Well, I guess it was only a matter of time before the pundits and idiots alike had their say with regards to the Michael Vick/dog-fighting case. In case you all have been living under a rock for the past 3 months, Vick has agreed to plead guilty to all the charges in his indictment in hopes that the federal judge will go lenient in sentencing. Most of the so-called experts have said that they expect Vick to be handed a sentence of around 12-18 months in jail. This would mean the very earliest we could see Vick in an NFL jersey again would be the 2008 season, possibly even 2009. But the potential future of Mike Vick in an NFL uniform is not the point of this post.

Recently, Stephon Marbury was quoted in a New York paper saying this:

“We don’t say anything about people that shoot deer or shoot other animals. From what I hear dogfighting is a sport. It’s just behind closed doors. And I think it’s tough that we build Michael Vick up and then we break him down. I think he’s one of the superb athletes and I think he’s a good human being. I just think he fell into a bad situation.”

Let’s take a look at all the things that are wrong with this statement.

• Dog-fighting is not a sport. It is not sanctioned by any organization. It is illegal in all 50 states in the US. Being ‘behind closed doors’ doesn’t change that.
• Dog-fighting is nothing at all like hunting deer. I’m not a hunter, nor have I ever wanted to hunt, but living in the South, I’ve been acquainted with many people who are avid deer hunters. Most of them have a love for that activity that I can’t describe. It’s thrilling for them. The deer are out in the wild, in their habitat…the hunter moves in for the kill. They use guns and bows to kill the deer, but they don’t do it merely for the aspect of the kill. Many hunters create trophies of their kills, honoring the deer and the chase that led to the kill, and many hunters use several parts of the deer for food. And in many instances, deer hunting helps control the population of deer, because in many situations, too many deer in one area can be a bad thing for the ecology. I don’t think that Vick was doing his best Bob Barker impersonation by helping to control the pet population.
• Michael Vick is not a good human being. Good human beings do not allow themselves to get caught up in as many illegal activities as this, even if it was not entirely him at every stage of the way. He was way too involved to not know what was happening at Bad Newz Kennels.
• There is only one person to blame for the situation that Michael Vick finds himself in…and that person is Michael Vick. He’s not someone who just ‘fell into a bad situation’. He created the situation when he chose to bankroll this insane idea.

Mr. Marbury is showing his own ignorance here, and his agent should’ve known better than to put him in front of a microphone to talk about this situation. It’s sad when people in the spotlight stand up for people like Vick. He is not to be pitied. He is not someone we should feel sorry for. He’ll get a second chance to prove his worth to the world when his jail sentence is up and he rejoins society. For now, he’ll need to face the demons that will haunt him from this point going forward. I’m not sure if he has any remorse for his activities. I’m not sure if he feels any regret for what trouble this has caused his organization and league. I do know that for possibly the next 12-18 months, he will get to think about from the confines of a cozy 10′ x 10′ cell. I can’t think of any better place for him.