritten white lettering. The fines were confirmed Tuesday by NFL spokesman Randall Liu.

I understand that these guys make a good amount of money, but it seems to be an awfully high price to pay just to voice your opinion. Obviously they're trying to show support for their teammate, but they have to understand that he's in his current situation because of his own actions. He hasn't been framed for anything, and their messages of support could be construed by some(not me, by the way) as supporting the illegal activities that have put Vick behind bars.

Michael Vick's Saga Continues

In case you had forgotten, Michael Vick and his three partners in crime are scheduled to appear at the Surry County Circuit Court tomorrow to face local charges in the dogfighting case.

Today, however a "team of dog behavorial experts assembled by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals" found that 48 of the 49 pitbulls seized from Vick's property in Surry County can be placed in adoptive homes or with law enforcement officials.

Only one dog was deemed to be dangerous enough to be euthanized.

According to a motion filed Monday in U.S. District Court, the dogs fall into five categories that include eventual adoption and specialized training for law enforcement work. Some of the dogs either exhibited fear toward people or suffered from a medical condition

The motion doesn't indicate how many dogs were placed in each category other than to suggest one, identified as number 2621, is an immediate candidate for euthanasia because its aggression toward humans made a complete examination unsafe.

There isn't any word on how the other 11 dogs seized, there were 60 total taken, have fared, or if any of them will need to be euthanized. It does make you wonder, though if these findings will have any bearing on how hard the local authorities come down on Vick.

Killing and/or maiming dogs is not right, and Vick deserves to be punished for his involvement in that type of activity. However, his chances of seeing some type of leniency possibly go up with every dog that's deemed not dangerous or aggressive. In this case, I wonder if the ASPCA's findings, an organization that probably wants Vick to suffer the harshest possible consequences, will actually help Vick out in the long run.

Michael Vick Still Has Fans In The Big Brother House

Last night, on the gameshow "Power of 10" two of the "Big Brother 8" houseguests were contestants as a reward for winning their power of veto challenge. Amber Siyavus made it through to the next round, and her $100,000 question was about pitbulls.

In a sign of things to come whenever pitbulls are mentioned, host Drew Carey "called out" Michael Vick. Siyavus reacted by saying that she "likes Michael Vick". However, she's been locked away in the Big Brother house for the entire summer, and has no idea what's happened regarding Vick. Unfortunately for Vick, the rest of us weren't in the Big Brother house. Eventhough she's been cut off from the outside media coverage, it's still sort of weird to see someone proclaiming that they like Michael Vick.

The Fallout Of Mike Vick's Dogfighting Investigation Begins

As a very marketable athlete, one can make inherently more money from endorsements than from a salary paid by a team. Plus, those endorsements can continue even after your playing days are done. Losing endorsements not only hurt at that moment in time, but often other companies will follow the decision of the first and drop the athlete in question as well.

That seems to be where Michael Vick is at at this point in time.

AirTran, which had employed Vick as a pitchman since 2004, decided not to renew his contract when it expired on May 8. AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson released this statement about the matter:

"Michael's contract expired May 8, and we advised him then that we would not renew it."

Since 2004, Vick had appeared on five billboards, and some radio commercials. His contract had been renewed twice since it was first signed.

I wasn't able to track down exactly how much his AirTran deal was worth, but it had to have been several million. However, the most costly effect of this decision by AirTran is that Vick's other endorsers could sever their ties with him as well.

Here's a list of some of the other companies he has endorsement deals with:

Nike
EA Sports
Coca-Cola
Powerade
Kraft
Rawlings
Hasbro

It will be interesting to see how many of those companies also drop Vick because of his involvement with this dog-fighting investigation. At some point I would imagine that consumers of these products might threaten to boycott unless Vick is removed as a pitchman. It seems that right now may be just the start of a snowball effect involving Vick losing endorsement deals.

The Saga Of Mike Vick's Dogs Continues

The newest update regarding the drug raid and discovery of dog fighting at a property owned by Mike Vick is that a search warrant has been obtained to "look for as many as 30 dog carcasses". This includes seven pitbulls that were supposedly destroyed and buried in the days preceding the raid.

The odd thing is that the warrant was issued on May 23, but "has not been executed at the request of Brown and Surry County Commonwealth's Attorney Gerald G. Poindexter". Though, if there really are 30 dogs buried on the property, they're probably not going anywhere.

And if the confidential informant is correct about the destroyed dogs and Vick being into dog fighting even before he entered the NFL, then Ron Mexico will have more problems than just an extended absence from work. Obviously, he could be convicted of animal cruelty charges, and there's something about harming animals that really gets people upset. Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk has touched on this already. That when organizations like the ASPCA or Humane Society get involved, people listen and they continue to follow the story. It's almost as if we would rather hear about a person being injured or killed than a dog or cat.

And 30 dogs will provide a compelling story for a lot of people to follow and get upset about.